Control/Dimming How do we feel about this? Philips Advantage DMX

[TitaniumFish]

I was able to play with one for about a half an hour at a demo in Hollywood for a theater I'm an electrician/board opp at. Interesting looking board, but I just felt like the guys were trying to sell it off of its gimmicks alone (it has a ton by the way) and not off anything really innovative.

Fortunately for them the ME of the theater is a Strand Loyalist and was sold on the board before walking in the doors(the demo was just to confirm the board actually existed). I just wish I could talk her into the VL4000 or the LED strobes they were show casing at the same demo.

Side note: Its been a month since we had the Demo and the Company has yet to receive the quote. They talked about prices in the under 10 grand range, I personally doubt it but I'll try to post an update with the final price once they come in.

 

[TJCornish]

I got a chance to play with the Neo back in May when I was at Strand for agent training. Being newer to the theatrical side of things, it's hard to say how good it is vs consoles X and Y.
It's a very sexy piece of hardware and the features seemed quite impressive for a console of that price range.
Yes it only comes with 1 universe, and that's a complaint I've already heard from a few people up here, but even if you've got a few Philips products on your show, you may only need 1. If a job specifies minimum 2 universes, then a 2nd universe will be sold right off the bat.
Everything about it impressed the hell out of me, even with the beta software it was running. First batch of units were already sold and should have shipped to their projects by now. I'm hoping to persuade the boss to loosen the purse strings and get me one to play with as a demo model.

So, what is the price range? Motorized faders seems to be a really nice feature.

 

[ianh]

If you want to try out the software, to see if it does what you want, go to lightfactory.net and download it for your PC. Then give it a go. Form your operational conclusions after trying it out. Additional Universes for LF cost, like US$130 ea, so why the hang up on how wide the board is?

 

[TJCornish]

If you want to try out the software, to see if it does what you want, go to lightfactory.net and download it for your PC. Then give it a go. Form your operational conclusions after trying it out. Additional Universes for LF cost, like US$130 ea, so why the hang up on how wide the board is?

If this desk is cheap enough that the cost of a couple universes for $250 moves the needle on the package, sign me up.

 

[bharrell]

The list price of a single universe NEO is approximately $8500 US. Each additional universe will be approximately $500-600 US. Therefore a 4 universe NEO will be approximately $10,000 US list.

 

[TheTheaterGeek]

The list price of a single universe NEO is approximately $8500 US. Each additional universe will be approximately $500-600 US. Therefore a 4 universe NEO will be approximately $10,000 US list.

Talked to a rep at LDI today saying $8k list. I really enjoyed the features of it. It has come a long way from where it was when I saw it at USITT.

 

[robmerow]

Personally I don't see much to complain about if the board is 8 grand... motorized faders, touch screen, 1st-tier support - it's really the only non-PC solution in this price range with these features. Havn't programmed on it, but on paper at least it does seem to fill a niche that isn't already filled. A game-changer? Probably not. But nothing to complain about.

The pay-per universe thing doesn't bother me either at this price range - I think of it more as a $10k console with an optional discount if you need less universes instead of the contrary. The free Phillips channels don't bother me either. Every brand of everything (cars, cell phones, computers, tablets, MP3 players) come with some sort of proprietary featureset that is bloatware to most people but useful to someone. Again, I think of it as something to poke fun at, but certainly not a negative. It's still a feature set that many people can use (however gimmicky).

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Personally I don't see much to complain about if the board is 8 grand... motorized faders, touch screen, 1st-tier support - it's really the only non-PC solution in this price range with these features. Havn't programmed on it, but on paper at least it does seem to fill a niche that isn't already filled. A game-changer? Probably not. But nothing to complain about.

The pay-per universe thing doesn't bother me either at this price range - I think of it more as a $10k console with an optional discount if you need less universes instead of the contrary. The free Phillips channels don't bother me either. Every brand of everything (cars, cell phones, computers, tablets, MP3 players) come with some sort of proprietary featureset that is bloatware to most people but useful to someone. Again, I think of it as something to poke fun at, but certainly not a negative. It's still a feature set that many people can use (however gimmicky).

Well in that same price range you could get an Avo Quartz with 4 universes onboard and up to 16 via artnet. Built in touch screen and a more mature software. And for a bit less there is the hog nano.

 

[robmerow]

Indeed, though the Avo hasn't motorized faders & supports less monitors, and the hog nano is PC based. I'm not trying to start a battle, haha - especially since I have no reason to defend the console ...Maybe it's terrible - I don't know! Just seems to have useful features, flexible capacity, and a price range reasonable for smaller venues who may need some specific tools usually reserved for larger desks.

 

[HewittoftheCentury]

I have a NEO and a bunch of SL Par 155zooms. They take 16 channels each and I have 14 of them. How do I set up my patch so I can make use of the Philips Advantage? All my dimmer bars and DMX controlled devices come together with only one DMX output from my NEO. Do I need another DMX line directly to these instruments for using the second universe? Or can I just patch them in the second universe and it will go through output 1? Thanks for the help!

 

[derekleffew]

Mod. Note: Above post moved here from another location.

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Personally-speaking,-not-for-ControlBooth-or-any-other-entity Note:
Wow, I can't believe that Philips Advantage is still a thing after five years. (I'll think it, but not say it, that "Most things by that company get Strand-ed within five years.")

