It would be nice to know more about what's in your rig, what types of shows you are doing, and what you want to program. But it sounds like you should be looking at (in descending order of price):
ETC Element, Pathway Cognito2, or an
ETC Smartfade ML
An
Ion is a HUGE step up from an Obey 40 and probably overkill (but again we don't know much about what you are doing). An
ETC Element is a solid choice for sure and it's always hard to get past the fact that
ETC makes the most solid products with the best service in the industry, if not anywhere on earth. Last I heard, the
Element was running around $5,000 depending on the options you add.
The Pathway Cognito, now Cognito2, has been out a few years and it's a sweet little
console. If you went to
LDI or
USITT this year, you would have seen a lot of Cognitos powering the lights in other booths (sometimes hidden because they don't want to annoy
ETC). The reason for that is it provides a TON of bang for the buck in a small
console that will cost you around $3,500-$4,000 depending on the options you choose. The Cognito2 is not
ETC so you immediately surrender the
ETC standards of quality and service, but the
build quality is solid and I've never heard any complaints about Pathway's service. So it may not be that big of a deal. The Cognito2 uses the most recent variation of the old Horizon Controls software. Which is incredibly easy to learn and use and very powerful.
Both an
Element or a Cognito2 would be a nice step up into a more traditional theater
console which can easily deal with your
LED's.
The more direct, cheapest, and possibly most logical
console upgrade may be the
ETC Smartfade ML (again it would be nice to know more about what you are doing). It's sort of an Obey 40 not just on Steroids, but on Steroids, the
clear, the cream, HGH, and years of work with a high end professional trainer (the full Barry Bonds treatment). It's about $2,400 and designed to make a small
LED/Mover rig really look good while still being on a budget. It does not work like a traditional
ETC console and as a result, I have a
bit of a love/hate relationship with them. It doesn't come with a
screen, but you can run it through a laptop to have a
screen. People who use it say the
screen isn't that important. If you have a lot of experience with
ETC consoles you may find it more frustrating to learn to use than those who have just used the Obey 40. But more than anything it's under $2,500 and has an
ETC logo on it which is pretty amazing.
If you tell us more about what you are doing we can give better advice.
