Most DMX recorders capture into their own manufacturer's ecosystem. DMX Core 100 records the DMX stream itself — Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 or KiNet, from any desk — and replays it standalone, with automatic protocol conversion, synchronized audio and scheduling. Recording is free and unrestricted in the demo; you only need a license when you put the playback into production.
A designer programs the look on their own console. The venue keeps the show — not the console, not the operator, and not a dependency on one vendor's hardware.
Point any console at DMX Core 100 over Art-Net, sACN (E1.31), DMX-512 or KiNet and hit record. Because the capture happens at the protocol level, it works with grandMA, ETC Eos, Hog, ChamSys, Avolites, Onyx or anything else that puts DMX on a wire — no fixture library, no show-file import, no console plugin.
The capture becomes a cue alongside everything else you build in DMX Core — presets, timelines, effects. Nothing records the audio for you, but you can attach a track in the timeline editor afterwards and it stays locked to the lighting on every playback.
Recordings are stored protocol-neutrally and converted on output. A show captured over Art-Net in the shop can be replayed as sACN or DMX-512 on site, on desktop software or on a DMX Core appliance, without re-recording or re-patching.
Trigger playback on a schedule, at sunrise or sunset, from HTTP, OSC, MQTT, TCP, UDP or a DMX threshold. Loop it, fade between cues, scrub the timeline, and lock down who can change what with 24 permission-based roles.
Recording and playback are two different jobs, and every tool here prices them differently — so they are worth comparing separately. Capture is cheap or free almost everywhere. The real question is what you can do with the recording afterwards, and which hardware you are committed to once you have it.
Getting the DMX off the console and onto disk. This step is free or near-free across the board — including DMX Core 100, where capture is unrestricted in the free demo.
A note on ETC Mosaic: it is not listed separately because it is not a separate system. ETC's Unison Mosaic line is built on Pharos show-control technology under license, is configured in the same Designer 2 software, and its DMX Record utility is the same tool under another brand. Read the Pharos column as covering both.
| Recording | DMX Core 100 | Pharos DMX Record | Nicolaudie DMX Recorder | Lightjams Recorder | VenueMagic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Records from any console | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ SC+ edition |
| Capture protocols | Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512, KiNet | Art-Net, sACN | DMX / Art-Net | Art-Net | Art-Net, DMX-512 |
| Max universes captured | 800 | Controller-dependent | No documented cap | 512 | 1 |
| Captures audio alongside the DMX | — | — | — | — | — |
None of these tools record audio — they capture DMX only. DMX Core 100 lets you attach an audio track to the recording afterwards, in the timeline editor, and keeps it in sync on playback.
This is where the tools genuinely diverge, and where the money is. Each of the free utilities plays back only on its own manufacturer's controllers; DMX Core 100 plays back on its own software or appliance, from $399, and converts protocols on the way out.
| Playback | DMX Core 100 | Pharos DMX Record | Nicolaudie DMX Recorder | Lightjams Recorder | VenueMagic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What playback requires | A DMX Core license — software or appliance | A Pharos LPC controller | A Nicolaudie interface | A Lightjams license and a dedicated computer | A VenueMagic licence and a Windows PC, or third-party SD hardware |
| Plays back on | Own software or appliance — not tied to one controller family | Pharos LPC controllers | Nicolaudie interfaces | Lightjams on a computer | Windows, or Weigl / ControlNode players |
| Protocol conversion on playback | ✓ | — | — | — | — |
| Max universes played back | 800 (at 40 Hz) | Controller-dependent | Interface-dependent | 64 | 2 (DMX2+AV / SC2+) |
| Runs standalone without a computer | ✓ (appliance) | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ third-party hardware |
| Also runs as desktop software | ✓ (Win / Mac / Linux) | — | — | ✓ | ✓ Windows only |
| Edit and re-sequence the recording | ✓ timeline editor | ✓ in Designer 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ timeline editor |
| Add an audio track, synced to the cue | ✓ every model | — on entry models; needs a step up | ✓ software mode only | — | ✓ multi-track |
| Scheduling & sunrise/sunset | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | Scheduler; no sunrise/sunset |
| Zones for multi-area venues | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Browser-based UI | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — |
A note on SyncD ArtNet Recorder: it is not listed as a column above because it solves a narrower problem, but you may come across it, so here is the honest summary. It is a Windows and macOS recorder and player from Dhyani Technologies, a musical-fountain integrator in Gujarat, and it does the capture job perfectly respectably — including auto-start recording and a DMX value threshold to begin a capture. The two things to check against your own brief: it is Art-Net in and Art-Net out, so there is no conversion if your playback rig speaks sACN, DMX-512 or KiNet; and its documented triggers all sit on the recording side, with playback offering unicast or broadcast delivery rather than scheduling or event-driven cue triggering. If you simply need to capture an Art-Net stream and push it back out onto an Art-Net network, it may well be all you need.
