Lixada USB to DMX512 Interface - anyone got it working?

Vista Hardware Vista UD512
1

I’ve got a Lixada “Freestyler” USB to DMX512 interface and running the latest Vista at home on Windows 10.

Cannot get the thing to work. Anyone had any success, it seems there are loads of these things out there.

2

Hello,

While these USB to DMX dongles are cheap and easily available, they are not supported by Vista. For a similar device, you’ll need to look at purchasing the official Vista UD512 USB to DMX output dongle. Chroma-Q | Vista UD512 USB to DMX Interface

A potentially more cost-effective option is to consider DMX output over network via a protocol like Art-Net or sACN. Devices to convert ArtNet or sACN signal to DMX are cheap and widely available. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DMXAN2--chauvet-dj-dmx-an-2-art-net-sacn-node-ethernet-to-2-dmx-universe

Hope that helps!
Drew

3

Thanks for this. Certainly within the venue we only ever use professional quality authorized Chromaq products, but when any of our team or new techies want to just play at home to better learn Vista, the Chromaq USB DMX is far from the pockets of most of them, especially the youngsters. Hence looking at cheaper options that’ll work with Vista.

I have no idea how Arc works, especially at home. Do I need to buy more kit and if so, is that cheaper that USB DMX?

4

ArtNet is almost just as cheap as the USB DMX adapters. Read more about ArtNet here: Art-Net - Wikipedia Or try a YouTube search for videos about ArtNet, how it works, how to set it up, etc.

For techies interested in learning Vista at home, they don’t need a USB to DMX output device (or DMX output of any kind) unless they have physical fixtures at home to practice on. Instead, they can learn quite a lot simply by downloading the software at home and then programming using your showfile you use at the venue without any physical fixtures connected.

By the way, this is exactly how I first learned Vista. I set up some fake fixtures in a showfile and programmed shows on my laptop to understand how the software worked before I ever purchased any official equipment. It’s a great way for beginners to start out.

Hope that helps!
Drew

5

We also have the demo showfile of WYSIWYG on our website.
The Wysiwyg demo is free, if you stick to our demo showfile in that platform.