QSC's exit from cinema is just about complete (including DCA amplifiers)

[Steve Guttag]

QSC has announced (to its dealers, at least) that they are shutting down the remaining cinema-specific products this year. On the chopping block are:

• DPM-300/300H (available through July 2026 or while supplies last)
• DCA amplifiers (available through June 2026 or while supplies last). These are, probably, the most installed cinema amplifiers in the world and had a ¼-century run but are the last of the "Dataport" products, that other manufacturers adopted in their amplifiers too.
• DCIO (without the HDMI port) from the Q-SYS line up (available through July 2026).

Q-SYS is exiting from the linear amplifier world, having already shut down the ISA, RMX and CX amplifiers. The DCA line is the last. It is all Class-D now and most everything with a Q-SYS integration mindset.

The DCIO-H, owing to its HDMI decoder, brings value to non-cinema systems too (remember, it has 16-channels of AES3 inputs, has a stereo analog input, mic input, three balanced analog outputs, an amplified (10W) output plus 4 relays...so in an A/V environment, it addresses quite a few things too).

Talk about an end of an era (thinking of QSC amplifiers within the cinema environment). We started, like most in the industry, with the Series-1 amps (model 1400, mostly)...then the USA, the MXa (some EX) and finally the DCA line. QSC was THE amp of choice. They had power, reliability, cinema features like crossovers (octal form for Series-1, Card form for MX/EX and piggyback for DCA).

[Leo Enticknap]

I was going to post something about this, but then saw that the QSC document was marked as confidential - do not disclose to third parties, and decided against it.

I suspected that the writing was on the wall for the DCA line when no QIO Dataport box was offered.

I'm also not surprised about the DCIO without the H. If you want to get cinema audio into Q-Sys but don't need HDMI, you might as well get a QIO-AES8x8, presumably at a fraction of the price, and bring HI/VI out through a couple of channels in the core.

[Steve Guttag]

I didn't post the whole document. The information (about the discontinuation of product I posted isn't confidential...they want it gone...while supplies last). But I do appreciate the concern.

As to the QIO-AES8x8...it is a poor substitute for the DCIO. It lacks 2-channels for HI/VI (or 7.1, depending on your viewpoint), it isn't RJ45...so an adapter cable is needed, which will be kludgy. So, in order to replicate the DCIO, you'd need QIO-AES8x8 and a QIO-L4o (and still need an amplifier for a booth monitor, somewhere). Furthermore, that is a single NIC system...inherently less reliable. The DCIO was/is solid and fully redundant.

The vast majority of my systems utilize one pair of Cores across multiple screens...so I don't go for Cores with analog I/O. But for those that are going for a more traditional 1-Core/screen. Yes, that is quite a viable option...once you get all 10-channels into the system.

I was pushing for the separate DCIO by itself and a dedicated QIO-HDMI component to allow one to add HDMI just to the system, as needed. It would be a more efficient use of resources.

There are AES67 possibilities from some servers now to get audio in. One can use a traditional cinema processor (CP950, OV-1 or servers with built-in audio) but then Q-SYS becomes just a "B-chain" and control device. The value decreases.

[Bobby Henderson]

Once QSC is gone from the cinema market what are the alternatives?

As more cinemas keep shutting down I would expect to see a growing number of companies end cinema-specific product lines. At some point the whole platform could collapse. There has to be a large enough customer base of cinemas to justify manufacturing things like cinema-grade digital projectors, cinema speakers, amps, etc. The same goes for all the other stuff you install in a theater, like screens, seats, sconce lights, etc.

[Marcel Birgelen]

The niche is getting smaller, but in this case, there is no man overboard yet. It was becoming increasingly clear that QSC would focus on its Q-Sys offering, especially with the last sale.

Moving Image Technologies has acquired the DCS line of products from QSC and is going to provide them from now on. There are also still quite a few alternatives, like JBL, Dolby and KCS come to mind when it comes down to speakers and amps. Also, Meyer Sound still offers some dedicated cinema speakers.

Furthermore, there is quite a second hand market for professional cinema speakers, that can be refurbished.

