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[Scott Holtzman]

Has anyone had a look at these?  Very exciting price points.  Seems to bring the power of the big boy boards to a small operator price point.  Sure looks to be a ground breaking product.

Playback fader, palettes, programmable faders, 7" touchscreen, external touchscreen and keyboard support, remote app. et al... Quite a list.  Workflow looks very "pro" and automated fixture centric.

For $1500 I am fairly sure going to but one this quarter.

Any opinions or experience?


http://zero88.com/products/consoles/flxs/index.shtml

[John Fruits]

Looks like an interesting console, have you found a US dealer?  Their current US distributor is Lehigh who doesn't even mention them on their website. 

[Jeff Lelko]

Interesting indeed.  I haven't seen this one yet!  On paper though it looks like it might be an excellent choice for those shopping in the $1-2000 price bracket.  Some may view the single (or upgradable to dual) universe as a limitation, but for the price you can't complain. 

One thing that jumps out to me is the lack of buttons.  I'm not sure if this just really pushes all its programming to the touchscreen or if you need to supply an external keyboard, but the 47 page manual is a bit sparse.  Either way I'd bet this has a lot of potential to compete with ETC's ColorSource series along with the Cognito. 

I'd really like to see one of these in person, and Scott if you're considering buying I'd strongly suggest a demo too.  John brings up a good point though - Zero88 doesn't have a huge presence in the US.  I learned that back when I was shopping for consoles 4 years ago, but maybe things have changed since then.  Good luck!

Edit:  Scott, where did you see a $1500 price tag?  The numbers I'm seeing are more in the $4-5000 bracket, at which point this might not be such a good deal...

[Kevin McDonough]

Something that may interest you as a comparison is that Chamsys have also came out with a similar range of desks aimed at the same market, the Chamsys QuickQ....



http://www.chamsysquickq.com/

[duane massey]

I'm always looking for something to use in place of the Showdesigner series, and these look sexy, but not certain they are my next "go-to".

[Scott Holtzman]

Interesting indeed.  I haven't seen this one yet!  On paper though it looks like it might be an excellent choice for those shopping in the $1-2000 price bracket.  Some may view the single (or upgradable to dual) universe as a limitation, but for the price you can't complain. 

One thing that jumps out to me is the lack of buttons.  I'm not sure if this just really pushes all its programming to the touchscreen or if you need to supply an external keyboard, but the 47 page manual is a bit sparse.  Either way I'd bet this has a lot of potential to compete with ETC's ColorSource series along with the Cognito. 

I'd really like to see one of these in person, and Scott if you're considering buying I'd strongly suggest a demo too.  John brings up a good point though - Zero88 doesn't have a huge presence in the US.  I learned that back when I was shopping for consoles 4 years ago, but maybe things have changed since then.  Good luck!

Edit:  Scott, where did you see a $1500 price tag?  The numbers I'm seeing are more in the $4-5000 bracket, at which point this might not be such a good deal...

$1799 from Thomann shipped to US.  I figured they would be a bit less expensive when they arrive here. 

[Scott Holtzman]

I'm always looking for something to use in place of the Showdesigner series, and these look sexy, but not certain they are my next "go-to".

Replacing Showdesigner and Magic260's is exactly what I had in mind.

[Dave Garoutte]

If it only had flying faders. . .

[Scott Hofmann]

Replacing Showdesigner and Magic260's is exactly what I had in mind.

The Pathway Cognito2 is about a grand higher than the zero88 but the excellent tech support is priceless. Zero88 seems to have a good reputation in the UK though.
People tend to knock Lehigh but I've had great tech support from them on their older discontinued products. No idea how they support Zero88 stuff.
If you are considering purchase of the console, I would at least give Lehigh a call and discuss what their support efforts are.

[Jeff Lelko]

$1799 from Thomann shipped to US.  I figured they would be a bit less expensive when they arrive here.

Ah, I see what you're referencing now.  I had been looking at a model higher up in the series.  Zero88 is a reputable manufacturer, and once in a while I still run across something from the old Frog series.  The only real downside is their lack of widespread support and availability in the United States.  I'm not sure what getting service would entail on one of these, but at the same time it's still in the semi-disposable price range so that may not be an issue for you.

I'm far more excited to see how the new ChamSys series turns out!  At least with Chauvet handling the US distribution you shouldn't have any issues with service, and the ChamSys user community is pretty widespread and active.  Both of these products should really help to bridge the massive gap between the budget DJ boards and the $4000+ solutions for hardware consoles. 

A lot of it will come down to implementation, but hopefully with so many faders these desks can handle busking to some degree.  At least on the QuickQ 30 that's 50 faders at your fingertips.  The 10 playback faders are self-explanatory, but I'm really curious as to what you can put on the other 40.  If it's just fixture intensities I'd think it's a missed opportunity (but still useful for busking), whereas if you can put palettes and effects (similar to Cobalt) then it'd be quite a powerhouse.  The same argument goes for the Zero88 product. 

