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DCM Series Digital Cinema Monitor & Crossover System U S E R M A N U A L
The DCM hardware unit and DCM Commander software are the property of QSC Audio Inc. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of QSC Audio. The software described here is furnished under a licensing agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the licensing agreement.
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II. System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 III. Package Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C. Starting The Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 D. Working with Configuration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 1. Your First Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2. Editing a Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 E.
iii. Fault Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5. Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 i. About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ii. Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. INTRODUCTION The QSC Audio DC series (together with QSC DCA amplifiers) is designed to perform all of the electronic functions required for the audio portion of a cinema playback system except for the cinema processor unit (for example, Dolby, Sony, or dts) and the speakers. The DCM series consists of one of three hardware units (DCM-1, DCM-2, and DCM-3) and the PC based control software called the DCM Commander. The DCM-1 supports a typical Dolby 6 ch. 2-way system.
III. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS DCM Commander software is designed to control only one DCM hardware unit at a time. In order to test the functionality of this software together with the DCM hardware unit, you must have at least the following: A QSC DCM Digital Cinema Monitor unit The DCM Commander software diskettes or CDROM An IBM-compatible PC with at least a 486 (or equiv) processor Windows 95 or Windows 98 Minimum 16MB of RAM Minimum 1MB of available hard disk storage space A 3.5" 1.
IV. PACKAGE CONTENTS Open the box and remove the contents. You will find the following items: This user manual An envelope containing the DCM Commander installation diskettes (or CDROM) with the software license agreement A linecord for connection to AC power The DCM hardware unit main assembly (either a DCM-1, or a DCM-2, or a DCM-3) If anything is missing, immediately contact your salesman.
V. SYSTEM CONCEPTS A. System Design Features The DCM series Digital Cinema Monitor has many unique features which combine to make this the most cost effective and versatile systems solution in the industry. This system addresses the following needs: Installer Feature Provides Monitor and Crossover functions in one box. Minimizes the amount of cabling required. (only one cable per amplifier contains two signal inputs, two signal returns, power on/standby control and two channels of load monitoring!).
wires within the cable for maximum interference protection. 2. Programmable routing and crossover settings Almost all of the internal circuitry within the DCM series can be adjusted using commands over the RS-232 port from the DCM Commander software. Configuration files can be stored to a diskette and used for other DCMs.
the theater. Many installers pride themselves on being able to adjust the electrical parameters (crossover points, equalization, delay, etc) to exactly compliment the speaker and room interactions. As such, their ability to set these parameters is a "value added" service which deserves protection from competitors. We have therefore included a security system where you can protect your settings within the DCM from being uploaded and copied by the DCM Commander software.
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DCM-2 and DCM-3 DataPort ABC and EF Detail 11
VI. DCM HARDWARE DESCRIPTION A. Front Panel Features The front panel of the DCM series resembles traditional cinema monitor products. This was done to allow a typical machine room projectionist a well known and easy to understand user interface. This also follows our design goal of presenting an easy to understand product to the user while still offering a state-of-the-art cinema sound control system for installation technicians and advanced users. 1.
setting monitors the speakers on the backwall. Other installations might require speaker sets where some speakers are along the theater side walls where other speakers are under a balcony overhang. By connecting these speakers as "zones", the sound levels will be much easier to balance. Any of these amplifier outputs can be verified by selecting them to be routed to the DCM monitor speaker. The DCM also has 4 Subwoofer outputs.
will NOT cause the fault LED to light, the unit must be driven by real-world input signals and the fault must persist for several minutes! =========== 4. Test Jacks The Test jacks give you access to any of the signals being sent to the front panel speaker (before the gain potentiometer). These signal levels are at the exact same level as the cinema processor output signals (unity gain) and can be used as a test point for system calibration. 5. Emergency Bypass This is an extremely powerful feature.
amp with 3 surrounds and 4 subs). Now you can follow the rear panel text which shows both channel position (L or C or R, etc) and the frequency output (LO, MID, HI, etc). Connect the L-LO output to the correct amplifier driving the left positional speaker (and the low frequency transducer), and L-HI to the amplifier driving the same speakers high frequency transducer, etc. NOTE: There is no signal processing of the surround signal in a standard DCM-2 or DCM-3, however, the system is "Active Surround Ready".
6. Terminal Strip Connections The terminal strip includes convenience connections for a powered sub-woofer output, a Hearing Impaired audio output, and on the DCM-2 and 3, a remote control on/off logic connection (EX) for the surround decoder system. The powered subwoofer output (SUB OUT), contains the exact same signal as the subwoofer output used on DataPort G. It is assumed that you use either DataPort G or the terminal strip connection, but not both at the same time.
