How are the escient systems? We are putting the Fireball E-240 in our house...Are they easy to use? Easy to set up? Dont break down? Comments are appreciated Thanks

You will see all sorts of responces. We sell them all the time. Easy to use and setup. Treat it like a computer, keep it cool and on a UPS and your will be fine.

Dave

This message was edited by DavidatAVX on 04/23/05 11:49 ET.

Very easy to work. No reliabilty problems here.

Mike

I concur.

IMO, Escient has been hit and miss over the years with the Fireball, and you're stuck with their beta software and bugs if that's what you got.

The new ones are supposed to be all good, but I had several of the original Fireballs and the E series.... all of which had their own quirks.... CD ripping, importing files, IR control, network connectivity... the list goes on and on...

The IR totally sucked before this generation, and Hank from Universal finally explained to me why that is, they bought some odd Euro spec code set that didn't work right wih anyone's IR system except the new URC stuff.

The Escient serial codes are great, probably the easiest control protocol I have seen.
This is the only saving grace for their platform, IMO.

I don't care for the GUI, I don't like that the default is for the CDs and music files to appear side by side. You have to put a macro or extra command in a string to press "right", or better yet a button press using the exact screen coordinate, to show the "mp3" list only when accessing the guide. Otherwise, you have to instruct the client never to leave discs in the changer, which is impractical.

He is just as likely to select the CD version of the song as the mp3 file, and the CD takes forever to load and respond, and it is likely to mistrack or skip on a dirty or scratched disc.

Then the client thinks that $3000 machine is a POS, and no better than the CD player he used to use... because he is still USING a CD player with his beat to hell CD collection.

I replaced all of the Fireballs I had in the field with ARQ Fusions, and have been exclusively using Request for about a year and will never go back to Escient.
I like the GUI better, I like the ripping better, I like the file loading better, I like that there is an easy and powerful IP control function, and I like the fact that ARQ will let me and my clients upgrade them to larger capacity models any time on the future at the difference in cost.

Until this generation, Escient limited you to 40 or 120... which means reducing file size on some jobs.
If you have an "H" model or an "E" model that isn't large enough anymore, you own it, I haven't heard of any kind of trade up program from Escient.

Using cooling and UPS is great advice. Will prevent most problems.

Escient has had trade-in deals since the Fireball first came out and replaced the TuneBase models. Also the E2-xxx series is much better with different IR codes, same RS-232 codes and newer GUI. Drag and drop to and from the Fireball. Computer GUI from the internal web server................

Dave

The new wireless touch screen controller is very very cool.

Has anyone installed the Netstreams Digilinx system? That is what we are putting in, I heard it just came out so it has not been used much

Escient through Digilinx??

You may be in for a wild ride...
Please report back with the results.

Uh oh...Before we go any further..What should we get with our digilinx system? What do you reccomend as the best, easiest to use, and you can access through your computer?

A pro to install it. No fooling, hire someone to get it done right, or else you will spend $$$ in vain.

The digilinx system is real, real nice.

We are having a pro install it...we are only putting in 1 color screen though, and the rest the pads with the intercom

Audio only in an audio/video world.

No thanks.