ETC News of the day...

[jmabray]

I am going to guess that this is safe for public consumption. But as I havent seen it on the website yet, I may get in trouble...

I got the following in my email today...

ETC announces retirement of Expression and Express line of consoles 424MN
Dear Jeff,

Effective on July 18, 2008, ETC will no longer be accepting orders for the Expression® and Express™ line of control consoles. This includes the Expression 3, Insight™ 3, Express 250, Express 125, Express 72/144, Express 48/96, Express 24/48 and all Expression, Insight and Express Lighting Playback Controllers. As with all ETC products, we have reserved parts to service the units in the field for years to come.

ETC Marketing Manager David Lincecum comments: “The Expression family of consoles has had an incredible 22-year run, and thousands of these desks are running shows around the world. It should go without saying that ETC will offer the same high level of support we have always provided for these products for many years to come. We look forward to the continued success and growth of our incredible array of new consoles in the SmartFade®, Congo™ and Eos®/Ion® lines and we are already seeing that they will enjoy the same kind of success.”

If you need to discuss a particular situation involving previous orders and outstanding quotations for these products or need assistance in changing orders over to the new product lines, please contact your regional sales team.

So if you wanted to know if/when Express/ion was going away, there's your answer...

[ishboo]

wow, that's kind of sad, I grew up on an express and played with my first expression 3 this afternoon.

[Pie4Weebl]

*sniff* I'll miss you express line....

[MNicolai]

Don't worry, I think there are enough of these in the market that you'll find used ones for years to come, plus I'm sure there will still be new ones sitting on dealer shelves for awhile yet anyways.

It's time for ETC to advance the entertainment lighting industry yet again, so I eagerly await what they will develop in years to come.

[TimMiller]

to me it seems like there isnt a real good replacement to the express 48/96. The smart fade seems to be lacking, it has a dj console type feel. And then the larger consoles are more for moving lights, unless there is an ETC console i am forgetting about.

[jmabray]

Originally Posted by TimMiller

to me it seems like there isnt a real good replacement to the express 48/96. The smart fade seems to be lacking, it has a dj console type feel. And then the larger consoles are more for moving lights, unless there is an ETC console i am forgetting about.

I would have to know what it was about the 48/96 that you were looking to replace, but there are very nice options for that provided by ETC. The larger consoles are built on the premise that you talk to moving lights the same way that you do conventionals -using the same syntax and concepts. They do conventional fixtures as well, if not better, than ETC has ever done, but also add moving light control into that realm, which has never been a strong suit of theirs...

Get a demo of the desks. Either Congo jr or Ion. Either one are pretty good replacements for the Express line in most situations...

[NABster07]

Originally Posted by TimMiller

to me it seems like there isnt a real good replacement to the express 48/96. The smart fade seems to be lacking, it has a dj console type feel. And then the larger consoles are more for moving lights, unless there is an ETC console i am forgetting about.

I completely agree. I am currently working with two express boards and couldn't be happier, but in the summer I use a smartfade and I HATE IT. It seems like there are replacements, but not all in one. The smartfade take care of the two scene preset part, the Ion will take care of all the heavy programming (especially since the syntax is the same), but there is no all in one replacement. I know for our drama festivals and such, the express has been the perfect desk, as everybody wants to run their show a different way. I don't see being able to do this with the Ion and definitely not with the smartfade. I must say though, I tried out the Ion at BLMC, and was quite impressed, as it has such a low price tag.

[SteveB]

Not that I don't like discussing the topic of consoles, but this was all covered a few weeks ago.

http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/l...r-express.html

Steve B.

[TimMiller]

Ran over and bought an express 48/96 today

[Saunier]

That is sad to hear. The Express is a great small town theater console.