VII. DCM WINDOWS SOFTWARE A. System Control Overview To access the powerful crossover and system calibration functions contained within the DCM hardware, one must use the DCM Commander Windows control software which communicates via an RS-232 serial port. A typical cinema installation should require this setup procedure ONLY during the initial installation of the system.
========== WARNING: Do not send audio to your amplifiers and speakers until you have verified that the crossover and gain settings are appropriate. Incorrect crossover settings can damage speakers! NOTE: all screen channels default to a crossover frequency of 1.5 kHz. ========== In a typical installation, you will need to do the following... Step 1: Connect the DCM hardware unit to your PC serial port, and start the DCM Commander software.
========== WARNING: Remember... the next step can change all of the audio signal volumes and frequency content. Incorrect frequencies can damage speakers! Turn down the volume on all amplifiers. ========== Step 5: Write the file back to the DCM by selecting Connect | Write Configuration to DCM Step 6: Save this "post-modification" file by making two backup diskettes (one copy for you, and leave one copy at the theater). Step 7: Verify proper audio response in all channels. E.
2. Communications This menu choice refers to the communications between the Windows PC and the DCM hardware unit. i. Connect / Disconnect Selecting Connect tells the program to initialize communications with the DCM hardware unit. This will need to be selected before parameter settings can be transmitted to or from the DCM hardware unit. Status: will indicate Connected. ii.
b General Config This section is mainly designed for selecting the number of channel inputs and crossover types able to be supported by the DCM series. c Installed Outputs Selecting these check boxes will allow the front panel LED indication and sound monitoring to behave correctly. For example, the front panel monitor selector LEDs for Sub 3 and Sub 4 will not be able to be selected if you only check the Sub 1 and Sub 2 check boxes here.
d Surround This screen presents the surround processing options. Standard versions allow external processing of the surrounds using products such as the Dolby SA-10. DCM-2 and DCM-3 “Active Surround Ready” configuration options will be shown here if this feature is installed. e Security Password security is available for situations where you want to keep your system settings confidential.
overwrite the DCM settings using the Write Configuration to DCM command. In conclusion, Secure mode adds password protection to the configuration file within the DCM hardware unit. The configuration files stored in your computer or on a diskette are NOT password protected. ii. Amp and Speaker Configuration Settings This window provides an extremely easy and powerful method of setting all of the control parameters for the crossover and diagnostics functions.
b Speaker Models A very powerful feature of the DCM series is the ability to load factory supplied crossover settings files for popular cinema speakers. Simply select the type of speaker being used in your installation from the QSC supplied speaker database, and all crossover, filter, gain, transducer delay, and impedence settings will be loaded into the Crossover | DSP settings screen. These can be modified by using the Customize command.
c Speaker Arrangement In order to do proper Load Fault monitoring, the DCM hardware unit needs to know if you have wired multiple speakers to an amplifier output. Simply indicate if any speaker transducers are wired in series or parallel (branches) here so the DCM can compensate for the impedence changes that this wiring will cause. For example, if you have two speakers connected in parallel on the output of an amplifier, you would set the banches setting to 2.
d Impedence Limits This allows a technician an overview of the impedence settings when troubleshooting.
iii. Speaker Database This window gives access to an extensive database of cinema speaker settings which can fully configure the crossover and fault monitoring functions. Each of these speaker files has a manufacturer name (Make), a model number, a crossover type (1 way, 2 way or 3 way), and the manufacturers impedance specifications. Speaker models are separated into two categories, Default (supplied by QSC), or Custom (created by you).
The volume control on the Subwoofer signal also allows monitoring adjustments relative to the L/C/R volume. NOTE: You should start by matching the AMP and PROC overall volume levels on the screen channels. Then match the surrounds and sub level to this reference to allow accurate A/B comparisons. 4. Crossover i. Screen DSP Settings Left, Center and Right input channels are processed by a state-of-the-art DSP digital crossover.
b Screen Settings These screens allow full control of all the crossover parameters within the DCM hardware. REMEMBER: All parameter changes become active within the DCM only after selecting Communications | Write Configuration to DCM.
If you selected a speaker model under the Configuration | Speaker Configuration window, the Use Speaker Settings button will be selected, and the speaker model name will appear in the Speaker Model text area. If you select Customize, all parameters are able to be modified. If you create a set of parameters which you would like to save for later reference, either select File | Save As...
b Sub Settings High-pass filtering and gain are available for fine tuning the response of your subwoofer channel. NOTE: The Sub filter settings ARE NOT set by selecting a SUB Speaker in the AMP & Speaker Configuration | Speaker Models window. That sets the impedences only. Always set these either by loading a full configuration file from a similar venue or manually.
iii. Mute Settings This window allows all channel on / off settings to be changed. This is usually only used during setup or trouble shooting when testing single output channels in the theater. REMEMBER: All parameter changes become active within the DCM hardware unit only after selecting Communications | Write Configuration to DCM. iv. Fault Diagnostics The fault diagnostics window is where you look if the Load Fault LED lights up.
