What do I need?

KzBoy · Post by **KzBoy** » Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:16 am

I'm trying to figure out what I need to purchase to test & use the software?

I don't need any interfaces, I like the idea of the dvc gold's buttons, though I wouldn't use it's XLR outputs.
I only need ArtNet, at least a couple universes worth (Lets say 3).

I'm assuming I would need:

1x $139: Daslight 5 Full mode - unlimited time
3x $99: 1 Art-Net Universe
Total: $436

If thats all I need thats great! However I'm not sure if the ArtNet Universes include all 512ch of each universe, or if I need to purchase those separately. I looks like additional channels can only be purchased in groups of 128, so that would change the price quickly.

However since these are all listed as 'Upgrades' I'm wondering if I'm required to purchase at least one interface to attach the upgrades to. If thats the case I would do the dvc gold to test out the buttons. However including the worst case of my above questions I'm looking at:

1x $549: dvc gold (Includes 1024ch)
3x $99: 1 Art-Net Universe
4x $29: 128 channels - Live
1x $139: Daslight 5 Full mode - unlimited time
Total: $1,101

If the 1024 are only useable on the XLR's (It's kinda implied in the dvc packages section that the included channels only work via XLR) then I need to add an additional $232 to that total.
So I narrowed it down to between $436-$1,333. :lol:

EDIT: I tried looking on the dmxsoft site, but that just made me far...far more confused.

Side note, I wish company's would stop selling software based on universes, though I understand it's probably easier. It's just annoying to have to pay more simply to break up my lights into logical groups.
I like having each universe correspond to a particular bar/location, even if most have less than 300 channels. ArtNet has 1000's of universes so why not use them. It makes things simple when we need to diagnose something looking at the raw DMX.