What format do our sound files need to be in?

QLab plays the common formats: WAV, AIFF, MP3 and most files that play on a Mac. Multitrack files work too, up to 24 channels each with the audio licence. Send us what you have and we will check it, and if anything needs converting we will do it before the hire starts.

None of us has used QLab before. Is that a problem?

Not usually. Running a finished cue list is one key press per cue, and most student operators pick it up inside one rehearsal. The programming is the part that takes learning, so tell us about the show and we will either build the cue list with you before the get-in or send an operator for the run.

Can it run our projection as well as the sound?

Yes. The video licence is on the machine, so video and still-image cues sit in the same cue list as the sound and go out to a projector or screen. QLab handles mapping and edge blending for awkward surfaces. Tell us what you are projecting onto and we will confirm the connections, and a projector can be added to the hire if you need one.

Why not just play tracks from a laptop and a music app?

For a concert with one track after another, a laptop is honestly fine. Shows are different: effects overlap, music has to fade on a spoken line rather than at a set time, and nobody wants a notification sound in a blackout. QLab is built to solve exactly that, and the operator always sees which cue is next. If the show has more than a handful of cues, it earns its place.

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QLab playback system hire

When a show needs its music and sound effects to land on cue, night after night, QLab is what most theatres use to do it. This hire saves you buying a Mac and a licence for one production: a Mac with QLab 5 licensed and installed, a multichannel audio interface, and everything tested before it leaves us. Load your files, build your cue list, press go. It hires at £40 per day, dry hire or with a technician.

QLab is the software most professional theatres use to play sound and video during a show, and version 5 is the current release. Made by Figure 53, it runs on a Mac and holds every sound effect, music track and video clip in one cue list, in running order. In performance the operator presses one key and the next cue fires with its levels, fades and loops already set.

This hire is a ready-built playback rig rather than a bare licence. You get a Mac with QLab 5 installed and its audio and video licences activated, plus a multichannel audio interface to feed your sound desk or powered speakers. The licences matter: without one QLab plays only two channels of audio, while the licensed copy routes up to 128 output channels, plays multitrack files and unlocks the fades and effects that make playback sound deliberate rather than abrupt.

Building a show is straightforward. Drag your audio files in, put them in order, set levels and fade times, and the spacebar becomes the go button. Cues can overlap, so rain keeps running under dialogue while a door knock fires on top. A track that has to duck for a scene change, or loop until the actors are ready, is programmed once and then behaves the same way every night, whoever is operating.

The same machine plays video. QLab sends full-screen video and stills to a projector or screen, with mapping, masking and edge blending built in for awkward surfaces. If your show has a projected backdrop or captions, they sit in the same cue list as the sound and go on the same key press.

The rig runs from one standard 13A socket and sits on a table at the operating position. It speaks MIDI and OSC, so it can work alongside sound desks and lighting consoles when a production grows in that direction. Hire by the day. If you would like a second machine standing by as a backup, or someone from us to build and run the cue list, ask when you book.

What you get

The Mac, with QLab 5 installed and its audio and video licences activated

A multichannel audio interface, with the USB and mains leads to run it

Leads to your sound desk or powered speakers — tell us what you are plugging into and we will sort the right connectors

Your show files loaded and in running order before collection, if you send them to us in advance

Not included as standard: speakers, sound desk, projector and microphones. All can be added from our hire stock

An operator to program and run the show, if you would rather not do it yourselves

Good for

School musicals where backing tracks and sound effects have to land on cue every night

Dance school showcases running dozens of tracks in order with clean fades between numbers

Am-dram plays with layered effects: weather under dialogue, phones and doorbells on cue

Village hall pantomimes, where one operator fires music, stings and chases from a single keyboard

Youth theatre productions where the operator changes between performances and the cue list keeps the show consistent

Shows adding projection, since the same machine plays video cues to a projector

What you need to know

What it does: Holds every sound and video cue in your show in one list and plays the next one each time the operator presses go. Fades, loops and levels are set in advance, so playback is the same every night.
Power: One standard 13A socket runs the Mac and the audio interface. No special power.
Control: The spacebar is the go button. It also speaks MIDI and OSC, so it can work alongside sound desks and lighting consoles on bigger shows.
Where it goes: A table at the operating position, usually next to your sound desk. The interface feeds the desk or powered speakers.
Who runs it: Anyone who can follow a script and press a key on cue. Programming takes a little longer, and we can do that with you or for you.

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. A longer hire costs less per day — tell us your dates and we will price the period exactly. Ask us about delivery and hiring with a technician.

Alternatives

Macs and monitors — the plain playback machines and operator screens, when the show does not need cue software.

Full technical specification (15)

Software	QLab 5, by Figure 53
What it is	Show control software: sound, video, light and show control cues for live performance
Platform	Apple Mac; QLab 5 requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later
Supplied as	Mac with QLab 5 installed and licensed, plus a multichannel USB audio interface
Licences	Audio and video licences activated for the hire
Audio output	Up to 128 channels of audio output with the audio licence
Audio files	Up to 24 channels per audio file, with matrix routing to outputs
Audio tools	Per-cue levels, fades, loops, playback-rate control and effects chains
Video cues	Full-screen video and stills, projection mapping, masking, edge blending and warping
Video engine	Built on Apple's Metal framework; up to 1,000 video layers
Lighting	DMX cues over Art-Net or USB; 16 DMX addresses patchable as standard
Show control	OSC, MIDI and MIDI Show Control
Remote control	QLab Remote app for iPad and iPhone
Cue lists	Unlimited cue lists and cue carts
Power	UK 230V mains, one standard 13A socket

Common questions

QLab plays the common formats: WAV, AIFF, MP3 and most files that play on a Mac. Multitrack files work too, up to 24 channels each with the audio licence. Send us what you have and we will check it, and if anything needs converting we will do it before the hire starts.
Not usually. Running a finished cue list is one key press per cue, and most student operators pick it up inside one rehearsal. The programming is the part that takes learning, so tell us about the show and we will either build the cue list with you before the get-in or send an operator for the run.
Yes. The video licence is on the machine, so video and still-image cues sit in the same cue list as the sound and go out to a projector or screen. QLab handles mapping and edge blending for awkward surfaces. Tell us what you are projecting onto and we will confirm the connections, and a projector can be added to the hire if you need one.
For a concert with one track after another, a laptop is honestly fine. Shows are different: effects overlap, music has to fade on a spoken line rather than at a set time, and nobody wants a notification sound in a blackout. QLab is built to solve exactly that, and the operator always sees which cue is next. If the show has more than a handful of cues, it earns its place.

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Talk to us

Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.

Call 0333 404 0621, email [email protected], or send us the details of your production.

QLab playback system hire

What you get

Good for

What you need to know

Check availability

Alternatives

Common questions

More sound desk hire

Behringer X32 digital mixing desk

Midas M32 and M32R Live

Behringer S16, S32 and Midas DL32

Talk to us