Breakaway Audio
| Site: | QSC |
| Course: | Q-SYS Video 101 Training |
| Book: | Breakaway Audio |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Friday, 10 May 2024, 7:24 AM |
Description
Video Transcript
0:08
Welcome back. You’ve probably noticed that every HDMI output comes along with two audio pins,
0:14
even though audio is embedded in the HDMI signal.
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This allows you to take the audio of that output and send it to the Q-SYS Core where it can then
0:23
be sent anywhere else, rather than just those loudspeakers built into the output display in your room, to
0:29
reinforce that video.
0:31
These audio pins aren’t any different from any other audio pins in Designer, so you can mix
0:36
these with the rest of your signal flow, add EQ and effects, etc., as much as you like. By default there are
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two stereo pins, but if your HDMI source has more audio tracks, like a 7.1 surround sound signal, then
0:51
you can allow up to 8 audio pins by adjusting the Decoder’s properties here. We only support LPCM, and
0:59
the channel count on the source property for audio channels defines what is advertised in the EDID.
1:05
Be aware that when you’re using audio embedded in an AV stream, this audio does *not* count
1:11
against your Core’s available networked audio channel count. However, the moment that you wire
1:16
anything to these audio pins, that audio is processed by the Core and uses network streams and
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channels, even if you’re doing nothing other than routing it to a new destination. You can monitor your
1:28
available network audio streams and channels by using the Check Design feature, or pressing Shift F6. If
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you don’t need to process your audio separately, it’s best not to do so, so that you don’t consume these resources.
1:40
If you ARE using your own audio system, you might actually want to disable the HDMI output
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audio that’s going to your display. No reason to have your TV’s built-in loudspeakers try to compete with
1:51
your professional loudspeakers.
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You can select any display and change its Audio Source to None to disable audio going to that
2:00
display device. This will also remove all audio controls from the device’s control panel. You could also
2:06
keep this property on the default “Selected Source” option and then mute its audio channels, just in
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case you do want to use them later.
2:15
While you’re here, you’ll notice a third option: Audio Input Pins. This adds audio pins to your Display
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device, allowing you to deliver whatever content you like. Adding Audio Input Pins to your display will
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override the HDMI audio, and only play the audio that is delivered from these pins instead.
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This could be something simple like applying some basic EQ, or you might want to mix your
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room’s PA announcements into this signal, effectively removing the need for a separate loudspeaker in
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the room. That way your emergency announcements can still play from the television’s internal
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speakers, even if you have an amplifier failure, for instance.
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If you’re using the audio pins from the decoder, that audio obviously follows whichever video
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source is selected within the Decoder. If you wanted to get the audio from an earlier point, that is, from
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the source itself rather than the decoder, you could do that too. On the encoder, you can enable
3:10
“Breakaway Audio” pins on any of your generic source components, and customize how many pins you
3:16
need, to pull the audio out of the incoming HDMI signal. You could then use this however you like in the
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design. Just keep in mind that this audio is not dependent at all on whether or not that video source is
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selected—it will continue to play whatever is coming in on that HDMI input.
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That’s it for the NV series. There are obviously a lot more controls in the control panels to
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explore, but we’ve shown you the basics of what most people will need to know to get a system up and
3:45
running. Feel free to explore the help topics to get more information on these devices. Thanks for watching.
Lesson Description
Discover how to send your HDMI source's audio to your Q-SYS Core and out to anywhere else in your design.