Description
ADJ’s DMX Operator 384 is a 19-inch rack mount DMX hardware controller for lighting effects that are compatible with DMX protocol. It controls up to 384 channels; twelve individual fixtures each with 32 channels. It is MIDI controllable and has a built-in microphone and fog operation to quickly control a small stage set up. It records up to 12 chases and 30 scenes banks with 240 programmable scenes and offers 8 individual faders and 4 channel banks and a joystick to provide easy programmability. For simple ease of lighting control, the DMX Operator 384 is a versatile and powerful solution.
DMX Operator 384
The DMX Operator 384 is a 19-inch rack mount controller that controls both DMX and Midi. it will control up to 384 channels of DMX, and it features 30 programmable scene banks (240 total programmable scenes), 12 programmable chases and an assignable joystick.
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KeithB –
Full review of ADJ Operator 384 – 30 April 2020
This is a review of the ADJ Operator 384 as used at Ladybird Studios (Sevenoaks). It describes the controller as received from the supplier and its capabilities as used by our studio.Hardware:The 19” rack mountable hardware arrived damaged as seems common reading other reviews. The joystick was in pieces in the box whilst the packaging was undamaged. This implied it was either packed that way, or taken out of its packaging between manufacture and our receipt. Either way, on inspection the joystick is flimsy and not suitable for road use. On testing the power lead didn’t always make contact even when locked. Under normal circumstances this controller should have been returned immediately, but during the current Coronavirus lockdown we decided to complete our testing.Operations:At Ladybird we use lighting controllers in two ways. 1) To directly control fixtures via DMX, and 2) as MIDI control surfaces into DMX software (in our case QLC+ but plenty of alternatives exist out there). This unit is capable of doing both and as such is similar to our Behringer LC2412.DMX: This device has DMX addresses pre-assigned to sliders as is common with simple controllers. Our Transcension Commander 384 is similar, whereas the LC2412 can have up to 3 addresses dynamically assigned to each of 24 sliders. There are pros and cons to each method of DMX address allocation.The ADJ is designed to address 12 fixtures with 32 channels each via 8 sliders split over 4 banks (the Transcension has 16 sliders split over two banks). In reality you can assign as many fixtures as will fit in the 384 channel limitation as long as you know the starting addresses and use the sliders accordingly. The joystick can be assigned to the same two channels on one or more of the 12 fixtures relating to pan, fine pan, tilt and fine tilt. Initial tests with an Equinox Fusion 50 moving head fixture showed that control via the joystick is stop / go in a given direction. It appears that the ‘fade’ slider has some control over the speed of pan / tilt but we have not discovered a way of stopping movement once the desired location has been reached as it doesn’t automatically stop as soon as the joystick is released. None of this is in the somewhat meagre instructions.With a bit of lateral thinking the joystick could be used for other functions such as fade, crude colour change, or strobe depending on which DMX channels it is assigned.As is common with this type of controller a set of fixture settings can be defined as a scene, and scenes can be sequenced and chased. Sequences and chases can be externally triggered. There is no master fader so a pre-defined scene cannot be set and manually faded easily.MIDI: We had to download the manual before it was obvious that this feature existed, albeit somewhat untidy. Below is the mapping that we found to be useful. – MIDI IN/OUT is via 2x5pin DIN or USB. – The 8 sliders each output different MIDI codes for each of the 8 banks and 2 pages, making a total of 128 unique slider codes. Our LC2412 outputs a unique code for each of the 24 sliders but with no bank changes. – Fixture buttons output the first 5 banks of 12 sequential unique MIDI codes with banks above that emitting duplicates – Scene buttons output 7 sequential codes regardless of bank setting, with buttons 4/5 duplicated – Chase buttons output 12 sequential codes duplicated across banks 1-3 then random in banks above that. – The fader time slider outputs sequential MIDI notes (which we can’t think of a use for…) – There are no control knobs. We use a Korg nanoKONTROL2 to provide those as we use them for pan / tilt / speed / colour in a variety of situations. – Named control buttons don’t send MIDI signals – The joystick also does not output anything in MIDI mode, which is a shame because relative pan and tilt signals would be useful.We don’t use and didn’t test MIDI IN on any of our controllers but typically this is used to provide remote control from an external control surface or sequencer.Suggested improvements: – The 9v power supply is mounted in the plug, which has clip-on international pin options. In our experience this type of plug is bulky and awkward to mount within a flight case, and these types of transformers tend to have high failure rates. We will be replacing it with a 9v ‘brick’ with a dedicated lead connected to a mains bus. – A touchpad would be a better way of ‘aiming’ moving heads and a lot more resilient. If