soundlight
Well-Known Member
So I figured that I'd put up a review of possibly one of the most useful DMX devices that I have ever used. The Leviton/NSI N1000 (aka 1000 series) which also appears to be the Lite Puter "Junior".
Let's start by going over the features that I care about:
-Keypad access to all 512 DMX addresses.
-Recordable submasters with bumps (6) & internal scenes (40)
-DMX IN and OUT with passthru of data
-Backup functions - automatically fades a scene when it loses DMX
-Fader access to any 6 consecutive channels in channel mode
-BATTERY lasts for about 3 hours so you can carry this thing around without any power cord (I can't judge this completely, mine is a unit that sat for 3 years and needs new batteries, but it does indeed work on battery power although I have not tested duration)
Things I have used it for:
-Testing dimmer racks in the shop
-As a "wing" for a Hog1000 when I wanted a couple of faders & bumps for conventionals to free up my cuestacks for cuestack-y stuff.
-Reading DMX from a console to check levels (only one channel at a time)
-Testing console DMX IN ports (GMA)
-Onstage focus remote inline with the DMX line from the booth in order to keep the booth console active for worklight/houselight control (but this also allowed me to kill works/house when necessary during focusing)
-Figuring out what light is in what circuit/dimmer in a theater
Things I could see it being used for that I have not used it for:
-Addressing DMX Hold LEDs - go around a room and set colors via DMX on battery powered LED units with DMX Hold using the faders.
-"Wing" for any console that has DMX IN to add executors/cuestacks - adds 6 cue faders to the console
-Backup console
Actual console & operation:
-It's built well. Nice thick metal housing doesn't seem like it will bend or break easily. Buttons and faders don't seem like they'll be moving any time soon. Not that you should be throwing this across the concrete floor as a test, but it won't break in your hands if you're carrying it around stage like a handheld game and tethered only to a DMX cable.
-The faders are solid. This was the most surprising thing. The faders are very solid and they have a slight bit of resistance to them like faders should; it's not like one of those cheapo DJ consoles where laying your finger near the fader makes it move. There's hardly any play in them as well. Fader caps have a rubberized feel which is nice.
-Keypad leaves a bit to be desired, but with all of the good stuff about this console, I can sacrifice a little bit here. The round buttons are easy to hit, but it's just your standard momentary pushbuttons, not actual keyboard-type keys. I haven't had many issues at all with key misstrokes, though.
-Syntax is standard. There isn't a full button and the thru button is simply a "-" and there's not "and/+" button, but it's easy to tell someone who has used any keypad entry console how to use it. Every command finishes with enter, every record requires enter confirmation. For instance, to bring up channels 1 thru 8 at 100 and 10 at 80 and record them to Sub 2, the following is the syntax: [CH][1][-][8][AT][1][0][0][ENTER][CH][1][0][AT][8][0][ENTER][REC][SUB BUMP 2][ENTER].
-In Channel Mode (the default mode that the console fires up in the first time), the faders are six channels around the channel that you are adjusting on the keypad. So for instance if you have just set a value for channel 1, the faders probably control channels 1 thru 6. If you've just adjusted channel 280, the faders probably control 280 thru 285. If you want to play back submasters, you need to enter sub mode which is done by changing the function to Sub: [FUNC][Down Arrow][ENTER]. You can still adjust channel values in sub mode just as you would in channel mode, but the subs take precedence and you can also recall scenes: [SC][##][ENTER]. Scenes are stored states just like subs but they are recalled similar to a GOTO Q syntax.
-I've indicated as to the use of the [Up Arrow] and [Down Arrow] keys once (menu navigaction), but here's another thing you can do - if you don't want to do [CH][#][#], you can quickly use the up/down keys to move to adjacent channels if the channel you're looking for is just a couple to one side or the other.
-It will record data coming in. So if you have a universe of movers that you just need a couple of static looks for that won't need to change gracefully, this is a great little playback box that won't bump levels if someone accidentally kicks the power cord. You can save those 40 scenes as things you want to recall - LED or mover looks or just levels for conventionals or houselights or worklights. So program your mover looks on a nice console then save them to scenes in this box if it's just a static look or two that you need to use. It's as simple as putting this thing in line with the DMX Out of your main console, setting the look, hitting [REC][SC][##][ENTER].
-Oh, and [CL] is Clear. Haven't really explored this function yet. Doesn't serve much purpose the way that I use the console. Manual says that pressing [CL] and [CH] at the same time clears channel levels, so I'll probably use that in the future. The manual is well written for a console like this and is fairly easy to figure out quickly.
-NOTE: The DMX in level display on the console is not realtime for data coming in. The data coming in merges/passes thru realtime, but the value on the console display is not realtime. For instance, if you're looking at channel 1 on th bottom row of the LCD display and you're testing a console with it (testing the DMX out of the console), you will need to "refresh" the level display by pressing the Up and Down arrow keys to get back to that channel or press [CH][#] again.
All in all, it's a great test, backup, and wing device for a myriad of applications. The thing that I like least is the fact that it's a wall-wart transformer and not a power cord, but hey, for a DMX device this small I can't really ask them to put an internal transformer in it. That'd weigh a bit more.
