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In live production, a great stage show is hard to imagine without a solid lighting concept. With modern LED fixtures and effects getting more sophisticated, it’s important to keep a clear overview of your stage lighting at all times. Professional lighting control is essential for lighting a stage or dance floor effectively. To put today’s fixtures and effects in the spotlight at an event, they’re typically controlled via DMX technology.
Anyone who has seen a lighting controller will notice it looks a lot like an audio mixer: a professional lighting controller also has buttons and faders. But mixing light isn’t just about intensity (brightness/dimming). Timing and sequencing matter just as much. That’s why pre-programmed shows can be a huge help—assuming the music and performers on stage are also tight on timing.
DMX is a protocol that lets lighting devices—like fixtures and moving lights—communicate with each other. Each unit needs a fixed address: the goal isn’t to just switch all stage lights on or off at once, but to control each light, laser, or effect individually. It’s similar to MIDI control, where start addresses are assigned to reach one or more devices. The simplest setup is a single chain with a DMX controller connected, but for events that’s often too limited. Larger productions can run multiple DMX universes, with up to 512 channels per universe.
Alongside the 5-pin DMX cable (the official standard), 3-pin connections are often used in real-world setups. They look identical to microphone cables because they also use 3-pin XLR. When cables are short, people sometimes even use standard mic cables.
Using a microphone cable as a DMX cable?
Even though they can look the same on the outside (especially with 3-pin XLR), mic cables are not a great substitute for DMX. They have different electrical specs and may not meet the required impedance, which can cause unreliable DMX data transmission—especially over longer runs.
If you’re coming from the audio side, you might wonder why many DMX fixtures only show one DMX connector. The reason is that DMX devices are wired in series (daisy-chained). The control signal runs through a chain until it reaches the addressed fixture or effect. That makes cabling straightforward. The downside: if one device in the chain fails, fixtures downstream may stop responding because the signal path is broken.
That’s where DMX splitters come in. They split the DMX data signal into multiple paths, helping prevent a single problem fixture from taking down the entire stage.
Once all fixtures and the DMX controller are connected, each fixture must be assigned a DMX address/channel—usually set directly on the unit.
When buying a lighting console, make sure it can control enough DMX fixtures—some units have limits. For smaller events and compact stages, portable controllers are often enough, and some can even run on battery power. Each DMX channel has a control path, but many controllers work in “layer mode,” where faders operate across different layers. For example, a controller with 6 faders may control 18 DMX channels across three layers. Otherwise, a console with hundreds of channels would be hard to operate. Buttons or joysticks help navigate menus and target specific channels. Higher-end controllers can store scenes or complete shows and may also accept MIDI control data.
There are now control software solutions with matching hardware controllers that integrate smoothly with DJ software or a DAW—so the lights stay synced to the music. With just a few clicks, you can create fully automated lighting, often preconfigured by the manufacturer by genre or mood. To send DMX from a computer, you’ll need a DMX interface—either a dedicated controller or, at the simplest level, a DMX USB interface.
If you need a device to play back stored light shows without hands-on control, DMX recorders are a good fit. For example, they can read show sequences via USB from a flash drive without a lighting operator. These units are often used as fixed installations in bars, hospitality venues, trade shows, or retail spaces and typically offer limited options for editing a programmed show.
DMX signals can also be transmitted wirelessly using a transmitter and receiver. This eliminates cabling between controller and lighting, which is especially helpful over long distances from the console to the stage. Wireless DMX systems are designed to operate reliably even alongside Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals, with ranges of up to several hundred meters.
If a full DMX setup isn’t necessary, simple switching panels can be enough to turn certain lamps on or off. The principle is similar to a power strip with individual switches for each outlet. There are also dedicated dimmers available that let you set a fixed brightness level for a (non-LED) lamp.
