Which desk should we book?

Start from the operator, not the rig. If the show will be run by a teacher, parent or student, book the FLX S24: it patches most rigs largely by itself and the touchscreen walks you through the rest. Book the Orb when there is a lighting designer or experienced operator involved, the plot spreads moving lights across several universes, or the show needs timecode. If you are not sure, describe the show when you enquire and we will say plainly which one fits. More often than not it is the S24.

Will they control our existing lights and dimmers?

Almost certainly. Both desks speak DMX, the standard nearly every dimmer, LED fixture and moving head has used for decades. The FLX S24 carries a library of over 25,000 fixture profiles, and its RigSync feature finds and patches RDM-capable fixtures automatically. Send us a list of what is in your rig and we will confirm every profile before the desk leaves us.

How hard is the FLX S24 to learn, honestly?

An afternoon gets most people to a running show. Patching is largely automatic, colours are picked by touching them, and recording a cue is a couple of button presses. We hand the desk over working, with your rig patched if you have sent us the details, and you can phone us mid-plot if you get stuck. The Orb is a different matter: it is a professional console with command-line syntax, and we would not put it in front of a first-timer on show week.

Do we need anything else to make the desk work?

A 13A socket and a DMX route to your lights. The FLX S24 is self-contained, with its own touchscreen; the Orb needs at least one external monitor, which we can supply. Long cable runs, a splitter for a rig wired in branches (both of ours are on this page) and a terminator for the end of the line can all be added. Describe the venue and we will put the right box of cables on the van.

Which splitter do we need, the DataStream 4 or the Cygnus SPLIT2?

Count the directions the DMX has to leave the desk in. Two — a stage bar and a front-of-house bar, or stage left and stage right — and the Cygnus SPLIT2 does it in a box 12 cm long; contact us for pricing. Three or four, or a rig that is still being designed, and the Chauvet DataStream 4 gives you four fresh legs for £5 a day. The other difference is the sockets: the DataStream carries both 3-pin and 5-pin on every port, while the SPLIT2 is 5-pin only, so fixtures on 3-pin DMX need adaptors from our cable page. Neither one merges two desks into a single line; if that is what you need, tell us and we will find another way.

Home Services Equipment Hire Stage Lighting Hire

Lighting desk hire — Zero 88 FLX S24 and Orb

The lighting desk is the one piece of kit every show needs and most hire lists leave until last. This page covers two, because they solve different problems. The Zero 88 FLX S24 is the desk we send to schools, dance shows and village halls: 24 faders, a touchscreen, and software that finds your lights for you. The Orb is a full theatre console for bigger plots and experienced operators. The FLX S24 hires from £24 a day, the Orb at £50.

The FLX S24 runs Zero 88's ZerOS software, and its whole design assumes the person behind it is not a professional programmer. Plug the rig in and RigSync finds and patches any fixture that supports RDM on its own; for everything else there is a library of over 25,000 fixture profiles, so your LED pars and moving heads come up with their colours and gobos named rather than as anonymous channel numbers. Colour is picked by touching it on the 7 inch screen, cues are recorded to any of the 24 faders or stacked behind the master GO button, and the programming method stays at what you want, how you want it, where you want it. It is fanless and silent, weighs 4 kg, and sits happily on a table at the back of the hall.

Capacity is not the constraint it looks. A free software update took the FLX S24 to 96 fixtures across 2,048 DMX channels, which is four full universes and more than most school and community rigs will ever fill. The back panel carries both a 5-pin and a 3-pin DMX output, so it drives either cable standard without adaptors, plus Ethernet for sACN and Art-Net rigs. The free iOS and Android apps turn a phone into a rigger's remote: one person up a ladder can select the lantern they are focusing and bring it up from where they stand.

The Orb is a different proposition. It is a full-size ZerOS theatre console with command-line syntax, 2,048 channels over four isolated 5-pin DMX outputs, and playback structured for a proper plot: ten playbacks paged a hundred deep, up to sixty submasters a page and ten user-definable keys. It works across two external monitors with a built-in trackball, and carries MIDI and SMPTE for shows that run to timecode. At 20 kg and a metre wide it wants a proper operating position, not a corner of the props table. If your operator has driven a theatre console before, the syntax will feel familiar within minutes.