Let's start by going over the features that I care about:
-Keypad access to all 512 DMX addresses.
-Recordable submasters with bumps (6) & internal scenes (40)
-DMX IN and OUT with passthru of data
-Backup functions - automatically fades a scene when it loses DMX
-Fader access to any 6 consecutive channels in channel mode
-BATTERY lasts for about 3 hours so you can carry this thing around without any power cord (I can't judge this completely, mine is a unit that sat for 3 years and needs new batteries, but it does indeed work on battery power although I have not tested duration)
Things I have used it for:
-Testing dimmer racks in the shop
-As a "wing" for a Hog1000 when I wanted a couple of faders & bumps for conventionals to free up my cuestacks for cuestack-y stuff.
-Reading DMX from a console to check levels (only one channel at a time)
-Testing console DMX IN ports (GMA)
-Onstage focus remote inline with the DMX line from the booth in order to keep the booth console active for worklight/houselight control (but this also allowed me to kill works/house when necessary during focusing)
-Figuring out what light is in what circuit/dimmer in a theater
Things I could see it being used for that I have not used it for:
-Addressing DMX Hold LEDs - go around a room and set colors via DMX on battery powered LED units with DMX Hold using the faders.
-"Wing" for any console that has DMX IN to add executors/cuestacks - adds 6 cue faders to the console
-Backup console
Actual console & operation:
-It's built well. Nice thick metal housing doesn't seem like it will bend or break easily. Buttons and faders don't seem like they'll be moving any time soon. Not that you should be throwing this across the concrete floor as a test, but it won't break in your hands if you're carrying it around stage like a handheld game and tethered only to a DMX cable.
-The faders are solid. This was the most surprising thing. The faders are very solid and they have a slight bit of resistance to them like faders should; it's not like one of those cheapo DJ consoles where laying your finger near the fader makes it move. There's hardly any play in them as well. Fader caps have a rubberized feel which is nice.
-Keypad leaves a bit to be desired, but with all of the good stuff about this console, I can sacrifice a little bit here. The round buttons are easy to hit, but it's just your standard momentary pushbuttons, not actual keyboard-type keys. I haven't had many issues at all with key misstrokes, though.
-Syntax is standard. There isn't a full button and the thru button is simply a "-" and there's not "and/+" button, but it's easy to tell someone who has used any keypad entry console how to use it. Every command finishes with enter, every record requires enter confirmation. For instance, to bring up channels 1 thru 8 at 100 and 10 at 80 and record them to Sub 2, the following is the syntax: [CH][1][-][8][AT][1][0][0][ENTER][CH][1][0][AT][8][0][ENTER][REC][SUB BUMP 2][ENTER].
-In Channel Mode (the default mode that the console fires up in the first time), the faders are six channels around the channel that you are adjusting on the keypad. So for instance if you have just set a value for channel 1, the faders probably control channels 1 thru 6. If you've just adjusted channel 280, the faders probably control 280 thru 285. If you want to play back submasters, you need to enter sub mode which is done by changing the function to Sub: [FUNC][Down Arrow][ENTER]. You can still adjust channel values in sub mode just as you would in channel mode, but the subs take precedence and you can also recall scenes: [SC][##][ENTER]. Scenes are stored states just like subs but they are recalled similar to a GOTO Q syntax.
-I've indicated as to the use of the [Up Arrow] and [Down Arrow] keys once (menu navigaction), but here's another thing you can do - if you don't want to do [CH][#][#], you can quickly use the up/down keys to move to adjacent channels if the channel you're looking for is just a couple to one side or the other.
-It will record data coming in. So if you have a universe of movers that you just need a couple of static looks for that won't need to change gracefully, this is a great little playback box that won't bump levels if someone accidentally kicks the power cord. You can save those 40 scenes as things you want to recall - LED or mover looks or just levels for conventionals or houselights or worklights. So program your mover looks on a nice console then save them to scenes in this box if it's just a static look or two that you need to use. It's as simple as putting this thing in line with the DMX Out of your main console, setting the look, hitting [REC][SC][##][ENTER].
-Oh, and [CL] is Clear. Haven't really explored this function yet. Doesn't serve much purpose the way that I use the console. Manual says that pressing [CL] and [CH] at the same time clears channel levels, so I'll probably use that in the future. The manual is well written for a console like this and is fairly easy to figure out quickly.
-NOTE: The DMX in level display on the console is not realtime for data coming in. The data coming in merges/passes thru realtime, but the value on the console display is not realtime. For instance, if you're looking at channel 1 on th bottom row of the LCD display and you're testing a console with it (testing the DMX out of the console), you will need to "refresh" the level display by pressing the Up and Down arrow keys to get back to that channel or press [CH][#] again.
All in all, it's a great test, backup, and wing device for a myriad of applications. The thing that I like least is the fact that it's a wall-wart transformer and not a power cord, but hey, for a DMX device this small I can't really ask them to put an internal transformer in it. That'd weigh a bit more.
