Esoteric
Well-Known Member
Its simple. people love the Express. Its easy, small, affordable, and most of all straight forward. To many people who have never used an Ion, or for that matter any middle-high end system, it may seem like something with all those features is pointless to them because they wont ever use them. It may seem daunting, having a wheel or ball instead of a slider, or maybe a new GUI, or perhaps not having DMX built into the actual board but using cat5 cable.
But when you look in the long run you can see just how good it is. However I feel like people just think "Oh, something will come out similar to the express only more modern". And as of right now, that exists (more or less). It's called the Ion. But when that new board comes out, probably will some of the same features, will people still say they want their nice old gray Express? I sure as heck hope not, because what about when your theatre starts to expand? You may finally want to use some of the features of a 21st century lighting, but be stuck with the love affection of the Express. People need to embrace change.
Without it, your theatre will not expand! There's only so much you can do with the Express! To change is to grow, and without growth the world becomes stagnant.
Maybe if the Smartfade wasn't junk, people would be more open to the Ion. But for my clients, I recommend the Ion and if they don't bite I have to go to another company. I really hate doing that. So now I have to spec out computer based systems when I would rather get my clients a real console.
As far as using the Express in the 21st century, I used an Express to run a rig with 6 movers, a dozen color scrollers, and 50+ conventional lights. Not exactly a 400 light rig, but if you were running those you are using a Hog, MA, or Obsession II anyway.
Give me a $2k Ion and I will love it. But as it is, if my client isn't looking to spend $6k+ then I can't get them an ETC. The WORST part is that they have good quality solutions at reasonable price points in every other area, but not this one.
Give me a theater stack with a GO button, a kaypad, and some encoder wheels, with a 256/512 channel option for $2.5k and I will be a happy camper. I don't need channel sliders, I don't need subs (although they are nice), I don't need 1024 channels, I don't need CAT5, standard DMX is fine.
Sometimes price is a problem. If a client has $2.5k to spend, that is all they have to spend. I know they should go the extra mile, but when you don't have it, you don't have it.
Like the article said with the CRT set and HDTV. I have a CRT set that does the job. It is all I could afford. I don't have the money for an HDTV. Would I love one? You bet! But I don't have the money, so I get a good CRT set and it does the job.
Maybe it is just the clients I work with (schools, churches, small professional theaters).
Mike