I'd still question how effective the programming syntax is if you're nearly 100% constrained to touchscreen input.  I know some people really like that sort of thing - I just tend to be much faster with physical buttons.  At least both desks include encoders, which is a nice step up from ColorSource.  I guess we'll just have to see how "diet" the software is on QuickQ versus the popular MagicQ!

[Scott Holtzman]

Ah, I see what you're referencing now.  I had been looking at a model higher up in the series.  Zero88 is a reputable manufacturer, and once in a while I still run across something from the old Frog series.  The only real downside is their lack of widespread support and availability in the United States.  I'm not sure what getting service would entail on one of these, but at the same time it's still in the semi-disposable price range so that may not be an issue for you.

I'm far more excited to see how the new ChamSys series turns out!  At least with Chauvet handling the US distribution you shouldn't have any issues with service, and the ChamSys user community is pretty widespread and active.  Both of these products should really help to bridge the massive gap between the budget DJ boards and the $4000+ solutions for hardware consoles. 

A lot of it will come down to implementation, but hopefully with so many faders these desks can handle busking to some degree.  At least on the QuickQ 30 that's 50 faders at your fingertips.  The 10 playback faders are self-explanatory, but I'm really curious as to what you can put on the other 40.  If it's just fixture intensities I'd think it's a missed opportunity (but still useful for busking), whereas if you can put palettes and effects (similar to Cobalt) then it'd be quite a powerhouse.  The same argument goes for the Zero88 product. 

I'd still question how effective the programming syntax is if you're nearly 100% constrained to touchscreen input.  I know some people really like that sort of thing - I just tend to be much faster with physical buttons.  At least both desks include encoders, which is a nice step up from ColorSource.  I guess we'll just have to see how "diet" the software is on QuickQ versus the popular MagicQ!

Great points.  An external numeric encoder or keypad would be nice.

Any pricing on the QuickQ I could not find any.  If it gets about 2500 that's too close to the Congo not to go that route.

[Jeff Lelko]

Any pricing on the QuickQ I could not find any.  If it gets about 2500 that's too close to the Congo not to go that route.

I haven't seen anything 100% official, but picking through the ChamSys Facebook it looks like this will fall in the $1500-$2500 range depending on the console.  I'm sure a Chauvet dealer can get you pricing in the very near future once these hit the streets.  Looking to the rest of the ChamSys product line and the user market targeted by Chauvet, $1500-$2500 would be realistic too.

Unfortunately ETC's Cobalt/Congo Series is now obsolete as of the first of this month.  They'll still be providing no less than 5 years of software support and updates along with the indefinite hardware support, but buying a Cobalt desk in new condition might be tough.  I'm not giving up my Congo Kid anytime soon!

[John Fruits]

The QuickQ will have an offline editor (for both Windows and Mac) available, so it might be rather like the greatly increased functionality of the ETC Smartfade consoles. 

[John Fruits]

If it only had flying faders. . .

Yeah really, when you look at something like the PreSonus DAWs like the Faderport 8 and 16 with touch sensitive motorized faders (100mm) no less. 

[Jeff Lelko]

The QuickQ will have an offline editor (for both Windows and Mac) available, so it might be rather like the greatly increased functionality of the ETC Smartfade consoles.

Yep, and it looks like you'll be able to drive this with a tablet as well right out of the box - no additional networking equipment needed.  If more brands follow this trend we might see more offerings along the lines of the lighting equivalent to the Behringer X Air and Soundcraft Ui Series.  It'd probably be a welcomed upgrade to those using Luminaire...or drive the Luminaire developers to add the professional features that are currently missing.

Yeah really, when you look at something like the PreSonus DAWs like the Faderport 8 and 16 with touch sensitive motorized faders (100mm) no less. 

And that's the downside to tablet control - with no flying faders I can see easily misinterpreting the status of the console.  Like many, I only use tablet control of my Congo Kid for focusing and making minor adjustments from a different point of view, but looking to the Chauvet market, many may want to drive the show via tablet and only use the console surface as a backup, much like how I use my A&H Qu-Pac.  The thing is, I see no reason why flying faders has yet to really penetrate the sub-$10,000 level of console.  Given the explosion of $2-4000 digital mixers, all with motorized faders, there's no reason that lighting can't follow suit.  At least with lighting, things are 100% digital - no preamps or stageboxes/mixracks to drive up a system's price. 

