Anybody tried the Martin Maxxyz?

[McCready00]

Playing on it since a couple of days now. I was more familiar with the old Grandma but since the company I do work for bought a plenty of the new Martin's console, I decided to give it a chance.

You guys tried it? Any comments on it?

[porkchop]

They remind me a lot of the Wholehog line personally here's a bullet list of ideas since I couldn't think of a good way to organize them:

• The motorized faders mean that if you're ever bored you can scroll through all the cue sheets and watch them move.
• I really like the encoders on the right side of the board they work really well for the way my brain operates.
• Fixture profiles work beautify, take the time to tell it what gobo's you're using that way you can make tech more about designing and less about scrolling through to see what is where.
• The board is made for macros. Positions, intensities, colors, strike, douse, etc...
• The Maxxyz is a VERY simple computer with LOTS of USB peripherals to make it work. Should things start going wrong remember that when your trouble shooting.
• We've had a lot of trouble keeping the card that receives SMPTE and sends DMX happy with life. Actually it likes to die...... A lot.
• The Beta for the most recent software is out. It ISN"T compatible with the old software, make sure all of your consoles are running the same version.
• If you get REALLY bored you can boot into windows and install games. Quake 3 on the touch screens is quite fun.
• We use our Maxxyz to run a Maxidia media server, if you ever hear those words uddered by your boss immediately make sure you know how to remove and reseat EVERY component of a simple computer as doing so is often the way to solve problems.

That's all for now I go back on tour at the end of this week and then I'm likely to have a more expanded list given that mine just got shipped from Guatemala for FL, to the factory, back to FL, and now to Puerto Rico.

[derekleffew]

The Maxxyz has received both positive and negative reviews, both here on ControlBooth and elsewhere. The Maxxyz came in second (behind grandMA) on our "Consoles used on the top 20 highest-grossing tours of 2007."

Originally Posted by porkchop

...

• We've had a lot of trouble keeping the card that receives SMPTE and sends DMX happy with life. Actually it likes to die...... A lot.

...

IF this is accurate, I find it curious that one card performs both functions of receiving SMPTE and outputting DMX: two seemingly disparate operations.

[porkchop]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

The Maxxyz has received both positive and negative reviews, both here on ControlBooth and elsewhere. The Maxxyz came in second (behind grandMA) on our "Consoles used on the top 20 highest-grossing tours of 2007."

IF this is accurate, I find it curious that one card performs both functions of receiving SMPTE and outputting DMX: two seemingly disparate operations.

I could be remembering the inside of the board wrong but if I remember right it's basically the card in the back that handles all of the plugs on the back. It doesn't do any of the real work just interprets signals from the computer to cable and vice versa

[thenelsontwins]

it is a fine desk. easy to maneuver through. nice effects, but the martin software is slow in production and really, really hit or miss as far as fully functioning software is concerned.

When we had our multiple mazzyz desks, software updates were many, yet going back to previous versions was also par for the course.


Keep in mind, under the hood is just a bunch of PC guts. Also, keep in mind there is actually a hood. I have never had a desk that opened quite that easily, which by the mere implication of that easy access, leads me to believe that hardware issues are common.

Believe me, hardware problems are common. Typically nothing goes bad, but connectors come loose all the time and I was constantly re seating everything in the wiring harness pretty much weekly.

That was normal. The desk, when it was working, which was 98% of the time, worked GREAT! Fun to use, the syntax can be a little weird at first, but it gets really, really easy.

We traveled with a full desk, a full size backup desk, AND a Maxxyz PC as the super extra backup desk. Never went down during a show, but to have desk A never boot up and to have to run from desk B was not out of the ordinary.


If that is acceptable to you, great! We have since sold off all of our maxxyz stuff and have heard nothing about their quality. But they were sold to venues where the desk never moves, which i think is the best place for them. In a venue where they are only in one place stuff can't shake itself loose.

There are pros regarding the desk and most assuredly cons, but if they ever get it together, they are great desks when they work!