Plasa

[themadhippy]

so its that time of year when we all get out our best blacks and trundle of to the big smoke to poke prod and genraly drool at stuff we cant afford(like the pizzas,how much!!!!!).what did it for you?

A few things sparked my intrest,those led ACL's in the white light area were rather funky,proper beamage from leds but a bit pricey,anyone got a raylight kit and a spare multi par lens kicking around? The baby cadac,how much can you cram in a tiny space,if it sounds as good as the feature list then the ls9 has some serious compation,pity theres no toaster module for it yet.However best product has to be the large distro on the rubber box stand,the one by there sales desk.Also cheers chamsys and I luv your new baby,sorry about the drool.

The Bad ere stop trying to blind me with your led screens,and anyone else spot the profile complete with barn doors fitted?

The ugly? that'll be me then.

[Brian]

The Good...

 

Neutrik's PowerCon True1. I've only been on at them to make such a connector for about ten years.

 

 

The Bad...

 

Exhibitors who insist on setting their stand up so that everywhere you look you are dazzled by LEDs. It's not big and it's not clever. Oh, and putting the product you want to look at out of reach.

 

 

The Ugly...

 

The Wybron Cygnus Incite LED profile - it's looks like a Source 4 that's been at the pies.

[soundiesam]

The good:

 

Cadac CDC range

 

 

The Bad:

 

im gonna get shot for this but the Soundcraft VI range (personal opinion)

 

 

The Ugly

 

the Pink HK speaker on the HK stand

[erroneousblack]

The Ugly, all those blokes with pony tails and goatees at a guess!

[Biro]

Very annoyed as I managed to squeeze only a short time to get in today with a genuine motive to wanting to buy, and unable to find any or very little of the information I was after. I wasn't even after anything complicated, I was only looking at high end 6 & 8" cabs!

[dunk]

The good: GDS's new battery product, "The Satellite". I must also say the new Chamsys MQ60 console too!

The Bad: Chinese copy led stuff that they insist they make.

The Ugly: That girl on the dance floor at the Robe party, (after she threw up on herself outside!)

[cedd]

The good; finding out that some great guys who've taken care of me well in the past are now heading up SSE North, just down the road from me. Also finally getting my hands on an SC48 after all these years. It didn't disappoint. Took a punt and bought a pair of very cheap small diaphragm condenser mics from studiospares for £20 each. They'll be useful to have in the toolbox in case. And I got some good advice from Chris at Chamsys about an issue I had last week (an issue I had, not the desk, I might point out!).

 

The bad; Got to be 100% honest here, the new Midas console. Hands up, I've never mixed on a Midas desk before, so maybe it's just a "Midas thing" that you get used to, but I got lost very quickly! On the up side, I managed to get a decent bit of time to play with all the digital consoles that were there and in a sensible price range. First time I've been hands on with most of them. With a potential purchase in the next year or so, it was very helpful, even if just to say "nope, not this one".

 

The ugly; The mauve console (no idea if it was lighting, automation, sound or what, it was just mauve!).

 

I went into the laser booth as a bit of a cynic, but there was some very clever stuff going on in there. I'm not a fan of lasers, but it was really quite impressive.

[paulears]

The really good idea - the STLD shootout, a nice idea and a simple way to see lots doing the same things in a short time.

 

The Good - the light output of some of the LED profile-cum-PC-cum-Fresnels with gobos and barndoors

The Bad - the physical design of some of the LED profile-cum-PC-cum-Fresnels with gobos and barndoors

 

I was quite impressed with these - especially the Coemars until you tried to focus them. Plastic lens housing that has a thumscrew adjuster to and bottom that needs BOTH to be held to slid the tube. I hate any lantern that needs two hands per feature!

 

Really bad - Martin's delivery at the STLG. Far too many clever words that might have looked good on paper, but when read out by somebody who was a little challenged in the presentation/pitch department sounded embarrassingly amateur, especially when it followed one by somebody German, who wasn't that good at English - but was easier to listen to!

 

When will people learn that claiming a product is 'innovative' is so tired - especially when it seems to do the same as everything else! It moves, it goes wide and narrow and changes colour. It's bright, it's small, it's expensive.

 

The feature I didn't like was that LED is now bright enough, but at 5 times the price?

[Peter F]

The Bad:

 

im gonna get shot for this but the Soundcraft VI range (personal opinion)

 

 

I'll bite... Go on what's the problem with the Vi range?

 

Peter

[GreatBigHippy]

My first time at Plasa with a genuine interest to scout out the LED kit to get in the next year or so.

 

Good: Prism Reveal profiles and Fresnels. I was blown away by the output and the beam quality. Never thought I'd find a LED profile I could put up FoH happily.

 

Bad: Trying to get info at many stalls. I know they are after the big buyers but surely the buyers will only get what we have interest in hiring/buying.

 

Ugly: As a man called Richard put it, the "Frogstar Disco" booth. Just before you went into Earls court 2. I think that would tip many clubbers over the edge....

 

Other things I liked: The Christie Cube jobs. The AV cable tester. The new Etc Gio. The introduction to the TAP scheme from the ABTT.

[soundiesam]

I don't like you have to select So much before you can alter it!

[nickb12345]

The good: The moving heads on the Lightfactor stand that turn continueously in one direction - it may have solved a problem that didnt really exist, but I thought it was a good idea. Until, just to satisfy curiosity, we asked how they work. I had assumed the answer would be slip rings, but instead we were told "With cogs and motors".

 

Also when asking about a fault with a dimmer on the same stand that we still haven't found a solution to the first response was "Let me get my mum" and then a couple of minutes later "It's designed to do that". Really?

 

The bad: The exhibitors who couldn't find time for a quick chat when I have best part of quarter of a million £ to spend on LED products this winter.

 

The ugly: Some of the LED moving head washes - really don't do anything for me.

[Ben]

 

Also when asking about a fault with a dimmer on the same stand that we still haven't found a solution to the first response was "Let me get my mum" and then a couple of minutes later "It's designed to do that". Really?

 

 

In all fairness lots of people have kids and family working on stands at Plasa and I know exactly who you are talking about as I know them all well and the daughter does not work in a part of the company that has anything to do with faults etc. That said send me the fault and I will sort the answer for you as I know the dimmers better than just about anyone (I used to run the service department there).

 

Ben

[nickb12345]

 

Also when asking about a fault with a dimmer on the same stand that we still haven't found a solution to the first response was "Let me get my mum" and then a couple of minutes later "It's designed to do that". Really?

 

 

In all fairness lots of people have kids and family working on stands at Plasa and I know exactly who you are talking about as I know them all well and the daughter does not work in a part of the company that has anything to do with faults etc. That said send me the fault and I will sort the answer for you as I know the dimmers better than just about anyone (I used to run the service department there).

 

Ben

 

True and I appreciate most of the employees at places like Plasa will be sales based - I just didn't expect to hear someone say "Let me get my mum" at a trade show that's all :)

 

Details of the faults in question are on that link, don't really want to take this thread too far off topic - but if I'm honest I'm not all that worried now - they will be coming out at the end of the year and probably be going on eBay (failing that, in the bin). But if you have any quick fix ideas then I would appreciate it. Thanks for the offer too :)

 

Nick

[IRW]

I was very dissapointed this year- not with any of the exhibitors that I went to see, they were all very helpful and I spoke to exactly who I planned to, but this year I remembered my blue-room-congo-blue-in-my-breast-pocket but didn't see anyone else with it!

 

Ian