Lighting Desk Options, Yes another topic...

[Aaron-Hill07]

Evening Guys & Girls,

 

Yes before you say it... I know there are lots of other topics about this subject on the forum but I'm looking for specific advice for my situation as I have searched through the rest of the forum to no avail!

 

So, my situation is... I'm looking to change my lighting desk, I currently use an Avolites Azure Shadow which I'm planning on selling and replacing.

 

Now my budget will be approximately £3000 for the new desk,

 

I work mainly in Live Concert/Events, but also do a fair share of theatre and corporate work.

 

I have identified the new desks features to be the following:

 

• Relatively Small In Size,
  Capable of at least 4 DMX universes
  Pallette Programming,
  Quite a few playbacks
  Easy to program moving lights (Shape Generator)
  Touch screen would be handy (if neccesary)
  

 

So, I'm looking for some advice.. I've looked at the Chamsys MagicQ100 desk, and like the idea of it but I think they're too expensive new, so unless anyone knows of second hand ChamSys desks then I believe they're out of the question?

 

Any help/advice welcome!

 

Thanks

[Lampy Craig]

Not gonna be too much help here but,

 

If I was you I'd keep the Azure, I love them for their size, so easy to use and the fact they do what a pearl does. when you come to selling it let me know what you want for it.

 

'fraid I can't be much help on a good replacement though as I've only really used avo extensively. All the others such as chamsys, grand ma, hogs etc I've just turned up and operated with somebody else(house/festival lampy) programming it for me.

 

Nice one

 

Craig

www.flickr.com/photos/craigmccleary/

[buck_rogers999]

Not sure on price but you do have the congo jnr. if not try checking out the pearl tiger or the new touch screen version of it.

 

Never been a big fan of the azure's always reminded me of a mc donalds till ** laughs out loud **

[tokm]

Sounds like an ETC Ion (perhaps with a fader wing and can be used with a touchscreen) would be perfect for you. Fulfills all your requirements easily and having used them on a number of jobs, I can say they handle gigs, theatre and corporate easily.

 

Give Sam or David @ London Light a shout, they'll be able to give you a proper demo and are ETC Dealers. Link

 

HTH, Tom

[Aaron-Hill07]

Tom, how much could I get an Ion for?

 

Thanks, I may just give London Light a call!

[Wol]

So, I'm looking for some advice.. I've looked at the Chamsys MagicQ100 desk, and like the idea of it but I think they're too expensive new, so unless anyone knows of second hand ChamSys desks then I believe they're out of the question?

 

Hi Aaron.

 

Have you considered a MQ50 or a Maxiwing + PC solution at all?

 

Both give the same amount of faders, encoders and buttons as the MQ100, just the MQ50 doesn't have some of the extra features of the MQ100 such as an internal screen, in built UPS and internal network hub. Of course the MaxiWing would also require a PC to run on as well ;-)!

 

It depends on your situation as to whether things like a network hub or a UPS are important to you for your setup or whether you could live without these features.

 

To cover your points,

 

• Relatively Small In Size - MQ50 is apprx 50cm by 40cm by 13cm, so quite a compact solution. MaxiWing is the same size from the top, but is a little bit shallower.
  
• Capable of at least 4 DMX universes - Both the MaxiWing and MQ50 also support 4 direct DMX outputs on the rear panel, and support extra universes through other USB / Ethernet interfaces
  
• Pallette Programming - In MagicQ
  
• Quite a few playbacks - There are 10 physical playback faders on the MaxiWing and MQ50, but you can extend your system by purchasing any of the playback wings if you do find that you need more physical faders for playbacks.
  
• Easy to program moving lights (Shape Generator) - In MagicQ
  
• Touch screen would be handy (if neccesary) - The MQ50 comes supplied with an external touchscreen, and getting one for a PC setup with a MaxiWing shouldn't be too hard to find online.
  

 

Hope that helps

 

Cheers,

[Aaron-Hill07]

Wol - Yes I have looked at the MQ50 but I do like the idea of having a built in touch-screen... not sure what the price difference between 50 & 100 is though.

 

UPS isn't too much of an issue, but a network hub would be handy!

 

Are these desks within my price range then?

 

Thanks,

Aaron

[tom_the_LD]

Have you considered a Pearl Tiger?

 

There's an "As New" one on Used Lighting for £2985 + VAT - that would definitely be my choice if it were up to me! It fulfills all your criterea (with the exceoption of touchscreen although not necessery) and you're familiar with Avo consoles already.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Tom

[themadhippy]

take one of these

http://www.tecnodrop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/asus-eee-top.jpg

add

http://www.chamsys.co.uk/gfx/products/pcwing/pcwinghigh.jpg

and you get

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/themadhippy/11-07-09_1553.jpg

cost,around £1500

[Wol]

themadhippy: If you're going to hotlink off our site, at least use one of the non-high resolution pictures :unsure: ( http://chamsys.co.uk/gfx/products/pcwing/pcwingthumb.jpg )

 

Aaron: Or if you want to use a MaxiWing rather than a PC Wing, you could end up with something like this*. Not sure if you've seen the bunch of fan photos on facebook on the ChamSys page, but theres some really good setups that customers have come up with for the wing products.

 

* - Apologies to those who can't see the fan photos on facebook, but I know that the OP can see them!