jeffl Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 When it comes to both of these devices; which is the best choice considering the pro is twice as much? For my case I would like one that can perform well with S3.Is the pro overkill? Are there noticeable benefits beyond just the impressive specifications? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 My understanding:Open - all of the computing power is provided by your computer.Pro - some of the computing power is handled in the dongle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmomkr Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 I cant swear to it, but I think I recall reading the pro has a chip dedicated to the dmx function, so performance would be better IF you had an old pc.Im also pretty sure the pro has an input, but the "open" / cheaper one only has output.I guess if you ever think you might be sending feedback into the dongle via dmx, you would want pro, but I dont think thats even a pipe dream for s3 yet. Besides not a lot of folks out there have a need to SEND triggers from another DMX device.The only thing SENDING DMX on a lor network is showtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 JBullard wrote: My understanding:Open - all of the computing power is provided by your computer.Pro - some of the computing power is handled in the dongle.This appears to be the case. I can't find anything that explains it in detail however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenote Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Agree with all the above.Added note, the pro allows for a "return" signal to be terminated. Yes, it is easy to make your own at the last fixture, and a lot of fixtures and cards even have a jumper build in to allow this now. But when ever you include it on the base hardware, you may get better stability of the signal.Also, I have tested both now for nearly a month, running shows everyday, and have not had any problems with either unit, only problems with noise. (huge problem, caused by cheap cables and connectors in my setup) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 cenote wrote: Also, I have tested both now for nearly a month, running shows everyday, and have not had any problems with either unit, only problems with noise. (huge problem, caused by cheap cables and connectors in my setup)You had me excited until you said you had huge problems with noise. Can you elaborate and calm my fears. Cat 5 cables? XLR connectors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenote Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 was using cat5 with some hodge-potch stuff, and was having problems. As soon as I "aquired" some 18g sheilded stranded wire, and make good solder connectors to XLR plugs, no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 jeffl wrote: JBullard wrote: My understanding:Open - all of the computing power is provided by your computer.Pro - some of the computing power is handled in the dongle.This appears to be the case. I can't find anything that explains it in detail however.This is close to true, but not entirely accurate. More accurate would be:Open: All computing power must be provided by your computer.Pro: Some computing power could be provided by the dongle.The main difference is this:A native DMX device needs to constantly be told what intensity it should be at. It needs to be told this over and over and over, very very rapidly. For example, if you set it at intensity 3, then a second later set it at intensity 7, then a second later back to 3, and so forth, what a native DMX device really needs to be told is:"Intensity 3, intensity 3, intensity 3, (... many many times over the course of only a single second ...), intensity 7, intensity 7, intensity 7, (... many times ...), intensity 3, intensity 3, intensity 3 (...)".The ENTTEC Open DMX USB dongles are essentially just passthrough devices. So in order to control your native DMX device through an ENTTEC Open dongle, your computer has to be the thing that is constantly saying "intensity 3, intensity 3, intensity 3".The ENTTEC DMX USB Pro dongles are smarter. Your computer can instead tell them "Hey, switch to intensity 3". And a second later, "Intensity 7". The dongle itself can take care of sending the constant "intensity 3, intensity 3, intensity 3" to the actual DMX device.So, this could offload some CPU usage from your computer to the dongle.However, note that this does not imply that using a Pro will offload CPU usage. First of all, during fades, your computer might have to rapidly tell the dongle what intensity it is anyway (since the intensity is constantly changing). Second, even ignoring fades, there is no reason that your computer must take advantage of the Pro's smarts; there's nothing stopping your computer from telling the Pro "intensity 3, intensity 3, intensity 3".And in fact, in version 3.0.0, LOR does not take advantage of the Pro's smarts, so it will not save you any CPU. However, we intend to take advantage of the Pro's smarts in a future release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Thanks Bob.I was aware that the Pro could take over SOME of the computing power.However, I was not aware of the current limitation of S3 related to the Pro. Look forward to the future release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rstately Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 If I have an I-DMX, and I only need 1 DMX universe, is there any reason I should buy one of these other dongles?are they just less expensive, or are there other benefits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Cherry Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 rstately wrote: If I have an I-DMX, and I only need 1 DMX universe, is there any reason I should buy one of these other dongles?are they just less expensive, or are there other benefits?Last year my display was run off a mini director going to a IDMX for my standard controllers and then to my 4 CCR's.This gave me 176 DMX channels and 600 channels of LOR CCR'sWill be using S3 this year and the same setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 Bob,Thanks for the clear explanation including how the integration with LOR currently works. I'm still trying to figure out what I should purchase (Enttec Open, Pro, or an iDMX) and this helps us all understand how they may work without making a purchase first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rstately Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Thanks Dennis,I am just starting to learn DMX, and also RGB/CCD'sIt's a lot to take in...and I'm not the brightest bulb in the knife drawer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 And in fact, in version 3.0.0, LOR does not take advantage of the Pro's smarts, so it will not save you any CPU. However, we intend to take advantage of the Pro's smarts in a future release. Unless something goes drastically wrong during testing, we will start taking advantage of the Pro's smarts in the next release (probably 3.0.4). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 The time between 3.0.0 and 3.0.2 was fairly quick. Will 3.0.4 be the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts