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[duane massey]

Just curious. Which hardware controllers (not PC based) have you had experience on, good or bad?

[Milt Hathaway]

Leprecon LP1000 (sorry, that's pre-DMX)
Leprecon LP2000
Elation DMX operator pro
Elation Stage Designer 3
ETC Expression
ETC EOS

Each and every one was like starting over from scratch.

[Josh Daws]

Not in any order except maybe by brand...

Jands Stage12
Jands Event Series (cant remember what specific model too long ago)
Jands Vista
Martin M1
Martin M2GO
Martin M2PC
GrandMA Ultralight
ETC Smartfade 12/48 & 24/96
ETC Obsession
Leprecon LP624, and the 48ch
Chauvet Stage Designer50
ADJ Stagesetter8

im sure that there is others, i just havea terrible memory like strands etc...

[Cailen Waddell]

Some strand stuff that no one would ever want to use

Hog ii and iii

ETC
Microvision (both original and fx)
Impression
Expression
Express
Element
Ion
EOS
Smartfade, all varieties

Pathway cognito

Some other forgettable 2 scene preset crap from NSI and leprecon

Getting old school some Lmi consoles, kleigl performer ii, a Lehigh console....

[James Feenstra]

Just curious. Which hardware controllers (not PC based) have you had experience on, good or bad?

Are you referring to linux/native os based consoles then? Every modern lighting console is essentially a computer...

given that, I have experience with the following;

Jands Vista (all products)
Jands StageCL
GrandMA
GrandMA2
Avolites (Peal/Diamond range)
Wholehog 2/3/4
Chamsys
Compulite (minimal)

Favorites are Jands (obviously) and I was a GrandMA user for years as well.

[duane massey]

James, I am referring to any stand-alone controller that does not require an external computer or other processing. Thanks.

[TJ (Tom) Cornish]

Just curious. Which hardware controllers (not PC based) have you had experience on, good or bad?

NSI 7000/7500 series - fader problems due to age - the good news is they are rugged enough to have survived until faders wore out
Leprecon LP624 - more functionality than NSI 7000 series, less than NSI7500 series.  Still works, however had problems with bump buttons breaking.
ETC Element - a good bridge between dimmer only and some intelligent control, though not particularly good for busking.  Had some issues with a moving light personality that I'm confident is a control problem, as I don't have this issue with my SmartFade ML.  This is a good choice for some situations, as it has very similar syntax to the Expression, which was pretty ubiquitous in theaters and churches
ETC SmartFade ML (my own board) - significantly faster for busking than Element and surprisingly powerful for the size.  Is "faderey" - hard to enter discreet values.  Have had no reliability problems, and the portable form factor is a plus - fits really nicely in a Pelican case.  I have taught this board to several folks, and it is relatively easy to get going on.
Pathway Cognito - rented one of these to play with it.  I suspect it has more power than my SmartFade, however you can't create user personalities, and my LED pars did not have a personality, so didn't get too far with it.   

I agree with Milt - all of these boards work VERY differently from each other, and unlike sound consoles where you can pretty much make anything with enough IO work, lighting consoles seem to be more purpose-built, and if you have the wrong tool for the job, you're going to have a long night.

Next step up for me from the SmartFade ML will likely either be an ETC Congo Jr, RoadHog 4, Vista something, or Martin M1/M2 as I'm headed towards more intelligent fixtures and busking.

[DanGlass]

GrandMA
GrandMA2
Chamsys
Next to worthless Strand consoles
Hog2's, 3's, 4's
Avolites
Zero 88
Also a whole list of ShowDesigners, NSI's, Lightronics, and other 2 scene non moving light consoles
I mainly use a GrandMA2 now

[Daniel Goodnow]

Started out on an old NSI MC24/48, which for a conventional only theatrical setup worked well, especially for its age. Only real downside was the long saving and loading times (floppy drive).

The past couple years I've been mostly on Hog 3/4, and prefer Hog 4 (although the difference isn't too dramatic). I've also worked on a couple Avolites boards (pearl 2010, pearl titan) but I personally don't like them. That may be mostly because I haven't had the time to really dig into them and learn the little tricks of programming them, but I feel like I'm a much more efficient programmer on Hog consoles.

Overall, I prefer a hog in most situations.

[ProSoundWeb Community]