Q-SYS Expands the Possibilities of Distributed Audio with New QIO Network I/O
For years, one of the fundamental challenges in professional audio system design has been getting analog audio from where it originates to where it needs to be processed. Microphones, musical instruments, playback devices and other sources traditionally meant pulling individual shielded audio cables, sometimes dozens of them across a building and back to a centralized equipment rack.
The expanding Q-SYS QIO Series changes that equation.
Q-SYS has expanded its network I/O portfolio with a new family of high-density QIO peripherals that allows designers to place substantial amounts of professional audio I/O exactly where it is needed while transporting that audio across the Q-SYS network. QIO audio expanders use Q-LAN to move audio between the peripheral and the Q-SYS system, allowing physical I/O and processing to be located in completely different parts of a facility.
Three New High-Density QIO Options
The latest additions provide considerably greater I/O density than the original compact QIO products:
QIO-ML24i provides 24 mic/line inputs, including professional microphone preamplification and 48 V phantom power.
QIO-L24o provides 24 line-level outputs, making it possible to distribute a substantial number of analog audio outputs from the Q-SYS network at a remote location.
QIO-24f provides perhaps the most versatile configuration: 8 mic/line inputs, 8 software-definable Flex channels and 8 line-level outputs in a single 1RU device.
All three are full-width 1RU devices and include dual Gigabit Ethernet connections. Q-SYS also provides optional network and peripheral redundancy capabilities for these high-density models.
Put the Audio I/O Where the Audio Actually Is
This is where the technology becomes particularly valuable in real-world system design.
Consider a church fellowship hall, multipurpose room or performance space where musicians may set up at the opposite end of the room from the AV equipment rack. A conventional design might require 16, 24 or more individual shielded analog audio cables to be installed between those locations.
With distributed Q-SYS I/O, the analog connections can instead terminate locally at a QIO peripheral. The audio is then transported over the network to the Q-SYS Core for processing.
That can dramatically change the infrastructure required for a room while also making the system more adaptable. Instead of designing every audio connection around the physical location of the processor, designers can position I/O based on where users actually need to connect equipment.
And because the QIO devices are native members of the Q-SYS ecosystem, the remote I/O becomes part of the same integrated audio, control and monitoring environment rather than a separate third-party audio transport system.
From Four Channels to Twenty-Four
The expansion is especially significant when compared with the existing QIO family.
Q-SYS already offers compact network peripherals including the QIO-ML4i with four mic/line inputs, QIO-L4o with four-line outputs, QIO-ML2x2 with two inputs and two outputs, QIO-AES8x8 for AES3 digital audio, and the multi-purpose QIO-FLEX4A.
The new high-density models extend that concept into applications where considerably larger channel counts are required. Rather than locating several smaller expanders together, a single QIO-ML24i, QIO-L24o or QIO-24f can provide the I/O for an entire area of a facility.
And Now, Bluetooth Joins the Network
One of the newest additions to the QIO family takes the distributed-I/O concept in another direction.
The new QIO-WP-BT Network Bluetooth Audio Wall Plate provides a native Q-SYS endpoint for wireless audio. It supports Bluetooth media streaming, Auracast broadcast audio and wireless call bridging, bringing user-accessible wireless connectivity directly into the Q-SYS ecosystem.
That creates interesting possibilities for classrooms, conference rooms, hospitality spaces, athletic facilities, multipurpose rooms and other environments where users increasingly expect to connect wirelessly without requiring additional standalone Bluetooth interfaces.
A More Flexible Way to Design Q-SYS Systems
Taken together, these additions represent an important evolution in the Q-SYS ecosystem.
Processing can reside where it makes sense. Amplification can reside where it makes sense. And increasingly, audio I/O can reside where the sources and destinations actually are.
For integrators, that means system architecture can be driven less by the limitations of traditional analog cabling and more by how the facility will actually be used, while maintaining centralized processing, control and monitoring within Q-SYS.
Delaware Audio Visual Integration & Design, LLC is a Q-SYS dealer and integrator, with trained personnel experienced in the design, programming, commissioning and deployment of Q-SYS systems. We can incorporate Q-SYS network audio, control, video and distributed I/O into new installations as well as expansions of existing Q-SYS environments.