the joystick is retained it should be much stronger and protected in transit. Also fixture movement should stop when the joystick is released. – Nowhere in the documentation does it state which models of fog machine are compatible (it appears to be only the ADJ 1300W version with the wireless remote). Maybe an assignable DMX button would be more use. If we can determine the pin-out of the 5pin DIN socket where the fog remote connects we will make something for our smoke machine. – Tidy up the MIDI mappings and publicise. It would be good if a limited number of buttons worked on the first 8 banks rather than the somewhat rather random mapping as at present.Conclusion: We chose this model because it mentioned MIDI-out which was confirmed by the picture, plus we needed a simple rack mountable DMX controller to sit alongside our Transcension model. After testing and a lot of trial and error we decide that the functionality outweighed the problems with the joystick and power lead and we decided to keep this controller. We mended the joystick with some metal parts machined in our workshop as replacing the plastic parts ($6.00 from the US) would not really solve the problem and make it roadworthy. The power lead does not need locking in place as we have it mounted in a flight case so we just removed the locking collet. Luckily both the joystick and power collet are fixed with external screws so we didn’t have to dismantle the entire unit. For our purposes it meets our needs and we were prepared to invalidate the warrantee, but we would not recommend it as a simple standalone controller because there are more solid and cheaper options out there. In our opinion ADJ / the Amazon suppliers are not fully marketing the dual functionality of this controller which is its unique selling point (at this price bracket) albeit messy.If you have any questions about this review please forward them via Amazon.
Robert Potts –
Very good value for a simple controller.
I chose this from an abundance of alternative similar DMX controllers for a specific application where it will be operated by several different and not expert operators. I think this unit fulfils that requirement. It is indeed pretty simple to use both as a ‘live’ control and programmed. The dimmer curve is Ok – not too lumpy with LED fixtures – and quite smooth with traditional dimmers and lanterns. The programming capacity is really adequate using either the scene banks or chases, and easy to program too. I did have an issue at first with some of the press switches (TAC switches) not operating al all or intermittently. Having encountered this problem before I operated all the switches multiple times until the cleaned up and all worked normally. Days later they still seem Ok. I think the stock turnover has been really slow due to Covid and hopefully the switches will now stay Ok with some regular use.Features I particularly like are:Manual operation possible of scenes and chases, with fade setting between scenes (cross fade).Channel banks allow multichannel LED fixtures with more than 8 DMX channels each (up to 32 DMX chan)Although there are 12 fixture buttons the Chan Bank can be used for further fixtures. For example: If the fixture has 8 or less DMX channels then each channel bank can be another fixture, giving a total of 48.I haven’t checked out the joystick yet, and the venue this will be used in does not have any moving heads at the moment, but I feel they may in future. Also they may use a follow spot sometimes which the joystick may be useful for.As a simple ‘go to’ controller this is very good value.
drs studios –
follow the manual closely
fader cap missing but still essay to use
the kat –
outrageously affordable 384 channels, but very limited display
Application: Lighting controller for small mobile and black-box dance and theatre production. Just got this, and am programming it now for a simple upcoming production (proscenium, cyc, washes, spots; no movers). For the price, i couldnʻt find anything with 384 channels. running LEDʻs/smart fixtures eats up bandwidth, and the 384 channels made this a no-brainer. the 384 are assigned in 12 groups of 32 channels each. having units that burn up 34 channels meant using 2 fixture assignments to address them. Simple dimmer packs (4-8 channel) easily can fit into one fixture set. iʻm setting up some of the 8×30 scenes to hold a core of standard Rosco configurations for certain LED instruments, which should help in design/programming. havenʻt tried MIDI control yet, will update when i do.Downside is that the display is so limited – you will need a cue sheet to know what scenes and chases are stored where. that is the only reason for 4 instead of 5 starsphysically, seems pretty tough. bought it “Condition: Used – Very Good – Item will come repackaged.” Looks brand new, despite that repackaging being so poor – it is amazing the item made it through shipping in one piece – literally. the original styrofoam was used, but in a box 4x too large. since the item survived shipping like that, iʻd have to say itʻs built well.As an aside, 512 channels would make a wonderful upgrade, for a complete DMX Universe.i suppose it really isnʻt the intended mode of application, but i wish this was a) 16 channels per bank, instead of 8, for easier, quicker access to instruments, and b) had a two-scene controller, which would allow for live scene-setting and A/B switching.meow.
