I can say that the siwsson product range is very good to use in every enviroment. We use them in installations and for touring also. They have a small splitter which supports Clamps to be mounted on trusses also.
Thank you very much. I like the Swisson spliter very much. It is a much better deal too. For a one input to 5 outputs it is $404. For the Fleenor equivalent they want $804. Double the price again. The Swisson has full optical isolation and amplification. So why is the Fleenor more than double again. I do belive you get what you pay for, but I also belive just because it cost the most does not make it the best.
Fleenor puts a 5-year warranty on parts and labor vs. manufacturing defects...Swisson doesn't mention what theirs is...so I would have to guess only a year or two.
God forbid someone actually causes damage to your splitter (think forklift over your FOH snake as an example:eek: ), Fleenor turns their gear around very quickly if you need a repair, and doesn't put you over a barrel for it either. I have no idea what Swisson's repair policy is like.
Also the Fleenor case/housing is better designed. The XLR connections are all recessed, so the whole connector is protected, as well as the "push" portions of the connectors....this can be very important if something heavy gets dropped on your splitter (think what would happen if your connectors got sheared off or bent/deformed, or the little silver "push" to release tab got broken off b/c it wasn't protected.. :eek: :eek: )
Additionally the Fleenor housing is steel as opposed to the Swisson aluminum.
Like I said...you ALWAYS get what you pay for...it is up to you to decide what the needs are for your application. For an install, Swisson might be OK if it is fairly well protected, but if you need touring durability and service, I personaly would go with Fleenor.
in a former life i did install and repair. Fleenor and gray/pathway gear saved systems from direct lightning strikes time and time again. Worst case damage to the opto is a blown opto and dmx transceiver. Many times dmx chip was literally blown in half. those chips are about a buck a piece and are easy to replace. Do not scrimp on an opto. And it must be an opto isolated splitter. nothing else is worth trusting your gear to.
I own 3 of the Elation branch 4 splitters and have not one failure. The first one, I purchased over 3 years ago and the other 2 are 2 years old. They have been on everything from theater shows, corporate, performing arts tours and even outdoor events. They are rock solid and not expensive. Why would anyone pay out the nose for the Flenor products is beyond me. It's good stuff, but not any better than the Elation. I don't give a $%*& what the box says on it as long as it's reliable and works! Testing on the road is where I make my judgments on gear. And for the price, I would rather have several in inventory to send out on various shows rather than one or two at the Flenor price.
You have been lucky so far then....I would say it is only a matter of time till you get burned....I don't wish ill upon you by any means, but you are playing a dangerous game of brinksmanship with your optos.
[QUOTE=JeffM]And for the price, I would rather have several in inventory to send out on various shows rather than one or two at the Flenor price.
Optoisolators are primarily about fault containment. The idea is to keep a serious fault on one branch from propagating to another branch.
Having a spare one in inventory for "when one breaks" doesn't help if the fault burned up a bunch of other gear on the line.
It the case of a ground loop, a good opto will make it so you don't even know there's a problem. In the care of a nearby lighting strike, it will help reduce the damage.
I'm not saying Fleenor is the only way to go, there are other good splitters out there. If you add up what the component costs are for a well designed isolation circuit, it comes to real money. There are design comprimises you have to make to go low cost.
Ok, I can see we aren't going to convince everyone. Only experience will do that. I'll try one last stab at reason.
Put it this way, I would argue that the Elation splitter is worse than no iso at all. It gives you an artificial sense of 'Hey, I'm protected'. The reason that is has worked so well for you so far is that the instances that Opto Iso's are made for happen so rarely, particularly in touring. When something big does happen, it is your gear that is toast, the egg is on your face.
All I'm asking is that you carefully read the comments on the subject. Nobody is saying you must have DFD or you rig will die. What has been said is that you risk serious damage to your rig if you are not using a quality opto. Just think about it for a second. $130 for a 1 in 3 out with both 5 and 3 pin connectors. $130 barely covers the cost of quality connectors. Let alone any serious design work to make sure the thing works and paying someone to assemble it. For what they are and represent, the DFD products are an absolute steal at list price.
