dmx question by new newbie (basic)

Yes they will work together.

DMX compatibility somewhat resides in the age of whatever you are using. Some older stuff may not talk over DMX 512, when others will. It's kind of hit or miss with older stuff.

Just verify your connection types. Standard DMX communication is over 5-pin cable, but most of it these days is in 3-pin. Sometimes, dimmers and controllers won't say DMX, but rather LMX or something. DMX usually means 5-pin, but it can be 3-pin as well. LMX is always 3-pin.

In your case, as far as I know, numbers of pins on the connectors should be the extent of the compatibility issues.

If for some reason you have both 3-pin and 5-pin connectors, you can buy adapters that will change 3-pin to 5-pin and vice versa (main DMX communication is over pins 1, 2, and 3 anyway).

Now that I've thoroughly confused with you with a complicated answer to a simple question, I hope something helps.

Best,
-Tech

thank you so much.
david

Be careful with LMX, I believe its a different standard. I was doing a show in a club (Kelley's in Myrtle Beach) and they had an LMX controller. It was on, yet there was no power cord... I unpluged the LMX to use my board and the power went out the the LMX board, so I believe its powered through the cable.

--Kev

Not all LMX is powered by the dimmers. N$I boards are notorious for being powered this way. What I dislike about it is when you disconnect the controller from the dimmers, all of the lights come on until the dimmers receive a signal again. This can make setup obnoxious (particularly when there is a powerful strobe in the mix).

Most controllers that have an independent power supply (meaning you actually plug an AC cord in to power the board) ignore the voltage supplied over the cable because there is no need for it.

This is what allows me to take my own controller into a club and still utilize house light shows when I have to (in my experience, most clubs have N$I systems). It also makes programming much easier because I know my board. Plus, bands also like it because I can make them look different from all of the other bands that come in and use the same scenes, chases, etc.

-Tech