I see most Beam users are using ENTTEC DMX physical interface. I was wondering if using a DOREMIDI MTD 1024 would work ?
Our setup is : We are using Ableton Live and a Scarlett 4i4 as USB audio interface to send the audio signals to the venue. What I understand is that ENTTEC interface would use a separate USB port to manage the midi signal for lights. Wouldn’t it interfere with the fact that the scarlett also has a MIDI output ? As the ENTTEC is only working through USB while the DOREMIDI can be plugged through MIDI, I thought plugging the DOREMIDI by MIDI directly to the Scarlett would make more sense.
Thanks for the question. Unfortunately, the DOREMIDI won’t work as an output interface with Beam. The DOREMIDI is essentially a MIDI-to-DMX converter that directly translates MIDI messages (like note values or CC data) into raw DMX values. Beam, however, needs a generic/universal DMX interface like the ENTTEC DMX USB PRO that allows it to generate and send DMX data directly. You can see the full list of supported devices here.
While Beam does allow you trigger lighting envelopes with MIDI notes or map the dials of your MIDI controller to fixture parameters, that’s just one of the many features. The software provides a comprehensive smart lighting control system that needs direct DMX generation capability, which is why it requires a proper DMX interface rather than a MIDI-to-DMX converter.
DMX USB interfaces use a completely different protocol than audio interfaces, so there would be no issue with using both that and your Scarlett simultaneously. The Enttec DMX USB PRO is a solid interface, but we primarily recommend Art-Net nodes when possible, as they’re more reliable and nowadays cost about the same.