GAMA70 –
Excelente Equipo
Excelente equipo y desempeño
ultra.kick –
Eh Tip-Top !
Der Joystick ließ sich absolut nicht bewegen (Montagefehler) , habe ich repareiert und einen Rabatt erhalten .Jenem Rezensenten , der keinen Vorteil in 384 Kanälen erkennen kann , kann ich nicht folgen , da die Adressierung einen wesentlich umfangreicheren wie komplexeren Fuhrpark ermöglicht .Die Fader sind leichtgängig , eine Bedienungsanleitung liegt auch bei , insgesamt recht übersichtlich geraten . Kann aber mit PC-512ch sicher nicht mithalten , allein schon wegen der Speicher- und Kopiermöglichkeiten , dafür hat man ein haptisch ansprechendes Stand-Alone-Gerät .Ich habs nur wegen eines Scanners aus der Jahrtausendwende gekauft , um das endlich mal auszuprobieren . Kann alerdings diesem recht umständlichen Herumprogrammieren nicht viel abgewinnen . Ich bereue es nicht , weil man erkennt , daß der Controller quasi GESCHENKT IST gegenüber den Preisen für die häufig recht wenigen angeschlossenen Geräte .Für 3 oder 4 bunte Lämpchen zahlt sich ein solcher Programm-Controller aber sicher nicht aus . Dieses! Gerät kann man aber auch als rudimentären MIDI-Controller benutzen , was einen deutlichen Mehrwert bedeutet . Insofern: paßt sitzt wackelt und hat Luft nach oben.
Michael Morris –
Full review
Setup: For our band we use up to 7 different models of lights (pars, panels, bars, multi-effect) and wanted to try a standalone DMX controller to see how it stacks up against our current ADJ myDMX Buddy 2.0 dongle.TL;DR: A good unit for the price, but prepare to invest time if you’re looking to program more than simple static washes, or light unit auto-programs. If preserving your program is important for you, you’ll need to write it down as there’s no way to extract the programming from the console. (yep, every fixture, every scene, every bank, every chase … that’s a lot of info). If you’re looking for something to handle a complex light show, you’ll probably want to look for something else which can be programmed via a computer.The Good: 32 channels per fixture, and with a bit of creative addressing, you can fit multiple units in a single channel bank. Built-in MIDI control was essential for us, as we run the lights from the stage via a foot controller. Programming (once you get used to it) is pretty easy, and there are a ton of ways to copy fixture, scene and bank settings. 12 individual chases with up to 240 steps each, that’s a ton of flexibility for creating shows. Built-in microphone and RCA audio input to automatically change scenes based on the music.The Bad: There is no software to program this unit, it’s all button and fader pushing, so be prepared to invest some time. That USB port isn’t used for anything other than applying firmware updates, or MIDI over USB. No way to access or backup your program, even over MIDI SysEx (unless it’s undocumented). Fixture copy feature only works in the same scene, no way to copy an individual fixture setting across scenes or banks without copying the entire scene setup. There’s no way (I know of) to recall the settings for a fixture, so if it’s really important that you know how a fixture is programed, you’ll need to write it down.
John Kirchner –
Minor use over several years, now fails to power up.
Unit wasn’t too difficult to program, however over several years of minor use the unit fails to power on. Confirmed that the power supply was good, and the internal fuse wasn’t blown. Had to order another unit from a major retailer (Sam Ash) to replace it in a pinch. Responses from ADJ support were exceptional. It’s always nice when you’re not on hold for an extended period of time. The “new” unit had issues, and I suspect that the retailer sent me either a return, or an open box demo that had minor issues. It functions, but both units will be going back to ADJ for repair.
Deanna Marie –
Learning curve
Definitely a learning curve. Not much instruction. Thanks to YouTube for help with this thing
EternalVernal –
Solid. Works as it should
I had no previous experience with DMX controllers, and without the directions I would have had no chance but they’re pretty good. Everything functions as it should and it’s a fraction of the price of others out there that do the exact same thing as far as I understand. Still confident and getting this one. You are the light.