Bottom line: If I find an elation or equivalent opto iso on a rental rig I'm going to send it back and demand a replacement.
Edit: [quote=JeffM] It's good stuff, but not any better than the Elation. Wow. Glad to know a Rolls Royce = a Yugo
isolated or not we have covered that...now with a closer look at the speficics of the splitter i notice that the elation has connectors on 2 sides....kinda tought to rackmount? Might that make for more of a mess at dimmer beach, or the always tight FOH? How well the product is physically designed for its intended use is also important. But just my .02
I have been impressed with the rackmount Swisson units...and love my DMXtester from them. Kudos for Swisson for replacing my tester when it decided to get suicidal from 55 feet to concrete. It still worked, but the case got a little bit "broken".
The Elation branch 4 comes in a 1 rack space form for those who need a rack mountable box. I don't have spare opto's for the case of a backup. I have them for rental inventory as I send one out on every show where there is a need to marry data into one location. And for the person that would send a perfectly good piece of gear back on a renal is anal and stupid!!! If you cannot make your rig work without a Fleenor box, then you must be handicapped! None of the components in a Fleenor box are expensive and can be easily found at the local electronics supply! It's amazing how marketing and hype makes you go out and buy a product and pay stupid money for it for no other reason than some well known production guru takes one out on a tour and it works for them; they say a couple good comments about it and it's all of the sudden a must have or your risking catastrophic gear failure. Get off the crack pipe!!!!! Doug Fleenor makes a good product; yes! However, it isn't worth the money they cost! There are several good splitters on the market that do exactly the same job for way less money! So put that in your crack pipe and smoke it!!!!!!!!!
There are big differences between these products. You are comparing apples to oranges I'm afraid. Yes, they are more expensive, but the job they are doing is a lot different in many cases.
If you just want to split the signal and don't care about fault isolation and protection from a catastrophic failure, then you're okay with just a plain splitter. If you are concerned about these things, then you really do want a professional grade Optical Isolated Splitter!
well, i use elation. 3 of them. without problems, it have good isolation and the convenience for 3 and 5 pins. very usefull in movin head without conversions.
No Offense, But, I would argue that the same people that use a cheap splitter are often the same people that don't terminate their DMX, and use Mic cable as DMX cable. Both of those things often work great, right up until the point that they don't. Usually 5 minutes after doors open. Just like a cheap splitter.
If I ever see an crap splitter on a rental, I would also return it for something that will protect my gear, as well as the rental house's gear..
[quote=JeffM]...And for the person that would send a perfectly good piece of gear back on a renal is anal and stupid!!! If you cannot make your rig work without a Fleenor box, then you must be handicapped! None of the components in a Fleenor box are expensive and can be easily found at the local electronics supply! It's amazing how marketing and hype makes you go out and buy a product and pay stupid money for it for no other reason than some well known production guru takes one out on a tour and it works for them; they say a couple good comments about it and it's all of the sudden a must have or your risking catastrophic gear failure. Get off the crack pipe!!!!! Doug Fleenor makes a good product; yes! However, it isn't worth the money they cost! There are several good splitters on the market that do exactly the same job for way less money! So put that in your crack pipe and smoke it!!!!!!!!!
OH WOW!!! I think we hit a nerve....:popcorn:
It is exactly this type of irrational garbage and BS that keeps me off other forums like the LN. I for one cannot waste my time and energy on someone who doesn't want to have a civilized and rational discussion.:soapbox: ....OK...stepping down now;)
Timothy, I hope that the earlier discussion here has provided you with some useful information in making a decision for your application.
I think we all have given very good reasons why Fleenor is the best. It has nothing to do with simple "branding", just read all the previous posts. There are other alternatives that are good as well, pending your application. However, if it were as simple as running out to Radio Shack to get parts to build your own....then everyone would do that instead of buying them.
There is a very old saying that goes something like "You cannot win a debate with a fool who is not burdened with the facts".
