mogcamper Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I am putting together a small system and as usual am on a small budget. I have heard that CPC do a re-badged version of the Soundtec Multidim at only £40+VAT. However, the catch is that they are out of stock. Anybody know where else I can get these from? I know that the Soundtec unit is readily available but why pay more for an identical unit?Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I've had a long, and not particularly fruitful, discussion with CPC over this. I ordered a pair in October, with "early november" delivery. This then slipped to "just before christmas", and then to "mid january". They were not particularly good at returning my calls. That's fairly unusual - I do a lot of business with CPC, and have had very few complaints. Latest date I've been given is 16 January. Bruce. Update: Just phoned CPC - apparently my order is now due to ship on 9th January. I'll let you know if/when they arrive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogcamper Posted January 6, 2006 Author Share Posted January 6, 2006 Thats my experience with CPC as well. I once ordered some christmas lights in October. You guessed it, they came after Christmas! Hence the request for an alternative supplier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Update: Just phoned CPC - apparently my order is now due to ship on 9th January. I'll let you know if/when they arrive.Sounding more promising, when I emailed on the 7th of December they were due on the 14th January, the same date was also given for another completely separate item, so I presume they are getting a large delivery in then or something. There website does seem to be rather bad at not updating stock status, e.g. still being able to order stuff that's out of stock. PN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mush Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 know that the Soundtec unit is readily available but why pay more for an identical unit?Thanks ShowLab er mean its ShowTec and rebrand from CPC is SoundLab.No one has a retail price close to CPC, Thomann are 67 quid for Showtec , think, and may not have stock to hand either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Kind of highjacking this thread a little bit but... I've been using a couple of the mk2 versions of these and have noticed that when switched on, all channels flash on for a short period of time (<1s). Annoying really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 That is annoying, especially as if you load the racks with 4 pars, then on power up you risk overloading the socket. That could scupper my plans to buy some of those for church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickwoolley Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Hi, Just for curiosity - why would it have to do that? Thanks, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Probably boot sequence.If the internal dimmer module (probably an analogue unit given how cheap it is) starts up before the DMX reception module then this may happen. It's caused by poor/cheap design as it can easily be suppressed by using reset circuitry to force the dimmer to stay at zero until the DMX reception module properly initialises.This would drive the cost of the dimmer up a little of course, due to additional design and construction costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickwoolley Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Tomo, Thanks for that! Clears it up! Cheers, Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogcamper Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 I assume lots of people have these. Does this happen to them all or is it a one off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mush Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hi, Just for curiosity - why would it have to do that? Thanks, Nick Virtually all the DMX/digtal dimmers have looked into have been entirely microcontroller based, its actually a lot cheaper to make a micro based dimmer than an analogue unit. Even couple have seen that had analogue and digital in used on board Analogue to Digital from the microcontroller to handle analogue input. Good be a software bug with the boot sequence though. Brian when you say MK11 what other distigusihing features does it have? Seem to recall some on ebay labelled as MK11 Showtec Multidim that had built in mic for sound to light functions, wonder if could be a switch on `thump` from audio circuit. Or electrical noise or a capacitor charging in power supply circuit causing optos to fire momentarily. Can say the ShowTec MK1`s have have exhibited no such behaviour, had a couple running few watts of Christmas lights for 4 weeks 24/7 without any trauma. But if the recipe has been changed sure we all want to know about it....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidLee Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Sounding more promising, when I emailed on the 7th of December they were due on the 14th January, the same date was also given for another completely separate item, so I presume they are getting a large delivery in then or something.As of two days ago delivery expected 4th February "approximately". I'm giving up and going with Showtec from Thomann (£67.62 inc VAT). David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Beesley Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 HI Folks, Can I set the situation straight - the rebadged dimmers come in from a UK importer who uses the same manufacturer as Showtec. The delivery dates have been moved a few times and I can only apologise for the problem - the delivery dates are given by the UK importer and all we can do is inform our customers of the expected delivery date.If you have any specific problems with CPC please contact the Customer Services and they will help you. Best Regards Chris BeesleyProduct ManagerCPC Plc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neff Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 HI Folks, Can I set the situation straight - the rebadged dimmers come in from a UK importer who uses the same manufacturer as Showtec. The delivery dates have been moved a few times and I can only apologise for the problem - the delivery dates are given by the UK importer and all we can do is inform our customers of the expected delivery date. Do we now have a more confirmed 'expected' delivery date? I'd like to buy a couple so I can run the stand alone PAR 56 rig we have in school from the DMX desk while using the fixed rig as well. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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