I use a Smartfade 2496 for our small theater. It's a great
console. I understand people used to other
ETC consoles such as
Express, Expression,
Ion,
EOS, will certainly dislike Smartfade board.
Some people say it's a dj
console. It is not! This
console is IMHO positioned for the (very) small theater market. If you only have 6-12 channels to control, a Smartfade 1224 or 2496 gives you a lot of hands on control. You can much more. And the not so easy to use stack list /
cue list problem is solved when you couple the board with a pc. Perhaps the Smartfade is, depending on the users, even to complex?
Perhaps the Smartfade can do to much, it doesn't use the same names for similar tasks, buttons are labeled different in comparison to what you are probably used to but it has a lot of
power under the hood. It has more possibilities than the Jester, LC, Mikado... while acting in the same price range.
Offcourse the 'real'
ETC boards are something else... but every piece of equipment has it's place. A GrandMA Light or an
ETC Congo Junior would certainly
throw a lot more control
power, but with 6 channels to control this would be ridiculous.
Anyway, I do have second thoughts about the strength and quality of the
etc board. I experienced minor hardware problems like a failing transfo, failing
led lights on the
console, instability with Macbook. But overall the
ETC Smartfade gives you a lot of
console for little money and booth space. There's no other
console with that
level of hands on control and versatility within it's
category.
The Zero88 Jester is targeted at a similar market. The Jester has a very good
build quality, and it's little easier to grasp than the Smartfade. It feels more robust than the Smartfade but it has less possibilities, no software back end, less control in a similar footprint...
The MA Lighting LC12/2 would also be an excellent choice for this kind of small theaters. It has less possibilities than the Smartfade, but similar to the Jester. A big advantage of the MA LightCommander is that any light operator will intuitivly kwow how to use the board.
If you want an excellent quality, simple, no memory,
manual desk, the most easy to use: ADB makes a
Swing 6 and
Swing 12
desk. Just 6 or 12 channels in A/B two-scene. Easier to use is impossible. ADB
Swing
In the same range as the Jester and the MA LC12 you also have the ADB Mikado, an excellent
desk.
About the ADB name: ADB-TTV has become some sort of standard in many Belgian theatres and it makes pretty decent consoles.
ADB-TTV Technologies
just my 2cents
