New Strand Product

[almorton]

Over on the blue room, there was a discussion about the new desk announced by Strand, the Spectra. Seems that there is a new partnership, with Strand now being a sister company to Zero88, and the Spectra is in fact an FLX series desk. There was some speculation that the Strand name was better known Stateside than Zero88 and this was a way to gain market share for Zero88 and the Eaton group in general.

Leaving aside whether that actually is the strategy, is that the perception, that Zero88 are unknown outside the UK, but Strand are a globally recognised name and so more likely to grab the attention?

I know Edward from Zero88 posts on here occasionally - perhaps he could weigh in, too?

 

[Amiers]

We touched on it briefly in discord yesterday. It is definitely and interesting move. I would hold it right up there with the vista consoles that I got to rarely touch when I freelanced in the Midwest.

 

[STEVETERRY]

IMHO, this sounds like purely a re-branding event, not to be mistaken with an actual innovative new product.

ST

 

[almorton]

Indeed it is, Steve, it's a Z88 FLX series desk. The launch announcement I saw featured a quote from Jon Hole who has been cental to Zero88's prosuct development for years. But my real underlying question is about perception - are Zero88 largely unk own outside the uk and possibly Europe, compared with the Strand name (even if it's not a shadow of its former self)?

 

[MNicolai]

Honestly not sure that being part of the Strand brand in 2021 is a good thing. They've been going downhill for at least a decade. Amazing Phillips hasn't initiated a full rebrand but I guess they either don't care or they have no self-awareness about what people think of Strand these days.

Would've thought they were going to get some fresh innovation happening when they acquired Selecon back in 2009 but that ended up being very underwhelming.

This comment from a Reddit thread a few years back always comes to mind when I think of modern-era Strand.

The FLX/Spectra is really on-brand for them though. Like the Neo, they've given up on controls and just outsource it and put their name on someone else's products.

 

[derekleffew]

But my real underlying question is about perception - are Zero88 largely unk own outside the uk and possibly Europe, compared with the Strand name (even if it's not a shadow of its former self)?

In my experience, Zero88 IS known in the US, but as a second- or third-tier along the likes of Lightronics, Leprecon, NSI.

IMO, Strand has drifted so far away from consoles like Light Palette (the 1979-1990 versions, not those of early 2010s) as to be unrecognizable.

 

[almorton]

At least this desk should be reliable, going by previous Z88 desks.

 

[9voltnewbie]

I mean, it's the same thing Altman did with their Genesis console last year, that's just a rebranded LSC Mantra Series.

 

[dvsDave]

There was some speculation that the Strand name was better known Stateside than Zero88 and this was a way to gain market share for Zero88 and the Eaton group in general.

Leaving aside whether that actually is the strategy, is that the perception, that Zero88 are unknown outside the UK, but Strand are a globally recognised name and so more likely to grab the attention?

So, Zero88 merged with the iLight Group in 2000, which was acquired by Polaron in 2005, which was acquired by Cooper Industries sub-division Cooper Controls in 2006. EATON acquires Cooper Control Solutions in 2012, and finally, in March 2020, Signify (the parent group of Philips, Strand, VariLite) acquired Cooper Control Solutions. Phew.. that took a bit of research.

 

[StradivariusBone]

Like the Neo, they've given up on controls and just outsource it and put their name on someone else's products.

I'm very glad LightFactory has survived this process.

 

[derekleffew]

by Cooper Industries sub-division Cooper Controls in 2006.

Along the way, Cooper also acquired EDI, Cam-Lok, and the Crescent wrench. Not sure if they ever did anything on their own, other than to buy good (failing) companies and ruin them.

 

[JohnD]

So in this long list of begats, where does Lehigh fit in. When the FLX was getting a lot of buzz when introduced I understood that Lehigh was the distributor in the US.
Consoles (lehighdim.com)

 

[FMEng]

Along the way, Cooper also acquired EDI, Cam-Lok, and the Crescent wrench. Not sure if they ever did anything on their own, other than to buy good (failing) companies and ruin them.