Choosing is mostly about the operator, not the rig. A teacher, a parent volunteer or a sixth former will get a show out of the FLX S24 after an afternoon with it; the Orb rewards someone who already thinks in cue lists. Rig size settles the rest: under four universes and no timecode, the FLX S24 does everything most shows need for less than half the rate. Hire is by the day, dry or with a technician to patch the rig, program the show and mix the night.

The Fat Frog is the Zero 88 memory desk that school halls and community theatres across the country installed through the 2000s, and a great many still run one. It puts 48 generic channels on real faders in a two-preset layout, adds control for 12 moving lights, and records up to 999 scenes and chases, played back from a Go button or from 108 submasters, with an SVGA monitor output so the operator can see the whole state of the desk at a glance. The reason to hire one now is familiarity. If your hall already has a Fat Frog, a hired one means your operator sits down and works, with nothing new to learn in show week; if your own desk has failed, this is a straight swap that reads exactly the same way. And if the person running your lights learned on a Frog, this desk puts every channel back under their fingers rather than behind menus. It hires at £20 per day, dry hire or with a technician.

Two extras sit on this page rather than with the cables, because they belong with the desk. A DMX line is a daisy chain: it leaves the desk, goes into the first fixture and out to the next. When the rig runs in more than one direction — a bar over the stage, a couple of floor cans, a follow spot at the back — the Chauvet DataStream 4 takes the desk output and sends it four ways, so each run starts fresh from the same source. It is a rack-width unit with 3-pin and 5-pin sockets on every port, so it takes either cable standard without adaptors, and it hires at £5 a day alongside any of these desks.

For a rig that only splits two ways, the eLumen8 Cygnus SPLIT2 is the smaller answer. It does the same job at half the scale: one DMX line in, two out, each output on its own driver and electrically isolated from the other and from the desk, so a damaged cable or a faulty fixture on one leg cannot take the other leg down or feed a fault back to the console. There is a through socket too, so the incoming line can carry on past it. It re-drives the signal on the way out, which helps when the desk sits at the very back of a long hall, and it passes RDM, so a desk that talks to its fixtures, as the FLX S24 does, can still reach them through it. The whole thing is a powder-coated aluminium box 12 cm long that weighs a third of a kilo, has no fan, and runs from a small 12V mains adaptor, so it wants a 13A socket near the desk. Two things to know before you book it: the sockets are 5-pin only, so fixtures on 3-pin DMX need the 3-pin to 5-pin adaptors from our cable page, and it splits one line rather than merging two — one desk in, two legs out. Contact us for pricing: describe the rig when you book the desk and we will quote it with the rest.

What you get

The desk and its mains lead — the FLX S24 with its external power supply, the Orb with a standard lead; both run from an ordinary 13A socket

A DMX line to your first dimmer or fixture — tell us the cable run and we will make up the length

3-pin to 5-pin adaptors where your rig mixes the two standards — say what you are plugging in and we will sort the right ends

A DMX splitter where the rig runs in branches — the Chauvet DataStream 4 for up to four legs, or the Cygnus SPLIT2 with its 12V mains adaptor for two; both are add-ons, so say which when you book

The Orb works from external monitors rather than a built-in screen — tell us if you need one or two screens on the van

Not included: dimmers, lanterns, LED fixtures and stands — they are on their own pages and hire alongside

Delivery, setup and an operator can all be added — say what your team can cover and we will fill the gaps

Good for

School and academy productions where a student or teacher will operate the show themselves

Dance school showcases with dozens of short numbers, each needing its own colour state on a fader

Am-dram and youth theatre weeks: build the plot at the dress, then run the season on the GO button

Village hall pantos and concerts, where a fanless desk on a trestle table stays silent through the quiet scenes

Bigger musicals and visiting productions with moving lights across several universes, where the Orb earns its rate

