Following the integration of Biamp Systems’ Tesira with Shure’s Microflex Advance and Microflex Wireless microphone systems, Shure has announced further compatibility with the QSC network platform.
The partnership includes the release of new control plug-ins for the Shure MXA910 Ceiling Array Microphone and Microflex Wireless microphone systems. The latest Q-Sys Designer Software v5.3 update enables a multitude of audio connectivity options including audio integration via Dante, analogue audio as well as AES67. Simple se-tup and configuration is provided with the addition of a detailed quick start guide to integrate audio and control between the Shure and QSC systems.
Co-developed by QSC and Shure, the MXA910 Control plug-in supports audio control, preset recall and monitoring functions on the MXA910 from the Q-Sys platform using Q-Sys peripherals and touchscreen controllers. Because the MXA910 control plug-in is decoupled from the audio integration method in Q-Sys, it allows integrators use the plug-in for control while being able to choose between different audio transport methods – analogue audio using the Shure ANI series, the Q-Sys Dante Bridging card or AES67 software support on the Q-Sys Core processor series. By using AES67 as the audio integration method, every Q-Sys Core processor in the platform can be integrated with the MXA910 without any additional hardware bridging devices or software licences. This includes the Q-Sys Core 110f, offering cost-effective pairing of DSP, A/V Bridging and Control with its 16 channels of AEC, which can accommodate up to two MXA910s in a single rack space over a single network connection.
The set-up guide, also co-developed by QSC and Shure, provides step-by-step instructions on how to integrate the MXA910 with Q-Sys using AES67 for networked audio streaming and the built-in plug-in for control and monitoring of the MXA910 from Q-Sys.
‘Integration at the software layer between Q-Sys and the Shure Microflex networked microphones provides integrators with the ability to offer truly unified, A/V solutions to their end-users for projects of any scale, including those leveraging the new Q-Sys AV-to-USB Bridging solution for conference room camera connectivity to soft-codec applications,’ says QSC Product Manager for Installed Systems, Martin Barbour. ‘By decoupling control integration from the audio transport mechanism, we offer the integrator the ability to choose the most appropriate audio transport method for their application while ensuring best-in-class performance from microphone through to loudspeaker, including all processing and amplification in between.’
‘Offering control plug-ins in Q-Sys Designer Software for the Shure MXA910 Ceiling Array Microphone is a natural extension to the tools already available for Microflex Wireless Microphone Systems,’ says Shure Senior Category Director of Networked Systems Products, Chad Wiggins. ‘In addition, the set-up guide provides a valuable resource for system designers considering the technical details of integrating the MXA910 with the Q-Sys platform using AES67. These are great examples of the commitment to improving user workflow and interoperability our two companies share.’
Because Q-Sys is the only software-based audio, video, and control Linux real-time operating system (RTOS) platform, it will enable QSC and Shure developers to expand the library of control plug-ins to other Shure products and allow integrators to incorporate them into future designs with a simple software update.
The Shure MXA Control Plug-in and setup guide will be available with the release of Q-Sys Designer Software v5.3 in early January 2017.
