Q-SYS Corner

[Marcel Birgelen]

Sure, it's still used, as it has been for years and it won't just vanish overnight, but it came up in recent discussions. Companies like Google are actively eliminating those terms from the stuff they provide for example. In my opinion, this is all a bridge too far, those terms are technical terms and while their naming may derive from real-world terms, I've never associated those terms with racism in any way...

Male/female hasn't really been discussed recently as far as I've followed it, but we'll see once people start to demand gender equality in connectors. :P

[Leo Enticknap]

Has anyone tried to use a Global Caché IP2IR device in a Q-Sys implementation?

I recently have, and hit a brick wall with it.

I'm trying to have it work transport buttons in a LG UBK90 DVD/BD player. I imported both the Control Tower and IP2IR plugins to my design, and using Control Tower, downloaded and transferred then "LG BD players - all models" codeset to the IP2IR plugin. I then created a few buttons and tried to fire them. Something is definitely firing, because the stick-on IR transmitter flashed as I did so. But the player did nothing. I then tried capturing the commands from the remote that shipped with the player using the Windows capture app for the IP2IR and then firing them - same result, nothing happened.

I'm wondering if the underlying problem is that this player doesn't like the IP2IR transmitter. Has anyone got another model of BD player (must be 2160p/UHD - our customer needs this) to be commanded successfully by the IP2IR?

[Marcel Birgelen]

Not cheap for merely a BR player, but comes with "IR controls" over Ethernet and RS232: Sony UBP-X1000ES, it supports UHD and HDR. We're using it exactly for those purposes.
Personally, I hate those IP2IR thingies, it's always a hit-and-miss with those. If it works at all, I often see myself issuing multiple commands in sequence, because often times, a command will end up lost somewhere.

[Steve Guttag]

Marcel is SOOOO behind the times. The current model is the UBP-X1100ES. Sony is VERY stingy with documentation on their players but I do have a functional Ethernet based command button component for the Sony UBP-X1100ES. Those commands look NOTHING like the RS232 spreadsheet I was able to track down. I will say, the Sony has done well, thus far and has the prosumer rackmount option too. I wish it could shift the subtitles like the Oppo could for when there is a Scope Blu-ray to move the captions out of the black bar area. (My Sony Command Button User Component is attached).

I know you are not a Facebook user, Leo, but there is a very good group over there and there is bound to be someone that has worked with the GC IP2IR on the LG player.

[Marcel Birgelen]

We bought the thing back in 2018, but yeah, Steve's Sony wins the pissing contest as being the newest and shiniest model.

Where did you get the rackmount option for the thing? Our supplier never was able to get hold on one. AFAIK it's just a glorified 19" shelf, but with some "stops" in it, so pushing against the thing doesn't shove it further down the rack. I've fixed it now by drilling a few holes into the shelf and putting a few bolts in as a makeshift solution.

[Steve Guttag]

No, the rackmount is a typical prosumer. It is something that cradles the unit and has a faceplate that hides the feet too and uses the non-typical rack holes. https://www.amazon.com/Sony-UBP-X100.../dp/B071V7J2KR

Technically, we're a dealer through our distributor for both the player and the rackmount.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Thanks for giving the Amazon link. It's a typical Sony "Prosumer" price for a few metal plates that seemingly don't even come pre-assembled, plus, shipping doubles the price.

I think I'll stick with my homebrew solution for now. It doesn't hide the feet, but I don't really care about that. It's a pity the thing wasn't designed as a rackmount device from the get-go, it could easily fit in 1U. Then again, I've never checked how hot the device runs, this way, at least there is a bit of space around it for some passive cooling.

[Steve Guttag]

There's not much to "assemble." You screw the two sides to the unit and then mount the whole thing to the rack. Your rack screws go through the front plate and the two side plates together.

[Leo Enticknap]

B.T.W.: It looks like even in technical applications, we're no longer allowed to use terms like "master" and "slave", but should refer to it as "host" and "client"...

If the language police ever discover the term "captive screw," they will likely suffer multiple heart attacks.

An update on the IP2IR saga: just spent two hours at the site bashing my head against a metaphorical wall with it. Then needed to take a sanity break, so updated the Q-Sys from 8.3.1 to 8.3.3. After that, the two Global Caché plugins had disappeared from the design when I connected and ran. So I disconnected, reimported them, saved and ran, reconfigured them, and the damn thing worked like a charm! I have full control of the BD player via it now. So the problem must have been a bug in the way 8.3.1 interacted with those plugins.

[Randy Stankey]

There is a difference between host/client and master/slave because a host can still be a slave to a master and a client isn’t necessarily a slave to a host.

Host/client is a transient relationship but master/slave is more permanent.

People should stop quibbling terms and just do their own work.

[Steve Guttag]

As Leo touched upon in his "fun with IR"...QSC has released Designer 8.3.3. It fixes a bug for those that use redundant networks. No new features...just the bug fix.

[Steve Guttag]

QSC announces new cores today 9/10/20. The CORE I/O 8 Flex and CORE Nano. Both are essentially the same CORE...the Nano has no analog inputs on the core itself but analog can still come in from any other QLAN device like an amplifier with mic/line inputs. They are half-rack sized and support up to 64 channels in and out. Combine that with a DCIO (DCIO-H) and a suitable UI and you have a very powerful sound processor in the price point of a conventional purpose-built box. This is probably a game changer for those that want one CORE per screen. And, since it is half-rack, you can gang them together in a 1U configuration to have a fully redundant CORE, per theatre. Heck, you can probably drive at least 2-theatres, possibly 3 (if you don't have too many input needs) on one of these cores.

9/15/20, the cinema specific announcement will take place.

[Elia Orselli]

During the live event I haven't heard news about availability (nor MSRP )

[Steve Guttag]

I have been given estimates but until I see something in the price sheet, I don't consider it real so I won't post at this time. I think most will be pleased with both areas of your concern. In a live event, they are not going to discuss price (any more than I would in an open forum). I did ask the question on which Designer version they show up and it is 8.5.x. So you know it isn't going to be this month since 8.4 hasn't hit the streets yet. It seems to be getting real close but 8.4 seems to be mostly a bug fix and UCI based release (style sheets, fonts and such). Truth in advertising, I don't have 8.4 yet either but I have been able to see some notes on it.

[Steve Guttag]

Here is the back of the new Core 8 Flex.

8flex-rear.jpg