Colleges and sixth forms teaching technical theatre on a real theatre console

What you need to know

What it does: The desk is the control end of the rig: every dimmer, LED and moving light is patched to it, and the show plays back cue by cue on a GO button.
Which desk: The FLX S24 for most shows: it patches itself where it can and a student can run it. The Orb when the plot is big, the operator is experienced, or the show runs to timecode.
Power: Both run from an ordinary 13A socket. The FLX S24 uses a small external supply; the Orb has its own built in.
Control: DMX from the back panel — one 5-pin and one 3-pin output on the FLX S24, four isolated 5-pin universes on the Orb — plus Ethernet on both.
Who runs it: Your operator or ours. The FLX S24 suits a first-timer with an afternoon to practise; the Orb suits someone who has driven a theatre desk before.

Hire rates

Choose the one you need. The photo and price follow your choice, and add-ons are ticked separately below.

Zero88 FLX S24 Lighting Control ConsoleThe schools and small-venue desk: fixture library, faders, simple syntax.£24a day

Zero88 Orb Lighting DeskThe pro theatre desk for bigger plots and busier shows.£50a day

Zero88 Fat Frog Lighting DeskThe classic school-hall memory desk: 48 channels on real faders, plus 12 moving lights.£20a day

Add-ons

Tick anything you want with it. They go on your enquiry list together.

Chauvet DataStream 4 DMX SplitterSends one DMX line four ways, for a rig that runs in more than one direction.£5a day

eLumen8 Cygnus SPLIT2 DMX SplitterSends one DMX line two ways, isolated, for the smaller rig that splits in two directions.Contact usfor pricing

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. A longer hire costs less per day — tell us your dates and we will price the period exactly. Ask us about delivery and hiring with a technician. Where a line says contact us for pricing, tell us the dates and quantities and we will quote it.

Full technical specification (41)

FLX S24 — desk type	Compact ZerOS lighting console with 24 multifunction faders
FLX S24 — capacity	96 fixtures across 2,048 DMX channels (four universes) under the free ZerOS 8.0 update
FLX S24 — playbacks and cues	49 playbacks, each a full cue stack or submaster, and 10,000 cues; playback, group and palette counts doubled under ZerOS 8.0
FLX S24 — screen and encoders	7-inch multi-touch screen and four encoder wheels
FLX S24 — DMX outputs	One 5-pin XLR and one 3-pin XLR, both DMX with RDM
FLX S24 — network and apps	Ethernet (RJ45) for sACN, Art-Net and CITP; free remote apps for iOS and Android
FLX S24 — fixture library	Over 25,000 fixture profiles, plus RigSync automatic patching of RDM fixtures
FLX S24 — power	External power supply, 100–240V AC, 50–60Hz, 2A maximum
FLX S24 — size and weight	461 x 284 x 68 mm (W x D x H), 4.0 kg; 19-inch rackmountable, fanless
Orb — desk type	Full-size ZerOS theatre console with command-line syntax
Orb — capacity	2,048 control channels; four isolated 5-pin XLR DMX outputs plus a DMX input, RDM ready
Orb — playbacks	10 playbacks over 100 pages; up to 60 submasters a page over 20 pages; 10 user-definable keys a page
Orb — displays	Two XGA monitor outputs, with touchscreens supported, and a built-in trackball
Orb — other connections	Ethernet (Art-Net), MIDI in and thru, SMPTE timecode in and out, remote switch input, four USB ports
Orb — power	Internal supply, 90–264V AC, 47–63Hz, 200VA
Orb — size and weight	201 x 1000 x 462 mm (H x W x D), 20 kg
Fat Frog — Manufacturer and model	Zero 88 Fat Frog
Fat Frog — Desk type	Two-preset memory lighting desk with moving light control
Fat Frog — Generic channels	48 HTP, on 24 faders in two presets or 48 in wide mode, with two preset master faders and a grand master
Fat Frog — Moving lights	12 fixtures on true LTP control, up to 288 LTP channels, with rotary encoders and a built-in fixture library
Fat Frog — Submasters	108, as 12 faders across 9 pages
Fat Frog — Memories	Up to 999 scenes and chases, with fade times, an effects generator and 24 palettes each for colour, beam, position and group
Fat Frog — DMX output	512 channels with softpatch, 5-pin XLR, to USITT DMX-512 1990
Fat Frog — Monitor	SVGA output on a standard 15-pin connector; the monitor is optional but worth having
Fat Frog — Show storage	3.5 inch floppy disk drive for show backup
Fat Frog — Power	External power supply, 200 to 260V AC at 50 Hz, from a standard UK 13A socket
Fat Frog — Dimensions	765 x 570 x 110 mm (W x D x H)
Fat Frog — Weight	12.5 kg
Data Stream 4 — function	Four-way DMX splitter: one input, one thru, four outputs, electrically isolated between input and output
Data Stream 4 — connectors	3-pin and 5-pin XLR on every input and output
Data Stream 4 — power	Auto-ranging 100–240V AC, 50/60Hz; 5W at 230V
Data Stream 4 — size and weight	483 x 134 x 46 mm (W x D x H), 2.6 kg; 19-inch rack width
Cygnus SPLIT2 — manufacturer and model	eLumen8 Cygnus SPLIT2 Mini DMX Splitter and RDM Interface; eLumen8 is Prolight Concepts' brand, order code ELUM256
Cygnus SPLIT2 — function	Two-way DMX splitter and booster: one input, one passthrough, two outputs, each output on its own driver
Cygnus SPLIT2 — connectors	5-pin XLR: one DMX input, one passthrough and two outputs
Cygnus SPLIT2 — isolation	Outputs opto-isolated from each other and from the input
Cygnus SPLIT2 — RDM	RDM (remote device management) passed through
Cygnus SPLIT2 — indicators	DMX indicator LEDs
Cygnus SPLIT2 — power	12V 1A DC from the supplied mains adaptor; accepts 9–24V DC; 2W
Cygnus SPLIT2 — size and weight	46 x 80 x 121 mm (H x W x D), 0.36 kg
Cygnus SPLIT2 — construction	Powder-coated aluminium chassis, convection cooled, no fan