 

[danTt]

I have a NEO and a bunch of SL Par 155zooms. They take 16 channels each and I have 14 of them. How do I set up my patch so I can make use of the Philips Advantage? All my dimmer bars and DMX controlled devices come together with only one DMX output from my NEO. Do I need another DMX line directly to these instruments for using the second universe? Or can I just patch them in the second universe and it will go through output 1? Thanks for the help!

Leaving aside the politics of the situation (Phillips sucks) the 512 address limitation is a physical constraint of dmx. You can't patch units in universe two and have a universe 1 dmx cable share that data. I believe in this situation your Phillips lights simply do not count against the software output limit

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Mod. Note: Above post moved here from another location.

Personally-speaking,-not-for-ControlBooth-or-any-other-entity Note:
Wow, I can't believe that Philips Advantage is still a thing after five years. (I'll think it, but not say it, that "Most things by that company get Strand-ed within five years.")

Mods: if your comment meant Derek here, his comment is below it, not above...

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Leaving aside the politics of the situation (Phillips sucks) the 512 address limitation is a physical constraint of dmx. You can't patch units in universe two and have a universe 1 dmx cable share that data. I believe in this situation your Phillips lights simply do not count against the software output limit

Correct; that's their gig here: your Phillips fixtures are "free", non-Phillips ones "cost you".

Never been entirely sure what I think about it. As long as they're perfectly clear...

 

[RonHebbard]

I have a NEO and a bunch of SL Par 155 zooms. They take 16 channels each and I have 14 of them. How do I set up my patch so I can make use of the Philips Advantage? All my dimmer bars and DMX controlled devices come together with only one DMX output from my NEO. Do I need another DMX line directly to these instruments for using the second universe? Or can I just patch them in the second universe and it will go through output 1? Thanks for the help!

Summoning @Ron Foley Hello Ron; This Control Booth post and thread has your name all over it and deserves your attention. Perhaps you wouldn't mind sorting poster @HewittoftheCentury with his query in post #50??
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Ron Foley]

not quite sure what you are trying to do
your console most likely came with 512 channels (you can buy additional channels)
however there are (4) DMX ports on the back of the console if you are using hard DMX
if you are just trying to get a second run of DMX using only 512 channels
set ports 1 and 2 to universe (1)
as for DMX advantage, Phillips fixtures do not eat into the channel count when selected. (system properties)

 

[HewittoftheCentury]

not quite sure what you are trying to do
your console most likely came with 512 channels (you can buy additional channels)
however there are (4) DMX ports on the back of the console if you are using hard DMX
if you are just trying to get a second run of DMX using only 512 channels
set ports 1 and 2 to universe (1)
as for DMX advantage, Phillips fixtures do not eat into the channel count when selected. (system properties)

Thank you guys. It looks like I am unable to even take advantage of the Philips Advantage since my NEO set up has one universe and my output DMX from the board goes to a splitter which then goes out to my electrics. I can’t run another DMX line to my electrics from output 2-4. I probably could but the price to run those lines in my auditorium is probably too much.

On a side note, I would NOT recommend the NEO for anyone. I’ve had more problems with it then I ever expected. I’ve had to send it in for repairs each year for the first 7 years I’ve had it. Ive has files corrupted, whole shows lost, hours of work lost, screen issues, basically everything you can imagine. DONT BUY a NEO!

 

[bharrell]

Thank you guys. It looks like I am unable to even take advantage of the Philips Advantage since my NEO set up has one universe and my output DMX from the board goes to a splitter which then goes out to my electrics. I can’t run another DMX line to my electrics from output 2-4. I probably could but the price to run those lines in my auditorium is probably too much.

On a side note, I would NOT recommend the NEO for anyone. I’ve had more problems with it then I ever expected. I’ve had to send it in for repairs each year for the first 7 years I’ve had it. Ive has files corrupted, whole shows lost, hours of work lost, screen issues, basically everything you can imagine. DONT BUY a NEO!

Not sure the details of the issues that you are having but I would like to help in sorting out your issues and work with tech support to get this resolved. Email me at [email protected] with your info.

 

[Crisp image]

I have a NEO and a bunch of SL Par 155zooms. They take 16 channels each and I have 14 of them. How do I set up my patch so I can make use of the Philips Advantage? All my dimmer bars and DMX controlled devices come together with only one DMX output from my NEO. Do I need another DMX line directly to these instruments for using the second universe? Or can I just patch them in the second universe and it will go through output 1? Thanks for the help!

We usually run the SL 155 Zoom in simple 8 bit mode which is 6 addresses.
I don't know why you would want to run it in 16 bit mode but each to their own.
Regards
Geoff

 

[Ron Foley]

there seems to be some confusion that the DMX Advantage fixtures need to be on their own universe.

that is not the case

if you have a NEO with 512 purchased channels, you can patch as many fixtures as you want and interlace , other fixtures or dimmers.

the limitation is the 512 channels of DMX on any one universe, (not a limitation of the console)

so on a NEO with 512 channels and a rig with only (1) DMX line

1.1 PL1 8 bit (9) channel DMX Advantage
1.10 8 channel RGBW fixture (9) channel
1.19 conventional single channel dimmer (1) channel
1.20 PL1 8 bit (9) channel DMX Advantage
1.29 conventional single channel dimmer (1) channel

with DMX advantage selected you have now only used (11) channels of the console (512) control channels, but are controlling 29 channels of DMX.

after you go over the 512 on universe (1) start patching on universe #2 , that will require a second DMX line

you can patch (100) or more Philips fixtures on the NEO and still have the 512 purchased channel available

in system properties you will see DMX channels (512), Remaining Channels (501)and a listing of DMX Advantage channels used (18)