[Steve Guttag]

For amplifiers, technically, you can use the MDA-Q since they have an external switch to put them in stand-alone mode. However, you do have offerings from these companies with a cinema presence:

• Crown (dedicated cinema versions)
• LEA (with a dedicated cinema version of their amps)
• Powersoft
• Dolby (specifically for cinema, naturally)
• BGW

Naturally, any amplifier you like can be used in a cinema application.

As noted, the DCS line of speakers, like the UPC28c line of ADA equipment was purchased by MIT and distributed by them. MIT has a vested interest in cinema...so they are probably safe there.

Remember, when QSC started in cinema, the Series-1 amplifiers were not cinema specific. I think the USA line was targeting cinema. The MX and EX line did have a cinema-specific crossover. It wasn't until the DCA where we clearly had a cinema specific amplifier from QSC though they had their CX line, which was nearly identical.

[Hong Sung Hyeok]

You guys all know that QSC sold only its cinema theater speaker division to Moving Image Technology, right?

https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/moving-image-technologies-expands-global-cinema-market-reach-purchase-highly

They are distancing themselves from the failing theater industry. Are they planning to focus entirely on professional audio?
The DCA amplifier will truly go down in history as a legend in projection rooms.

Barco acquired Focal and Naim through the acquisition of VerVent Audio Holdings.

It appears to be a move to compete with Dolby Atmos alongside the ICMP-XS.
It seems Barco is serious about cinemas.

[Steve Guttag]

Q-SYS is distancing from most everything other than Zoom/Team rooms and lobby spaces. It isn't just cinema. Most anything with large speakers, large power seems to be not in their future. Look at how many EOL things they have over in the non-cinema spaces too. QSC/Q-SYS was acquired by Acuity Brands...clearly for the Q-SYS technology and its ability to integrate spaces. Acuity has, mostly, been a lighting company.

I also see an increase push to get people into Q-SYS Reflect...which could actually be handy in cinema as a form of NOC service.

As for MIT and Q-SYS. They didn't acquire their cinema division. Thus far, they've acquired the DCS (speakers) and the former USL ADA equipment (not all of the USL stuff...just the UPC-28 and related equipment).

[Leo Enticknap]

Ironically, I recently had to make an Acuity house lighting system controllable from Q-Sys, and it was one of the most difficult integration tasks I've ever done. There is no off-the-shelf plugin, the RS232 protocol was stated incorrectly on the documentation for the interface box (said no parity bit was needed whereas it was - took me two hours to figure that one out), and all the commands required the manual calculation of checksums. It seems that Acuity bought Q-Sys, but can't even make their own products play nicely with it!

[Jim Cassedy]

Headline: "QSC's exit from cinema is just about complete (including DCA amplifiers)"

Punchline: And, right on cue, I had a QSC DCA 1622 surround amp die on me last night!

[Leo Enticknap]

According to the QSC document that Steve and I saw, they are withdrawing DCA amps from sale, but will still service them. So if you are willing to ship your NFG 1622 to Costa Mesa, they will still fix it for you. Obviously (and sorry if this comes across as condescending), it's worth checking to see if the problem is easy and obvious, like a popped fuse or a ripple filter capacitor that has projectile vomited (this happens frequently with MX1500a and 3000a amps, so much so that I keep a few spare capacitors on the shelf at a site that is still running these 30-year old beasties).

[Jim Cassedy]

No, not condescending at all. It's occasionally easy for even experienced techs to
overlook something obvious. I have a feeling the issue is heat-related, due both
to the fact that we've had record breaking temperatures here in SF for the past
two days, and also due to another factor I don't care to mention here. I'm waiting
to hear what my company wants me to do. We have a service contract so for
'major' things like this, so if they don't want me to deal with it later today they
may get the service-tech in, if they haven't already opened a ticket. Since my
venue is part of a large chain, it's even possible they've got a spare QSC
somewhere they'll send me to swap (Or, given the state-of-the-business in
some parts of the country, they may just decide to fire everyone and close
down an underperforming location somewhere so we can take one of their
amps )

[Steve Guttag]

If QSC is consistent, they'd service them for, at least, 3-years after their EOL date. My guess is that they are down to the point of needing to hoard parts to honor warranties since parts that go into the DCA are no longer made. The DCA was the last of that platform (that started with the PLX, was used in the CX and a couple of others). The DCA marks the end of the Dataport generation.