There are quite a few conglomerates that do that. Harmon is one that damaged a bunch of formerly decent audio brands, then got swallowed up by Samsung themselves. Are there any signs of quality product development at AKG, JBL, dbx, Soundcraft, etc.?

 

[MNicolai]

There are quite a few conglomerates that do that. Harmon is one that damaged a bunch of formerly decent audio brands, then got swallowed up by Samsung themselves. Are there any signs of quality product development at AKG, JBL, dbx, Soundcraft, etc.?

They killed off most of the core product teams. JBL's VTX is supposedly decent but they run that ship out of Northridge, CA. The other teams across the globe for the various brands have largely been dissolved. BSS used to be top notch and now they can't keep up with Q-Sys. I've encountered various reliability issues from Crown for brand new products. AMX doesn't hold a torch to Q-Sys or Crestron. Harman was known for being a major player at the tradeshows and now it's mostly pure Samsung that gets the show floor and Harman lives in a closet off the show floor where they cram 15 brands into a small meeting room and mostly it's Martin Lighting that gets put on display rather than the major AV products.

Harman's been a downward slide for roughly a decade now but the Samsung acquisition really snuffed the life out of them and most of the engineers responsible for the major product innovations were let go.

In that vein though of pioneers and talent, I would wager that many people here couldn’t name anyone at Strand/Phillips who’s leading the major product design, but can name 3-4 people at ETC and would recognize a half-dozen more if they saw them but maybe didn’t remember their names. I myself can name exactly one person at Strand and he’s the guy you call when something that seems like it should be working isn’t. Beyond that I don’t really know who’s still there the days, what they’re excited about, and what they’re trying to do to better the entertainment industry. It’s largely a faceless group branding-wise, and that shows in their product development. Maybe that perception is different across the pond, but at least here in the States that’s the impression I get.

 

[VRommel]

Honestly not sure that being part of the Strand brand in 2021 is a good thing. They've been going downhill for at least a decade. Amazing Phillips hasn't initiated a full rebrand but I guess they either don't care or they have no self-awareness about what people think of Strand these days.

Would've thought they were going to get some fresh innovation happening when they acquired Selecon back in 2009 but that ended up being very underwhelming.

This comment from a Reddit thread a few years back always comes to mind when I think of modern-era Strand.

View attachment 22034

The FLX/Spectra is really on-brand for them though. Like the Neo, they've given up on controls and just outsource it and put their name on someone else's products.

Some of us could - and maybe should - write a book on what happens to small focused niche market segment companies that find themselves inside a much larger corporate organization. At the end of the day, a company like Strand in these Philips times (or in those Genlyte days) is - at the highest senior management level - merely a rounding error on the P&L & the balance sheet. Not too many MBAs have a burning passion for focusing and controlling production lighting.

 

[StradivariusBone]

Some of us could - and maybe should - write a book on what happens to small focused niche market segment companies that find themselves inside a much larger corporate organization.

I think that's a universal truth. Outside of lighting, the first example that comes to mind is the video game developer Rare, that made a ton of hits as a second-party dev for Nintendo, gets bought by Microsoft in the early 00's and falls apart.

 

[derekleffew]

When considering any console/control product, my first criteria is always support. Today this is more important than ever. You buy, or rent, some new moving lights. Odds are high that the console doesn't contain the personality profile for your fixtures. Where are you gonna get it? The manufacturer, a user forum, build it yourself? Will a file for the Z88 FLX work on the Strand Spectra? How many abandoned product lines can @bharrell possibly support?

EDIT: Is http://www.strand-dev.com/ permanently cancel-cultured or just today? If the former, when did that happen?

