Express 196?

disc2slick

Active Member
I'm going to be doing a show in the next couple weeks that, according to the production manager will be programmed on an Express 196. I've never heard of the 196 nor does the ETC website make any mention of it, I'm assuming he means it's a 48/96 (192 Channels on the Keypad), but I figured there may be an old discontinued line of Expresses or something, any thoughts?

-Dan
 
nope, its a 48/96. the 196 does not exist. The only expresses out there with just a number is the 125 and 250, they are much smaller and lack all the channel handles. They are by far my favorite of the express line.
 
I'd assume their talking about the 48/96. Either that or its a new console from ETC, wouldn't that be exciting!

No, All ETC has so far is Congo, Congo Jr., and EOS. Rumors say that "EOS Jr" may be released fairly soon and the ION series (which will replace the Express/Expression series) probably won't be announced until LDI and then won't ship until late in the year if not early next year.
 
anyone else feel that ETC and apple have alot in common, at least in the way people view their products...

Yeah it's a bit of a cult. In recent posts about new consoles I keep hammering the point that just because the Express has been a great console doesn't mean Ion will be. It may be that the Strand Palettes... or some other brand proves to be far more reliable and easy to use.

You don't have to look far to find a school that did an upgrade in the 80's and they have EDI dimmers and console and a rig full of 360Q's. EDI and Altman were kings 25 years ago... who knows what will happen in the next 5 or 10 years.
 
EDI? Really? I would have said Strand or Colortran, but maybe it's a regional thing in your part vs. my part of the country.

I think the reason that ETC has such a 'cult' following is not necessarily due to the consoles, but to the customer service. If you really think about it, Strand was much better in a lot of their console design. They had networking first, and it did alot more than ETC Net2. But their service sucked, and thats a high ranking in many people's opinion. ETC came along and raised the bar so high, that Strand, and everyone else, is still trying to catch up....

Oh, and by the way, the ION is the Eos, Jr. They aren't two seperate desks. And from the rumors that I hear right now, it will be debuted, and shipping by LDI. But like most rumours in this industry, I will believe it when I see it.....
 
I agree w/ Jeff. The reason ETC is king right now is no doubt because of technical service. If I'm going out to work on a job that is not an ETC job, I dread it. I know that whenever I call the ETC tech support line I'll get someone that can answer my question right the first time and in a timely manner. With other manufacturers you're lucky if your call is answered in 30 minutes or less...then you have to pray you got the right person on the right day and the planets have aligned.
 
I agree w/ Jeff. The reason ETC is king right now is no doubt because of technical service. If I'm going out to work on a job that is not an ETC job, I dread it. I know that whenever I call the ETC tech support line I'll get someone that can answer my question right the first time and in a timely manner. With other manufacturers you're lucky if your call is answered in 30 minutes or less...then you have to pray you got the right person on the right day and the planets have aligned.

But if tech support doesn't answer in 30 minutes don't you get a free pizza or something? ;)

Cleffel, Welcome to the booth. It's great having someone with your service experience here in the booth.
 
EDI? Really? I would have said Strand or Colortran, but maybe it's a regional thing in your part vs. my part of the country.
I think the reason that ETC has such a 'cult' following is not necessarily due to the consoles, but to the customer service. If you really think about it, Strand was much better in a lot of their console design. They had networking first, and it did alot more than ETC Net2. But their service sucked, and thats a high ranking in many people's opinion. ETC came along and raised the bar so high, that Strand, and everyone else, is still trying to catch up....
Oh, and by the way, the ION is the Eos, Jr. They aren't two seperate desks. And from the rumors that I hear right now, it will be debuted, and shipping by LDI. But like most rumours in this industry, I will believe it when I see it.....

Yeah must be regional... seems like every college and high school with older gear I've seen in the northwest is all EDI dimmers... they must have had a really good sales rep in this area.

So if ION is "EOS jr" do we have a code name for the future of Express yet? I was told at LDI that "EOS jr" (ION). would probably be shipping late in the summer so that certainly fit's with what you have heard. But I was also told to be looking for the next generation of Express by the end of 2007.
 
But if tech support doesn't answer in 30 minutes don't you get a free pizza or something? ;)
.

But they do answer (ETC that is). More importantly, they have support that seemingly logs all kinds of useful solutions to all kinds of problems. Thus you can be talking to a newbie tech service person, who has access to the data base of all the answers. Not just what THEY'VE learned and can pass on, but seemingly what everybody at ETC knows. So they all are going to know if there's a bug in an Emphasis that is not going to get fixed anytime soon and they'll tell you.

As to Strand, a story. I have a younger colleague call me 3 weeks ago, seems she can't get a Strand 300 to work. It's a high school in NYC and nobody at the school knows 'nuthin. No manual either. So she calls me and I'm at work and have access to the Internet. I go to the Strand website, and much to my surprise, there's ready access to all kinds of download stuff for the 300, but no manual available on-line. Hmmm... No luck in the archives, and at this point if some wag tells me it's at "http://strand300 manualhere.com" too bad. I COULD NOT READILY AND EASILY FIND IT, WHEN I NEEDED IT !.

I then suggested calling Strand tech support and there are 3 folks listed on the site. She calls all 3 and leaves voice messages. She calls BML, Big Apple and PRG. NOBODY CALLS HER BACK. Not even Strand.

Recently there was a posting on the LightNetwork for a position opening at Strand for tech support. My first thought is they need to be advertising for 10 people, not 1.

My second thought is I don't care what the new Strand consoles are like, or how great they are. I will gladly wait anything ETC puts out - Ion Jr., whatever and if I don't like what they come out with, then I'll go with a company that answers the phone, but it won't be Strand. Not for a while in my opinion.

Steve Bailey
Brooklyn College
 
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As I understand it, and I may be wrong here, but that is the replacement for the express.

But now that I think about it, It may not be. There is no mid-range console any more. The ION is supposedly a little bit cheaper than the Congo Jr, but is probably around the same price and the SmartFade ML is much less than the Express line.

Then again, the smartfade ML will do more than an Express ever would, and is much less expensive. There is some rumor going around that they may up the channel count on that desk to 96 for the conventionals... If they do that, then I would be hard pressed to find a place that wouldn't take that over an express any day. (regardless of the number of fader handles)
 
So if ION is "EOS jr" do we have a code name for the future of Express yet? I was told at LDI that "EOS jr" (ION). would probably be shipping late in the summer so that certainly fit's with what you have heard. But I was also told to be looking for the next generation of Express by the end of 2007.

I feel like we talked about this in another thread, but... According to Karl Haas (ETC Western Regional Rep. and one of my LDs) the ION is the replacement for the Express(ion) line. He of course couldn't give too many details, but it will function as EOS Jr. or at least be fully EOS compatible such that one could use it as a remote console to the EOS.
 

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