Enttec Pro MK2 + Midi opinions please

[polara]

Hi there - after some opinions/recommendations please.

So our band runs some lights alongside whilst we play - the current signal path for this is midi notes from Akai MPC > midi interface > QLC+ > enttec open .

Last show we did with it things started to freeze up after so long (this could have been an issue with a dmx led decoder), our enttec open was second hand and looks to be quite an old version, also we'd really like to run it reliably from a mac, so though budget is limited we're looking for something a little more robust.

Does anyone have experience of working in a similar way with midi and the Pro Mk2? Would it - with the purchase of the extra cable - allow us to omit the midi interface from our setup? Is it reliable? I found a few posts on here suggesting otherwise but all from a few years back so wondered if anyone had anything new to add - any help or recs on other hardware would be super appreciated. Thankyou.

[NateTheLightingGuy]

I use the Enttec DMX USB Pro mk2 for my lighting setup and another for a permanent lighting effects installation at a roller rink.
Let me tell you, I love it! It is rock solid and very reliable.

I've never tried the MIDI function on it, but for the DMX part, It's very good.

I've had very few issues with using it with QLC+ and the one time I did was when running QLC+ version 4.12.0 (at least that was what I think it was) and It would take about a minute to connect, but after that it was fine. Maybe in the future I should try that again to see if that's still an issue, and if so, report it. (I'm using 4.11.2 at this time)

If for some reason you do have issues with the interface. Enttec does release firmware updates which are easy to install on the DMX Pro mk2. Another cool feature is that you can record a show on it and have it play it back whenever you connect it to a power source. Not to mention optical isolation to protect your PC in case someone accidentally plugs your DMX line into a 48V phantom power mic input!

Bottom line, highly recommend for the DMX part.

Hope this helps!