As I think we all know, the budget/MI level of consumer drives the majority of this market based on where the money is, so if more MI-level users start getting into lighting and demanding more features from their products (that are now more affordable), we might see a complete overhaul of mid-level to entry level pro desks much like what the X32 did to sound back in the 2012-14 timeframe.  There's been a tremendous gap in product offerings at this price point for some time, so we'll see what happens!  If I had to guess, I'd say Chauvet is one of those companies that could just push such a revolution.  Time will tell!   

[Dave Garoutte]

I was so disappointed in my Soundcraft Performer's implementation of DMX.
Motorized faders but NO flexibility.  14 channels on the P1 and 22 on the P2.
No changing of address, no difference on the different layers.
Total fail.

[Edward Smith]

Hi all,

LeHigh is our main distributor in the US, so contact them for a quote.
If you have any queries on FLX series or any other Zero 88 console, feel free to email us at [email protected]

Any queries let me know.
Edward

Zero 88 Product Support

[John Fruits]

Hi all,

LeHigh is our main distributor in the US, so contact them for a quote.
If you have any queries on FLX series or any other Zero 88 console, feel free to email us at [email protected]

Any queries let me know.
Edward

Zero 88 Product Support

Edward, thanks for dropping in, there is one problem, this forum has a very strict real name policy.  If you could change your posted name to your real full name that would be great.  They also have a policy concerning company reps, I have no idea of the details. 
In my opinion, for the US market that the FLX would appeal to, you really need to get at least one on line dealer to start stocking your product.  Someone like Sweetwater or FullCompass or 4wall/newlighting.com. 

[Jamin Lynch]

$1799 from Thomann shipped to US.  I figured they would be a bit less expensive when they arrive here.

Not to change the subject, but when ordering items such as a lighting console from Thomann does it come with a USA power supply or ready for USA power?

[John Fruits]

Not to change the subject, but when ordering items such as a lighting console from Thomann does it come with a USA power supply or ready for USA power?

Also, does it come with a US warranty, or only those sold by Lehigh?

[Mac Kerr]

Any queries let me know.
Edward

Zero 88 Product Support

Please go to your profile and change the "Name" field to your real first and last name as required by the posting rules displayed in the header at the top of the section, and in the Site Rules and Suggestions in the Forum Announcements section, and on the registration page when you registered.

Mac
admin

[Edward Smith]

Please go to your profile and change the "Name" field to your real first and last name as required by the posting rules displayed in the header at the top of the section, and in the Site Rules and Suggestions in the Forum Announcements section, and on the registration page when you registered.

Mac
admin

Hi Mac,

Apologies. John Fruits mentioned there are strict rules on company reps, hope there’s no issue with me being part of the community.

Edward

[Mac Kerr]

Hi Mac,

Apologies. John Fruits mentioned there are strict rules on company reps, hope there’s no issue with me being part of the community.

Edward

Not at all, we welcome company representatives. Participation by people who work for the companies being discussed are a good source of accurate information, we require real names of everyone to post. Including your company affiliation in a sig line lets everyone know that you may have direct information that is valuable.

Mac

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

Yep, and it looks like you'll be able to drive this with a tablet as well right out of the box - no additional networking equipment needed.  If more brands follow this trend we might see more offerings along the lines of the lighting equivalent to the Behringer X Air and Soundcraft Ui Series.  It'd probably be a welcomed upgrade to those using Luminaire...or drive the Luminaire developers to add the professional features that are currently missing.

And that's the downside to tablet control - with no flying faders I can see easily misinterpreting the status of the console.  Like many, I only use tablet control of my Congo Kid for focusing and making minor adjustments from a different point of view, but looking to the Chauvet market, many may want to drive the show via tablet and only use the console surface as a backup, much like how I use my A&H Qu-Pac.  The thing is, I see no reason why flying faders has yet to really penetrate the sub-$10,000 level of console.  Given the explosion of $2-4000 digital mixers, all with motorized faders, there's no reason that lighting can't follow suit.  At least with lighting, things are 100% digital - no preamps or stageboxes/mixracks to drive up a system's price. 

As I think we all know, the budget/MI level of consumer drives the majority of this market based on where the money is, so if more MI-level users start getting into lighting and demanding more features from their products (that are now more affordable), we might see a complete overhaul of mid-level to entry level pro desks much like what the X32 did to sound back in the 2012-14 timeframe.  There's been a tremendous gap in product offerings at this price point for some time, so we'll see what happens!  If I had to guess, I'd say Chauvet is one of those companies that could just push such a revolution.  Time will tell!

Agreed - the price gulf between full featured desks and their software counterparts - $10,000+ vs. almost free - is silly.  There are some wings that partially bridge the gap - Martin/Elation M-Touch, MA PC wings, etc., but there is no self-contained desk that's reasonably full-featured yet.  It will happen, but I'm not convinced the Colorsouce/Cognito or these products are it quite yet due to pretty significant feature limitations compared to the real platforms.

[ProSoundWeb Community]