DMX devices comparisson

Hi, we’re about to purchase a DMX device to use with TD. It will be good to buy a reliable and usable in different situations hardware so I’m asking for recommendations here. I’m wondering now between three models.

DMX USB PRO MK2 - enttec.com/eu/products/cont … b-pro-mk2/

ODE MK2 - enttec.com/eu/products/cont … -ethernet/

ODE POE MK2 - enttec.com/eu/products/cont … -ethernet/

The price difference is not so big, my thoughts were more about is it really worth to buy the one with the Ethernet option and since I don’t have experience with any of those, are there some other noticeable advantages/disadvantages between them? I looked only the Enttec brand because it’s recommended in the DMX CHOP page and I know it’s popular in the industry. But I’m open for any opinions. Huge thanks!

We’ve used the DMX USB Pro Mk2 a lot and it’s reliable.

Rob meant that TouchDesigner doesn’t support the Open DMX USB, but both the ODE MK2 and ODE POE MK2 work great with TD as they are ArtNet/sACN which we fully support.

That’s right. Thanks Ben!
Ive removed my message to avoid confusion.
Cheers

Thanks for your help! In the end we purchased ODE MK2 since most of the people also recommend it in the Facebook group. I’ll copy-paste the comment by Denis Akopov here so it might be useful for someone in the future:

“We own dmx usb pro mk 1 and ode poe mk2. Be aware that ode poe mk2 comes without power adapter and it’s not very clear (at least for me) what kind of poe switch you need to use to drive it. dmx usb pro mk1 is great but usb port tend to become very loose after a year or so. Both devices are great, tho)”

Enttec all the way, let’s see what the DMX world would bring hehe

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Have an Enntec USB Pro Mk2 and highly recommend it. It actually came from a club I work at, it stopped working and the head LD said I fixed it could have it. Opened it up and the micro-USB port had broken off on the inside. Put it back in place and it worked, so then krazy glued it into place and has worked fine ever since. One of the DMX out tails doesn’t work but I think that’s just the attachment itself. Device has 2 universes out so I just use the working universe (funnily enough I have to have merge a CHOP with 512 blank channels as it’s it’s the first universe that doesn’t work, so the second universe starts on 513.)
It saw a lot of use at work before I got it so I think it was just daily wear and tear that broke the port (not an install, got moved and unplugged a lot). Solid device though.

Generally speaking, my preference is using an ethernet DMX device vs a USB one, as the Ethernet devices open to interesting set up possibilities in my opinion.

For example an Ethernet DMX device could be physically connected to a router, then you can connect your computer to that router via wifi, and control your lighting rig wireless.
I wouldn’t recommend using this configuration for a show set up, but would definitely recommend and have successfully used the wifi configuration for installing, testing the rig and trouble shooting, or simply to freely move around the site/building with your laptop while calling channels for focussing.

I have heard that Enttec products are pretty good. Personally I can vouch for and used several times DMX King products, and Advatek boards.
I own a eDMX1 PRO, and I am very happy with it, it does the job when I need to control 1 universe (=512 channels).
This device takes power from a computer USB port, or could take power directly from a router (if the router has a USB port) for the wifi configuration mentioned above.

Also worth looking at the Advatek PixLite 16 MkII or PixLite 16 MkII ECO. Although the look of it might be a little bit intimidating at first, consider that these boards can control a large number of pixels (i.e. LED strips), and send out 4x universes of DMX.
These boards also allow you to control your lighting rig over wifi, but require DC power supply to operate.

Hello, do you know if TD its working with the Enttec ODE MK3?

Yes it does work with TD!

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