I'm using a brand new EOS on a show right now. I love learning new consoles, but to me, the software is just not mature enough, and in some cases is a step back from an Expression/Express. I hesitate to recommend the Eos to many people right now, because my programming time has increased, not from learning a new board, but it is just sloooooow sometimes.
I gave up trying to use snapshots. 2 simple snapshots, one for a live view and one for a patch view I like take at least 5 seconds to switch between. Even just going from patch to live using the live button can take 2 seconds. I'm a patient person, but not when it comes to waiting on a (new) console.
Also, if I just want to look at my groups using 'group+group', why does it have to be in blind? Is there a reason I can't have a groups list open in live? This also goes for all palettes I would like to open and see. I know traditionally ETC consoles have some functions and views only accessible in blind, but I much prefer the Hog and other platform mentality of Blind being a state of not outputting values in the programmer, not limiting you to only seeing certain windows in blind.
I also feel like Eos has increased the number of button presses that used to be fewer presses. Patch, rather than being one press, is now Displays+Patch, or Tab+#, or a custom snapshot of how I like my view arranged (again, taking way too long to execute my command). Release is now sneak+enter ( which means default sneak time must be 0 to act like release). Clear is basically backspace, which is fine, since Undo clears command line. But undo then also acts like undo, which requires the user to think whether they are about to clear the command line or undo the previous action and bring up the undo window.
To me, all these seem like erroneous steps that could have been simplified had the buttons been there. I know, different console, different methods, but I miss previously simple functions now take more button presses and programming time.
With any group or palette list open on an external touch screen, is there any reason I cant touch or click on the label field and change the text right there?
Similarly, on the CIA, in order to save or shutdown, it is so small to try to touch the correct line of text, so use and external mouse/trackball. Once I click it, then the OK is a giant button that is easily touchable. Some may say I am too nit-picky about good UI design, but it seems like a choice needs to be made. Personally, I hate having to use a mouse just to use a console, and would love to be able to actually use my finger to navigate the items in the CIA.
Fan- I want to fan my intels. The button is there, please make it work. (I'm trying to be patient)
Build Quality- Most of the board seems solid to me, the frame and intensity wheels are great. Having said that, the buttons suck. The keypad buttons are killing me. The poster of the Eos in my office has different buttons on it, that look much more usable. Why were they changed? The ETC rep who came and trained us on the Eos admitted that he thought it was not a smart decision and often has problems with accidental key presses and such. (Was his idea for backlit keys really too cost prohibitive? The glare from the littlelites suck [which can't be dimmed, just removed completely] and backlit keys, or even a hinged touchscreen would have solved this problem. This IS ETC's flagship console, right?)
The direct select style buttons on the side of the touch screens and for Tab, Format, etc. seem terribly crafted to me. They are loose and jiggle around, and have problems sticking and getting depressed too far. Also, to the right of the Scroll Lock, Select, and Page keys, if you put any pressure onto the front bezel, the Form button gets selected.
I gave up using the direct select buttons over the touch screens, but even the bottom portion that is covered makes the screen blurry and difficult to read. The mechanisms to get the direct selects or covers on and off is also poorly constructed. They wiggle around and never sit flush. I know this isn't a huge deal, but considering the price of the console, I would have expected better from ETC.
The black circle on the encoders- is it supposed to be able to spin or not? On some of the encoders it spins, on some it doesn't.
Speaking of encoders, I would love to have a menu option to turn the magnetic resistance off. Its a neat idea, but sometimes its like I have to force the console to change color scroller frames. Also, we've had problems with the wheels not working at all sometimes. I had a bunch of VL2500's, and sometimes on the CYM page, I could adjust C and M, but the encoder for Y would not work at all. I haven't had this happen recently, so hopefully it was fixed in the most recent update.
RFR- Handy tool, but still waiting for the next release. The base station must be unplugged alomst every time we try to use it. The remote has poor range, disconnecting from the base station sitting at the console 40 feet away with no obstructions. Once Ethernet is turned on, we can put it backstage and hopefully be able to use it. Also, I would love to be able to bring up addresses without being in park. Going through channel check also seems like a basic function, but is only available in park, requiring me to go back to the console to unpark everything before the show starts. I know a macro can be created to get around this, but I think it should be built in. Rather than turning a channel out, rolling up to the next channel and pressing Full Full, a channel check should automatically drop the previous fixture's intensity and bring up the next.
I'm sure many of the problems I am having are operator error (me), or they are there, just not apparent to me. I'm really not as angry as my post sounds, but to me its frustrating when more complex, not-used-often features were finished before simple, useful functions (Changing the frequency of errors on the console doesn't do much for me besides providing the best console entertainment other than space invaders on the GrandMA). The future of Eos/Ion platform is exciting (I know the intentions of the audio-in jack, and I can't wait for the day to tell the console what to do) and there are some many things I love about the console I didn't mention (Drawing effects by touch=cool). At this time, I think more development needs to take place before I can recommend the Eos to someone making a purchase or using one on a show. I look forward to other's thoughts and answers.
-Kirk Fitzgerald
