A Good Buy?

[Meduza]

Hello

 

I have a chance to get a used Q-Commander with a homebuilt input extender

in good condition for about £200, is this a good buy or is there anything better

for this price?

 

It will be used for smaller rock-style gigs, some amateaur theatre and some

discos and other parties?

 

// Erik

[tokm]

Nothing better at that price...

 

Its one of my personal hated desks, but.. at the end of the day, it is a 'proper' ML desk. In that it uses fixture personalities, uses the LTP & HTP concepts, gives you palettes & has a shape generator (of sorts) and admitedly, it gives better control of movers than you'd get from anything else at that price. So yeah its a good buy, maybe you'll like it!

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Tom

[Ben]

Its one of my personal hated desks, but.. at the end of the day, it is a 'proper' ML desk. In that it uses fixture personalities, uses the LTP & HTP concepts, gives you palettes ... and admitedly, it gives better control of movers than you'd get from anything else at that price. So yeah its a good buy, maybe you'll like it!

 

Tom

 

 

I will happily agree with the above but must point out it does not have a shape generator of any sort built in, it is very possible to build your own shapes but there is no generator built into the desk.

 

I never liked the desk much but there are many out there who swore by it. It is very reliable and fairly easy to use for that money it is certainly a good buy, I know a few people who would probably jump at the chance to get one for that money. Worth noting that the desk is still in demand new at around the 1000 pound mark.

 

Ben

[johnhuson]

Sorry to be boring, but I would also like to agree with the above. Although far from my favourite console in the world, I have used one for quite a period in the past, and I've learnt how to get the most out of this board. I would still prefer it over quite a few other manufacturers current desks which have moving light capability. Given that it's still a current product for Light Processor listing at between £1400-£2000 depending on specification, I'd say £200 is a good buy. Just be prepared that it might be a steep learning curve to get the most out of it.

[tokm]

I will happily agree with the above but must point out it does not have a shape generator of any sort built in, it is very possible to build your own shapes but there is no generator built into the desk.

Erm, yes it does..

 

From the Qcommander/lightprocessor website:

 

8 Pre-programmed chase patterns

 

I thought it didn't have one either.. till recently that is. I rang up Light Processor in preparation for an event I was doing where I was going to be FORCED to use this desk, it was primarily about how to get new fixture profiles and what not, but as a side question, I asked what the '8 Pre-programmed chase patterns ' thing was about and the support guy started telling me how it is technically a shape gen, but nowhere near as diverse as ones on other consoles.. obviously.

 

Basically the way the guy explained it to me, you make up groups of various channels, like group of all the P & T channels, group of all the dimmer channels (of your fixtures) etc etc. Then you apply these shapes to a group. I tried it, they looked naff, so didn't bother with them in the end.

 

But yes, overall its worth getting. As Ben said its still sort after.. so maybe you could re-sell, get some profit and and buy something you prefer more..

 

Tom

[niclights]

There's probably little point, but for the sake of it I must add the same. Probably is good value if it's something you're going to use or maybe make a profit from, but personnally I found it to be one of the worst controllers ever & I wouldn't use it if you gave it to me. In fact I have to admit our unit ended life in the bin.

[Tim Edwards]

Hi,

 

The Q commander is a great little desk for someone just starting in the industry. My first moving light shows were programed on one. Don't get me wrong its a naff desk after playing with hogs and pearls but as an entry level desk and at that price... The only problem I had was you couldn't make a theatre stack, but a good desk for a small busking rock'n'roll gig.

[collism]

Seems a good price - perfectly usable desk and have seen it used to control decent sized club rigs with amateur ops when properly programmed. Obviously an Avo desk would be nice but perhaps you could think about hiring one in when budgets allow or when a shape generator is absolutely essential.

[jayselway]

When I was working at the students union, I used a Q Commander for 4 years. Fairly easy to program, once you know your way round it, and easy to run once you've got your buttons and pads programmed up. Going Live is a bit of an issue, as if you're in the middle of the night, you can grab a fixture and move it around manually, however as soon as you leave Live, it jumps back into whatever is running at the time.

 

To be honest - for what we used it for, it was ok, but when it was away for a week being serviced, I did two nights my Masterpiece instead. Still prefer the MP over the Q Commander. Ultimately happier on a Pearl, but until I can afford one, I'm sticking with the MP, even though it has no LTP/HTP, personalities, anything! ;)