Light show through midi ports

[uraniumkore]

So I think I did my homework and I just want to check to make sure that this is how that this works:

So I have a NSI MIDI 616 board and 2 dimmers with 4 38 pars on them each, for a small local convention that I'm helping staff. The dimmers are NSI ND 4600, not that I think that really matters. The dimmers have a male and female XLR inputs and the board has the same, do I plug both dimmers into the board or do I go one into the board and then plug the other dimmer into the first dimmer?

Secondary Question: Say I want to have a prerecorded light show? the board has, what I believe are DMX, 3 ports in out and through that say MIDI on them. Can I get a DMX to usb dongle and run a show through a computer through the port and it will go to the dimmers or no? if no how do I go about doing that?

Sorry if these are dumb questions but I can't find the answers in the manuals and I don't want to waste funding on stuff that wont work. Thanks

 

[Colin Bishop]

You should be able to wire the dimmers either way, either both directly into the board or from one dimmer to the other. The ports on the controllers and dimmers can either be used as an input or output, no configuration required according to the manual.

Looking at the manuals for that board and dimmers it sounds like your system uses Microplex to communicate between the board and dimmers, not DMX. The ports labeled MIDI, are for that, which is Musical Instrument Digital Interface, it is not the same as DMX and is not compatible with it.

So the short answer is no, currently you can't use DMX512, to run a light show for your lights. One option would be to get a DMX512 to Microplex converter such as this one from Doug Fleenor Design. On that particular board you could do a light show over the MIDI ports with some sort of MIDI device, but it may take much more research and be harder.

 

[uraniumkore]

You should be able to wire the dimmers either way, either both directly into the board or from one dimmer to the other. The ports on the controllers and dimmers can either be used as an input or output, no configuration required according to the manual.

Looking at the manuals for that board and dimmers it sounds like your system uses Microplex to communicate between the board and dimmers, not DMX. The ports labeled MIDI, are for that, which is Musical Instrument Digital Interface, it is not the same as DMX and is not compatible with it.

So the short answer is no, currently you can't use DMX512, to run a light show for your lights. One option would be to get a DMX512 to Microplex converter such as this one from Doug Fleenor Design. On that particular board you could do a light show over the MIDI ports with some sort of MIDI device, but it may take much more research and be harder.

I thought that they looked slightly weird, alright thanks!

 

[Amiers]

If you are going to go the computer route you wont need the controller, IF you get the right program to control the dimmers. And yes Midi is a 5 pin "weird" plug versus a 3pin DMX or MicroPlex plug in your case. Money wise if you have the USB to DMX adapter and computer already I would look into a software controller than the MIDI board.