8-way DMX splitters with 5pin outs

[James Remo]

Same guy also has the TMB proplex units that have 4 isolated outs with a 5 and a 3 pin out per way for £150.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/162257830635675?view=permalink&id=675061716021948&rt=11

[revbobuk]

Here's a link to that Chroma-Q device on their website

[Ynot]

Thanks for the links and suggestions guys.

The recent choices would not have it the bill as I want them all to be racked in the 19" rack out of the way.

 

After much pondering I've decided to bite the bullet and gone for a couple of 3-pin 8-way splitters from Thomann. Mainly on the basis of budget and availability of suitable choice. It has also made the cost of the patch panels considerably cheaper as 3-pin sockets are nowhere near the price of Neutrik 5 pins.

And before I get a backlash of DMX having to be 5-pin, I'll throw that back at the manufacturers who don't build stuff to support that (in the same budget area as the pukka 5-pin kit). I decided that as this is JUST for sending feeds out to the distro around stage and FoH and the far ends WILL all be 5-pin, then it was a sacrifice I'm prepared to make in the interests of getting the job done.

 

 

 

[timsabre]

It has also made the cost of the patch panels considerably cheaper as 3-pin sockets are nowhere near the price of Neutrik 5 pins....

...And before I get a backlash of DMX having to be 5-pin, I'll throw that back at the manufacturers who don't build stuff to support that (in the same budget area as the pukka 5-pin kit).

 

But they can't build budget 5 pin kit, the 5 pin connectors are too expensive which would push up the cost. Cheap DMX gear will always be 3 pin - no matter what the standard says - for that exact reason.

[Ynot]

But they can't build budget 5 pin kit, the 5 pin connectors are too expensive which would push up the cost. Cheap DMX gear will always be 3 pin - no matter what the standard says - for that exact reason.

Actually, I can't accept that statement on two counts...

 

Plenty of budget splitters will have BOTH 3 and 5 pin outs, (my problem being that most of them max out at 4 channel, when I need 8). And whilst I agree (and have already said) that 5 is more exp than 3, for a large quantity buyer that difference should reduce significantly when buying in bulk - making the difference between 8 x 3 pin and 8 x 5 pin far less than it might be to Joe Tech.

 

Maybe the majority of 5-pin boxes have a better build quality or use a more expensive choice of components all round...

But there's no real reason that the lower end splitters can't be built for a similar price. For example, the boxes I have en route from Thomann is around £87. Even at the cheaper bulk prices on CPC, the difference between 5 pin Neutriks (£5.34) and 3-pin (£2.75) is just £2.59 per socket, or just under £21 all in for a set of 8. No doubt a manufacturer would get much better price breaks on those, but this just goes to demonstrate that there SHOULDN'T be that much of a price gap just because of the connectors.

That fag-packet calculation would have made my budget 8-way splitter £107 tops, which I would have happily gone for as an alternative.

[timsabre]

Manufacturers I've worked with use a 4x build price estimate for the retail price.

So your extra £21 of connectors (assuming they paid that) might put the retail price up by £84 - which would push the product into a completely different marketplace.

 

I genuinely don't think manufacturers are being deliberately awkward using 3 pin. It's simply a case of what they can afford for the market price point they want to sell at.