Q-SYS Designer Software
Q-SYS Designer Software is the most powerful yet simple advanced DSP design software on the market today. This software enables the user to create designs for native Q-SYS Platform system and also supports the integration of the greater Q-SYS Ecosystem. The system design environment was created specifically to be intuitive and easy to use. It is laid out without clutter or complicated multi-level menus. As a result, the software allows system integrators to focus their energy on building the audio system, rather than laboring over a complex software learning curve.
• One Software for all System Sizes: Q-SYS Designer Software is a single application for use with every Q-SYS Core category for projects of any size.
• Emulation Mode: Build the majority of your system without hardware.
• Third-party peripheral support: Q-SYS allows for control of external devices through available LUA scripting.
• User Control Interfaces: Design custom buttons, import graphics, add UCI PIN protection as an addition layer of protection and build user controls for touchscreen controllers.
Note: Before upgrading, be sure to create backup copies of your Q-SYS design files for the current version and older versions. Also, make backup files for all media you have on the Core. To avoid overwriting your backup copies, be sure you do not open the backup copies with the newly installed version of Q-SYS Designer Software.
Updated Features v9.8
New Product Support
Start incorporating these new Q-SYS Products into your designs:
- SPA-Q Series network amplifiers
- AV Bridging feature license for TSC-G3 Series network touchscreens
- NM-T1 network tabletop beamforming microphone
Peripheral Mode
- Deploy the Core 110f, Core 8 Flex and Core Nano as an I/O peripheral and take advantage of all onboard I/O, including AV bridging, external USB audio device hosting and third-party device control ports. In addition, supports network redundancy in I/O mode to ensure maximum uptime for connected peripherals.
Q-SYS Reflect Enterprise Manager
- Improved Alerts & Notifications: New filters enable support staff to determine which system notifications they receive, delivering a more customized user experience.
- Store up to 50 MB of Files and/or Notes (per system): Add files such as system diagrams, room layouts, or images to the Reflect Cloud to provide quick access for on-site technicians or staff that need to troubleshoot or assist users with system operation.
- Support for Single Sign-On Authentication: Ensures Enterprise Manager can adhere to your organization's password policies.
- Add User Access Control to your Presets: Apply username and password to all your connected Q-SYS systems instead of one at a time.
Q-SYS Control
- New UCI Control Variables: Create variables within your UCI script to easily alter common parameters when duplicating UCIs across an organization. This is ideal for replacing common parameters such as Room Name or Location Info without having to recreate on every UCI.
- Search and Replace: Works with text items like inventory names, schematic pages, blocks, code names and more. This is beneficial when using design templates or duplicating programming in larger designs.
Want a quick overview of new features?
We give you a quick tour of the notable new features in each major release of Q-SYS Designer Software. To learn more about using Q-SYS Designer Software, visit Q-SYS Training.
Q-SYS Designer Software v9.8
Released April 14, 2023
NOTE: As of Q-SYS Designer Software (QDS) v9.8, Help content is available online by default. The QDS download no longer includes an offline Help file. If you need an offline option to reference without internet connectivity, click Download Offline Help.
Q-SYS Designer Software v9.4.5 LTS (long-term support)
Released March 29, 2023
The long-term support version provides critical bug fixes and security updates, plus compatibility with minor revisions of supported hardware, while maintaining the feature-set of Q-SYS Designer Software v9.4. This version will be supported for 24 months from the date of release or until the promotion of a new release to LTS status.
Users using Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series or similar switches that don't support 10Mbps are not recommended to upgrade Q-SYS Designer Software and Core firmware to 9.4.4 or above (9.5 and 9.6). We have discovered an issue with Q-SYS TSC Series Gen 1 and Gen 2 touch panels running 9.4.4 or above while having the LAN port connected to a network switch port which does not support 10 Mbps. Q-SYS TSC Series Gen 1 or Gen 2 touchscreen controllers connected in this way may become inoperable and require a connection to a 10 Mbps switch in order to downgrade firmware to a previous version and become functional again.
Users using Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series or similar switches that don't support 10Mbps are not recommended to upgrade Q-SYS Designer Software and Core firmware to 9.4.4 or above (including 9.5, 9.6 and 9.7). We have discovered an issue with Q-SYS TSC Series Gen 1 and Gen 2 touch panels running 9.4.4 or above while having the LAN port connected to a network switch port which does not support 10 Mbps. Q-SYS TSC Series Gen 1 or Gen 2 touchscreen controllers connected in this way may become inoperable and require a connection to a 10 Mbps switch in order to downgrade firmware to a previous version and become functional again.
New Media File Management API
Provides more modern, secure methods of managing audio files and playlists on Cores running Q-SYS v9.0.0 and higher.
Please keep in mind:
- The existing “/media” audio file management API that you may be using was deprecated with the release of v9.5. Please note that the FTP Server capability was deprecated at the same time.
- If you intend on using these new Media File Management APIs, look to future Q-SYS Designer Release Notes for details on changes and improvements as they arrive.
QDS Archive Versions
Request a previous or End-of-Life (EOL) version of Q-SYS Designer Software for legacy systems.
3rd Party Plugin & Scriptable Controls
Q-SYS has partnered with several AV&C technology manufacturers to provide a broad portfolio of prebuilt plugins. This makes integration of third-party devices into a Q-SYS system a simple drag-and-drop configuration.
View Q-SYS Technology Partners Plugins
Q-SYS Control for iOS
Design user control interfaces for your iOS device within Q-SYS Designer Software and use this free app to wirelessly control any element of your Q-SYS system from your iPhone or iPad.
Q-SYS Online Help
The Q-SYS online help file is the most complete and latest help file for Q-SYS Designer Software and associated hardware and peripherals. You can access this help file from within Q-SYS Designer Software. The Q-SYS online help file is usually updated more frequently than the help file built into Q-SYS Designer Software.