 

[DonAllen]

The "New" Strand Spectra is a rebadged FLX S console which is different in a lot of ways to the FLX. The FLX is a much more powerful and more expensive desk. The FLX S48 is ideal for schools and community theatres as it has a fader per dimmer or fixture, so a teacher can walk up to the desk if it has been set up, push up a fader and a light comes on. The FLX S24 is smaller so more suited for fringe shows and small venues. In Australia we have 12 channel dimmers, so the 24 faders in a row suits two dimmer racks, as opposed to desks with 20 faders. You can easily label the fixtures, so no need for tape and pen. The FLX S48 has a video monitor output which gives access to the group functions, separate to the multi function faders which are all fixture or playback faders. Desks with a third row of Group faders are quicker to plot and more flexible for busking.
Support is fantastic, I can email a fixture request to Edward and get it back on the same day, as we are 8 hours ahead of the UK. Lightfactory are usually same day or next day. The forums are usefull and Edward will follow up on desk support as they incorporate any problems you have in their Zeros. There are not too many requests from the forum still waiting, as it is their budget desk and other models have priority.

My main criticism being an old generation lighting person, is that the FLX S manual is an online interactive manual, so I have downloaded it onto a tablet for on site access. There is a pdf FLX S manual which has not been updated for the latest Zeros.

 

[almorton]

Yes, the FLX S series are different to the full on FLX consoles, but with similarities. The FLX was the first Z88 desk that "clicked" with me - earlier desks, such as the Frogs, seemed just that bit too different.

Personally, I'm not convinced the Strand name is a good association these days, the reputation fell somewhat since the late 90's. It remains to be seen if it will recover in a much more competitive market.

I think the Z88 current desks would stand up on their own, with a little more exposure. I guess in some ways it's a bit like the Chamsys-Chauvet tie up, except Chauvet's reputation is on the up, unlike Strand's.

 

[jon.hole]

Hi all,

I'm sorry for my delay in replying here. I'm Jon, Product Manager for Strand's Systems and Controls. I recently joined the company, after being part of Zero 88 for almost 11 years, who have now joined the Signify family.

I myself can name exactly one person at Strand and he’s the guy you call when something that seems like it should be working isn’t. Beyond that I don’t really know who’s still there the days, what they’re excited about, and what they’re trying to do to better the entertainment industry. It’s largely a faceless group branding-wise, and that shows in their product development.

Let me introduce myself, so now you know two! More than happy to jump on a brief Teams call and introduce myself, if that would be helpful. Just drop me an email (in my singature below)

At the end of the day, a company like Strand in these Philips times (or in those Genlyte days)

Amazing Phillips hasn't initiated a full rebrand

To be clear - Strand, Vari-Lite, Zero 88 and Color Kinetics are all part of Signify, and have nothing to do with Philips any longer. Part of Signify utalise the 'Philips' brand name in their consumer-focused products (such as Hue).

Like the Neo, they've given up on controls and just outsource it and put their name on someone else's products.

I mean, it's the same thing Altman did with their Genesis console last year, that's just a rebranded LSC Mantra Series.

This isn't quite true, as Zero 88 are part of the group now - one marketing team, one R&D team, one customer service team, etc. Similarly, we now OWN both the hardware and software of the Neo platform. So both Neo and Spectra are fully in-house products.

So, Zero88 merged with the iLight Group in 2000, which was acquired by Polaron in 2005, which was acquired by Cooper Industries sub-division Cooper Controls in 2006. EATON acquires Cooper Control Solutions in 2012, and finally, in March 2020, Signify (the parent group of Philips, Strand, VariLite) acquired Cooper Control Solutions. Phew.. that took a bit of research.

Almost!

- Cooper Industries purchased Polaron (and called the divison "Cooper Controls").
- Eaton purchased Cooper Industries
- Eaton spun out it's lighting division into a standalone buisness called "Cooper Lighting Solutions" (in a very similar way to how Philips spun out it's lighting divison into a buisness called "Signify").
- Cooper Lighting Solutions was purchased by Signify

Will a file for the Z88 FLX work on the Strand Spectra?

Yes, showfiles and fixture files are interchangable, as both consoles run the "ZerOS" platform. ZerOS can also import ASCII showfiles, including manufacture specific information from Strand 500 Series and ETC EOS.