Maxxyz

[sam.henderson]

I have been looking arround on the internet and there is a particular lighting desk that has really caught my eye, Its the Maxxyx. I just looks and sounds amazing! So has anyone had any experiance with this desk or heard anything about it. Not working in Lighting as my main profession (I do Stage Management) I thought some of you really techncial Lighting people could tell me what it would be like behind all the fancy lights (sorry for the pun) etc.

 

So what do you think of it, Is it ridiculously overpriced with useless features or is it the best Lighting Desk You have ever seen??

 

Sam

 

http://www.stage-electrics.co.uk/eweb/img/admax2.jpg

[peter]

To be honest, I'm not too keen on the Maxxyz. Its buttons are huge! It feels like you're playing with a Tomy "My First Lighting Desk".

 

Martin have gone for a lot of gimmicky features which will probably begin to break down after a few hard tours, and will be expensive to replace. Motorised faders are nice, but unncessary (IMHO). Personally, I'd prefer a Diamond 4. My reasons? Well firstly Avolites build quality will take a lot of beating - in both senses. The tried and tested buttons and faders combined with the LCD screens which have been implimented throughout the Avo range mean that the whole desk is built on technology which is already popular. The software interface is much more user friendly (IMHO again) - somehow having a physical button to select a moving light is a lot more satisfying than having to touch a touchscreen monitor.

 

Also, why would I want a DVD player in my lighting desk? Overkill. Like the addition of the cans station though - nice feature.

[sam.henderson]

Also, why would I want a DVD player in my lighting desk?  Overkill.  Like the addition of the cans station though - nice feature.

I could think of quite a few Get Ins where I would of happily crowded round the lighting Desk to watch my fave movie :blink: :(

 

It is also very visually attractive (not that I'm saying you should judge anything by this)

 

I have never used a desk with motorised faders but it is a feature I would love to have a go with!

 

Waht do people think of the Visuliser stuff- Personally I think it would be helpful if you were opperating it from underground :D but providing you have a clear view of the stage its unnecesery??? What do you guys think??

 

For more information on the Maxxyx check out the following links I have just found;

 

Martin Spec

 

Maxxyx Homepage

 

Sam

[Ike]

Its buttons are huge! It feels like you're playing with a Tomy "My First Lighting Desk".

I quite like that feature, I suppose its just a question of personal choice.

 

I really cant see me using some of the new features and if you take a look at the forum you can see a few of the problems others are having with it. I know its a new desk and bound to have a few 'glitches' but I don't think I would trust an important show to one just yet (not that I'm saying not all my shows are important btw).

[TomLyall]

I do like the idea of being able to watch a dvd during those oh so boring rehearsals :D

[Bryson]

A google turned up virtually nothing, but for those who've never seen it, here is its webpage.

 

The concept of previewing on the visualiser before you send it live seems nice, but all the other bits and pieces (integrated cans? I wonder how much extra that adds to the price? My guess is more than a beltpack will cost you!) seem a little pointless.

 

Oh, and if I had enough time to watch a dvd, I'd go away from the desk and have a proper break.

 

Edit: Corrected link.

[Stu]

Me thinks the DVD player is in there so you can plot to a prerecorded version of the show / gig, more useful than plotting to production photos etc.

 

Stu

[minimac]

the price of this loverly desk is £26,500

the avolites dimond 4 vision is £19,980

a laptop dvd player, £300 max

cans, £150

 

it is a nice desk but I think that there are better ways to spend your money.

 

like 6 mac 500's

 

prices from ac lighting

[kalmatthew]

Umm IRC the D4 range have DVD players, at least the one I used did

[sam.henderson]

A google turned up virtually nothing, but for those who've never seen it, here is its webpage.

 

The concept of previewing on the visualiser before you send it live seems nice, but all the other bits and pieces (integrated cans? I wonder how much extra that adds to the price?  My guess is more than a beltpack will cost you!) seem a little pointless.

 

Oh, and if I had enough time to watch a dvd, I'd go away from the desk and have a proper break.

 

Edit: Corrected link.

I persoanlly trhink the can feature is nice!

 

It good to have wires neatly organised.

 

The ability to play DVD's I think is just a small add on, it has a DVD Drive to record shows etc.

 

Sam

[peter]

The ability to play DVD's I think is just a small add on, it has a DVD Drive to record shows etc.

 

Sam

The Maxxyz has a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. This means that it can read DVDs but not write to them. You can use the CD-RW to write to standard data cds to backup your shows.

[sam.henderson]

The ability to play DVD's I think is just a small add on, it has a DVD Drive to record shows etc.

 

Sam

The Maxxyz has a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. This means that it can read DVDs but not write to them. You can use the CD-RW to write to standard data cds to backup your shows.

Having just had a look at the website the primary reason for the DVD/CDR-W drive is so that you can sycronise the desk with video and audio inputs.

 

After doing some digging I think that the Maxxyz desk is very adaptable and custimizable (is that a word?). For istance it has numerous buttons you can program to run different commands, it has various attachable wings, many different ports (parallel, USB Etc.) and the coice of Floppy or CD/DVD When Programming

 

Sam

[ziggyP]

The description of the desk is 2 PC mother boards inside with a single harddrive. If the desk is built using PC parts reliability is not going to be great. PC power supplies are not good at dealing with power spikes and vibration. The pci slots are not reliable again for vibration and also in conditions that can give condensation, ie straight out of a cold truck into a warm venue.

 

The software is written by the same people behind the Case desks according to a friend who works at Martin UK and they were not easy to use or stable.

 

Ziggy

[Ike]

Having just had a look at the website the primary reason for the DVD/CDR-W drive is so that you can sycronise the desk with video and audio inputs.

I personally don't see how a DVD drive will help with this. A CD-RW drive does have its uses for backup although, IMHO, there are better methods of back up.

 

it has numerous buttons you can program to run different commands

Don't most desks of this kind?

 

many different ports (parallel, USB Etc.)

Are there uses for these? I'm all for future proofing but not at the expense of system stability and a large extra cost.

 

integrated cans

Not a great fan of this feature either. Seems a bit like they're adding features for the sake of the spec sheet and not them actually being of any use. This feature does not appear very future proof at all and does not cater for the wide range of communication methods in use (PMR etc).

 

like 6 mac 500's

As this is a theatre forum its amazing how few people ever mention any theatre lanterns.

 

 

rant over...for now :D

[Tomo]

Once again a desk using WinXP embedded - but this time no real-time OS handling the really important bits.

 

Personally, I REALLY don't like that idea - it's also got dual Intel PIII processors in it, which doesn't feel like the right architecture for a lighting desk to me either - ARM or StrongARM would be more like it.

(And if you really do want x86 architecture, the Opterons are one heck of a lot better for less money)

 

On another note, it seems very limitd in playback capabilities - only 1000 available cues? With a large rig I can see myself running out.

The Celco Explorer I use at Uni has about a quarter that number, but that's designed for rigs of less than a tenth the size.