Lightprocessor Zip series

[Robin D]

I've a couple of hundred quid or so available to replace my own and much used 18 channel 2 pre-set desk and was wondering about the the Zip series. I think the design is now about 6-7 years old but cannot find anywhere to confirm this. The plus points seem to be:

1. I can buy the zip 18 and with a bit of soldering can immediately drive my three existing analogue packs.
   
2. It would allow me to set simple colour scenes and chases so I can leave it for untrained teachers to use for daytime rehearsals while I'm earning a crust in the day job.
   
3. It's roughly the same size and weight as the existing desk meaning its will easily go in the car with the rest of my gear when I need to take it out.
   

I should point out that I mostly use the desk and the rest of my gear to support end of term shows for a local stage school, but also light some local concerts generally in churches. All my lights are generics and I don't see me paying out for movers, although some LED PAR's might be on the agenda at some point.

 

I've only seen one Zip desk come up for sale on ebay in the last six months and that went for good money given the new price. I've scoured BR but can find little information on them especially on build quality and reliability where as there is plenty on the other 'lightweight' desks. I did find the thread that discussed DMX timings with other control desks but that's unlikely to cause me an issue.

 

Any thoughts and comments, particularly from those that have first hand experience of using the Zip desks, would be welcome please.

 

Many thanks in anticipation guys and girls.

 

Robin

[Pattern123]

If you're looking for analogue then why not Pulsar? No soldering then needed.....

[Robin D]

Thanks for the response and a fair question albeit from incorrect logic. :D

 

The existing desk and dimmers are Berkley-Colortran with Cinch-Jones 310 series connectors so soldering is required for any desk.

 

To get back to your point though, were you thinking of the Minipiece or something else at that value? The Minipiece is unfortunately only DMX meaning I'd need to spend another £100 or so on a demux. The Masterpiece is ways out of budget and the Rock Desk doesn't really meet the requirements. (I used one in anger many years back).

 

Robin

[Ben]

Hey

 

The Zip desk is a very good product indeed. The Zip 18 is a 36 channel desk allowing you to program scenes onto sub-masters if you require as well as chases, or of course use it as a single pre-set desk accessing the second band of channels by simply pressing the "bank" button.

 

If you are using it in schools its a good choice as its a very simply desk to learn and master while having a high build quality enabling it to take the knocks and abuse it will undoubtedly see in that environment.

 

The desk is indeed about 6 years old.

 

Its also worth mentioning that the build design of the desk makes service very easy and should anything go wrong that cannot be easily repaired it is a modular design enabling you to remove the processor unit or the faders in banks of 6 for quick and easy repairs or replacement.

 

My experience comes from having built the desks when they first came out and running all support and repairs for them for the first 2 years of their life and I can honestly say I love the little desk. They rarely go wrong and are so easy to use that they sound like the perfect choice for you.

 

HTH and if you have any more questions just ask :D

 

Ben

[Robin D]

That's very helpful thanks Ben.

 

Three questions if you can:

• It's unclear from the part downloadable manual but can you run a mix of analogue and DMX at the same time? I.e analogue on 1-18 and DMX on 19 - 36?
  
• Is a replacement in the pipeline do you know?
  
• Since Coopers have taken them over, and there is mention on the site of the Cwmbran facility, will on-going support be available do you know? The Zero88 guys are great but LightProcessor support is new to me.
  

 

NB: The download only has pages 1-9 of the analogue section of the manual so doesn't go into the DMX facilities at all. :D

 

Thanks again ..... Robin.

[Brian]

[*] It's unclear from the part downloadable manual but can you run a mix of analogue and DMX at the same time? I.e analogue on 1-18 and DMX on 19 - 36?

From my local copy of the manual...

ALL THE FUNCTIONS PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED UNDER ANALOGUE

OPERATION ARE ALSO AVAILABLE WHEN THE DESK IS USED WITH DMX

OUTPUTS. ZIP DESKS OUTPUT24 (36, 36) CONSECUTIVE CHANNELS OF

DMX, USING THE BANK CONTROL DESCRIBED ON PAGE 14 TO ACCESS THE

FULL RANGE OF CHANNELS.

The DMX start address may be any valid address, i.e. 1-489 for the Zip 6 (1-477

for the Zip 12 and Zip 18) and is set using the following procedure.

[Ben]

It's unclear from the part downloadable manual but can you run a mix of analogue and DMX at the same time? I.e analogue on 1-18 and DMX on 19 - 36?

 

Yes it is, the desk can be soft patched to do this, you can soft patch the DMX so you can make 1-18 respond to 19-36 on the desk.

 

Is a replacement in the pipeline do you know?

 

Nope there is no replacement being talked about from what I have been told under the basis of why fix something that is not broken?

 

Since Coopers have taken them over, and there is mention on the site of the Cwmbran facility, will on-going support be available do you know? The Zero88 guys are great but LightProcessor support is new to me.

 

Well Coopers took over the Polaron group that owned the companies for a few years so there is no real change as far as support goes for light processor. Bob in service there should be able to answer any issues and if not the sales team are very helpful and where they cant help or if its quicker post on here or email me and I will be happy to help also. The desk is manufactured in the same facility as all the light processor products at the Cwmbran manufacturing facility.

 

NB: The download only has pages 1-9 of the analogue section of the manual so doesn't go into the DMX facilities at all. :D

 

Thats a bit odd and must be a mistake but if you pm me your email address I will be happy to email you the full manual for the desk.

 

HTH

 

Ben