If you have any DCP300s that need service, I would do them now as they will go EOS this summer.

[Jim Cassedy]

If you have any DCP300s that need service, I would do
them now as they will go EOS this summer.

Thanks for the info, Steve. Good to know, and I'll keep it on file for now.
As for my shaky surround amp, my venue has a service contract with Strong Technical
Services, and my supervisor decided he'd have them come in and deal with this rather
than have me take care of it. A replacement amp was sent overnight, and a was swapped
out some time yesterday ( I had the day off- so I wasn't there) It's my understanding that
an RMA number has already been obtained and the old amp will be shipped for repair or
whatever they're going to do with it.

[Steve Guttag]

The niche is getting smaller, but in this case, there is no man overboard yet. It was becoming increasingly clear that QSC would focus on its Q-Sys offering, especially with the last sale.

Moving Image Technologies has acquired the DCS line of products from QSC and is going to provide them from now on. There are also still quite a few alternatives, like JBL, Dolby and KCS come to mind when it comes down to speakers and amps. Also, Meyer Sound still offers some dedicated cinema speakers.

Furthermore, there is quite a second hand market for professional cinema speakers, that can be refurbished.

It might be interesting to post what companies have shown a commitment to cinema as a (vertical) market where the company is not, necessarily just in cinema. An advantage to supporting these companies is that they are more likely to respond to our needs than one that tell us what our needs should be!

I've listed the amplifier companies that came to mind, above. But, in speakers (in no particular order, and with a USA centric emphasis since that is what I see):

• Moving Image Technologies, clearly, with the DCS line (formerly from QSC); and they're returning some discontinued models, like the SR-1000 surround. https://www.dcsreference.com/
• JBL have an entire portfolio, in various price ranges. https://jblpro.com/en-US/product_families/cinema-sound
• MAG Cinema. I've noted that they tend to do a twist on conventional designs. They are not just clones of other designs. https://mag-cinema.com/
• Dolby, clearly has a vested interest in Cinema and they have really made strides moving away from the SLS stuff to more sturdy and clever speakers. https://professional.dolby.com/produ...products/#gref They have some really cool surrounds with variable intensity horns that are handy for wide/long rooms.
• Klipsch has a rather large portfolio of both horn and bass-reflex speakers. https://www.klipsch.com/pro/cinema-3
• Krix https://www.krix.com.au/commercial-cinema (not typically in the USA, but I hear a lot about them from those on the other side of the planet).
• Meyer Sound. Meyer is an interesting one as it is a more holistic approach of integrated amplifier and speaker. So, when pricing them out (and their prices are steep), remember you are buying the amplifier(s) needed to run that speaker too. You don't need to worry about sizing of the amplifier or crossover settings or any of that..it is all figured out to the nth degree. Another tell of their quality is that they are going into screening rooms, top-end theatres and even the Motion Picture Academy's Goldwyn Theatre. They too have a reasonably full portfolio https://meyersound.com/products/?by-...ry=cine-studio If you're a fly-by-wire type person, like me, they have direct network connection (AES67) on some models.

With most of the companies above, they have more than just cinema speakers so it might be worth looking around the portfolio to see if they may have a unique speaker that suits your particular needs. I know with some Atmos systems I've been working on, keeping the front-side surrounds (LW1/RW1) from obstructing the sightlines in some rear-corner seats can be a challenge. Your solution might not come from cinema (and likely will cost a lot more). A JBL CBT series or a Meyer Sound X20 series might get you out of a tight-jamb (literally).

Like with other equipment, I tend to support those companies that look at Cinema as a market worth having some dedication to. Feel free to add you own manufacturers that I haven't added. These are just the ones that come to mind that I have worked with (except Krix and MAG Cinema, but I have used MN Mounts).