5. Help i. About This shows the software version number for reference when talking with customer service or keeping track of software updates. ii. Contents A table of contents for the help file allows you an overview of the help subjects available. Almost all of the text within the help files comes from this manual, but this has the added benefit of being extremely easy to navigate to descriptions of specific functions and features.
F. DCM 1st Time Troubleshooting 1. No PC to DCM Communications If you select Communications | Connect and the response is DCM not responding, the most likely a problem with your RS232 connection. Check that the RS232 cable is seated properly, and you have selected the correct COM port for your computer. Try and use another cable, or verify the proper wiring using the pinout description in Appendix 1. NOTE: Do not use a "null-modem" cable.
VIII.SYSTEM INSTALLATION A. System Hardware Connections Installation of a DCM hardware unit is extremely simple. The most important task is to make sure that you have all of the correct cables! Since "mass-termination" connectors are used wherever possible, a typical system can be wired in minutes. 1.
It is recommended that you purchase a standard 25 pin cable from any of the well known cinema industry cable suppliers. 6. Impaired Hearing Connection The Hearing Impaired output signal is available on the screw terminal connector on the rear of the DCM. This signal is unbalanced (the “+” label is the “hot”, and the “-” label is a ground reference). The output signal is similar to levels that are output from a standard CD player. 7.
1. Theater - audio level adjustments The combination of QSC amplifiers and common speakers contained in the software database will require little or no DCM adjustment! Transducer sensitivity imbalances within the speakers have been compensated for by the factory recommended crossover settings. If you are using a powered subwoofer, or a speaker not contained in the factory supplied speaker database, you may need to make level adjustments. 2.
within one speaker. Consult the speaker manufacturer for help in determining this setting. Channel delay compensates for the distance that a speaker is located from the screen. We have included some screen delay adjustment, but most typical theaters will not need to use this because surround channels are delayed coming from the cinema processsor.
D. System Installation Troubleshooting 1. If no sound in the theater... 1) Monitor the PROC position to verify proper sound input to the DCM. 2) Check sound in AMP position. 3) If no sound, check that the amplifiers are on and the volume is up. 4) verify no Load Fault indication. If there is a fault indication, press and hold the Diagnostics button and an LED will light above a channel indicator (L,LC,C,RC, R,SL,SR,SUB). The channel indicated has a cable or speaker problem.
speaker. NOTE: If the DCM unit is okay, place the Bypass switch back to the NORMAL position and the Load Fault indicator will light (after a few minutes) if there was a gross defect (open circuit or short) in either of these cables.
Appendix 1 RS-232 Cable Detail (DCM to Computer Connection) The RS-232A cable is required to allow your PC to communicate with the DCM hardware unit. This cable can be purchased directly from any computer or electronics store. Configuration: 9 pin SubD male to 9 pin SubD female.
Processor Cable Detail (Cinema Processor to DCM) The Processor cable connects the audio signal outputs from the Cinema Processor to the DCM signal inputs. This cable is available from Cinema equipment suppliers. Configuration: 25 pin SubD male to 25 pin SubD male.
Dataport Cable Detail (DCM to QSC Ampliers) The DataPort cable contains all of the input, output, and monitoring signals between the DCM and the QSC amplifiers. These can be a standard VGA cable , but be careful that the connections are pin-to-pin for all 15 pins. QSC offers these cables with special shielded internal cable for even higher quality. Configuration: 15 pin SubD (High Density) male to 15 pin SubD High Density male.
Surround Insert Cable Detail (DCM to Special Surround Processor Unit) The Surround Insert cable connects the audio signal inputs and outputs which are needed to insert a Dolby SA Surround Processor.
Appendix 2: DCM Series Specifications (typical) General Dimensions 19" (wide) x 5.
Subwoofer Screw Terminals Max. Output Level +14.2 dBu (4.0 Vrms) Output Z 50 ohms (+/- 5%) Hearing Impaired Output Max. Output Level -11.
Appendix 3: Address & Telephone Information Address: QSC Audio Products, Inc. 1675 MacArthur Boulevard Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1468 USA Telephone Numbers: Main Number (714) 754-6175 Sales Direct Line (714) 957-7100 Sales & Marketing (800) 854-4079 (toll free in USA only) Technical Services (714) 957-7150 (800) 772-2834 (toll free in USA only) Facsimile Numbers: 47 Sales & Marketing (714) 754-6174 Technical Services (714) 754-6173 Internet URL www.qscaudio.
1675 MacArthur Boulevard Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1468