Common questions

Start from the operator, not the rig. If the show will be run by a teacher, parent or student, book the FLX S24: it patches most rigs largely by itself and the touchscreen walks you through the rest. Book the Orb when there is a lighting designer or experienced operator involved, the plot spreads moving lights across several universes, or the show needs timecode. If you are not sure, describe the show when you enquire and we will say plainly which one fits. More often than not it is the S24.
Almost certainly. Both desks speak DMX, the standard nearly every dimmer, LED fixture and moving head has used for decades. The FLX S24 carries a library of over 25,000 fixture profiles, and its RigSync feature finds and patches RDM-capable fixtures automatically. Send us a list of what is in your rig and we will confirm every profile before the desk leaves us.
An afternoon gets most people to a running show. Patching is largely automatic, colours are picked by touching them, and recording a cue is a couple of button presses. We hand the desk over working, with your rig patched if you have sent us the details, and you can phone us mid-plot if you get stuck. The Orb is a different matter: it is a professional console with command-line syntax, and we would not put it in front of a first-timer on show week.
A 13A socket and a DMX route to your lights. The FLX S24 is self-contained, with its own touchscreen; the Orb needs at least one external monitor, which we can supply. Long cable runs, a splitter for a rig wired in branches (both of ours are on this page) and a terminator for the end of the line can all be added. Describe the venue and we will put the right box of cables on the van.
Count the directions the DMX has to leave the desk in. Two — a stage bar and a front-of-house bar, or stage left and stage right — and the Cygnus SPLIT2 does it in a box 12 cm long; contact us for pricing. Three or four, or a rig that is still being designed, and the Chauvet DataStream 4 gives you four fresh legs for £5 a day. The other difference is the sockets: the DataStream carries both 3-pin and 5-pin on every port, while the SPLIT2 is 5-pin only, so fixtures on 3-pin DMX need adaptors from our cable page. Neither one merges two desks into a single line; if that is what you need, tell us and we will find another way.