A note on audio, because the detail matters: Pharos and ETC do have synchronized timeline audio, but it is worth knowing exactly what you get. Designer 2 has two similarly-named features: Simulation Audio, available on every controller, which is a programming aid only — in Pharos's own words it "is not uploaded to the controller and won't start playing as your timeline is playing in the real world" — and Audio Out, the real thing, which Pharos limits to their rack-mount units, the LPC X, VLC and VLC+. On an LPC 1, 2 or 4 no audio row is created at all, and the RIO A accessory will not add one — it is an audio input for triggering. Even at the rack-mount tier, volume is a controller-level setting rather than a per-clip one, and Pharos advises against using audio on rate-adjusted timelines — including astronomical ones — because the engine skips beats rather than time-stretching. Nicolaudie's audio lives in the full software rather than in standalone microSD playback. Lightjams uses audio as a live input to drive effects, not as a playback track. On DMX Core 100 the audio track is part of the timeline on every model. Check the specific controller you are pricing, not the product family.
A note on VenueMagic: it is included above because it genuinely does record and replay DMX, but read the column carefully, because the capability is spread across editions. DMX input and input recording arrive in the DMX+AV edition; the “record DMX universe” feature proper is SC+ only, and the wording is singular. Output tops out at 512 channels on DMX+AV and SC+, and at 1,024 channels — two universes — on the DMX2+AV and SC2+ editions. It is Windows only, there is no macOS or Linux build, and input is Art-Net or an Enttec DMX USB Pro rather than sACN or KiNet. Running the show without a computer means adding third-party hardware such as a Weigl ProCommander or a ControlNode. Against that, its timeline is genuinely excellent, and on animatronics, video and escape-room logic it does things we do not attempt. The honest split is scale and platform: if your install is two universes on a Windows PC and the hard part is the props, VenueMagic is a strong choice.
A note on universe counts and the word “unlimited”: where a product documents no cap, that means no limit was written into the software — it is a statement about the code, not a measured result. Every recorder eventually meets a real ceiling in the network interface, the operating system's timer granularity and scheduling, or its own architecture, and those numbers are not in anyone's datasheet because they depend on the machine. The 800-universe figure for DMX Core 100 is quoted because it is what we have tested to at 40 Hz. Whichever product you choose, run it at your own universe count on your own hardware before you specify it.
Competitor specs are based on publicly available product documentation and may change. Always confirm current details with the manufacturer. DMX Core prices set out or referred to on this page are recommended prices only, and there is no obligation to comply with the recommendation.
Nicolaudie is a genuine competitor in the recorder/playback space, unlike a console or a design tool. Capture is cheap on both sides; the differences that cost money later are on the playback row.
Nicolaudie's documentation states there is no cap on universes recorded simultaneously, or on duration, because that happens on the computer. Playback is capped by the interface the show is written into: an Output Patch cross-patches “show universes” onto “device universes”, and universes beyond the device's count have nowhere to go. Growing the rig means buying a larger interface and re-writing the show. On DMX Core 100 the ceiling is the licence tier, so an eight-universe install can grow to 800 without changing what is in the rack.
Network capture is Art-Net only. An sACN (E1.31) or KiNet console needs converting before you can record. When a show is written to a Nicolaudie interface, a compression slider (0–100%) is applied — a sensible trade for fitting long shows into device memory, but the replayed output is not necessarily frame-identical to what you recorded. Test the setting against your own content. DMX Core 100 captures Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 and KiNet directly, stores the capture protocol-neutrally, and converts on output.
For a one- or two-universe looping look, a small SUT interface plus the free recorder is a genuinely cheap, genuinely standalone solution, and nothing we sell competes at that price. If you already own a DVC or SUT device, adding a second platform makes no sense. If the job is to author a show from scratch rather than capture one, ESA Pro 2 and Daslight carry a library of more than 20,000 fixtures — that library is a real asset and DMX Core 100 is not the tool you want. DMX Recorder itself is Windows and macOS only; Linux racks, protocol conversion, zones, a browser UI, or an audio track locked to standalone playback are where DMX Core 100 starts to make sense. The software is free to download; standalone playback needs a compatible SUT interface and a per-device licence, so the cost sits in the hardware rather than the recorder.
We would rather be honest than oversell. If any of these describe you, buy the other tool — you will be happier.
If there is a Pharos LPC in the rack — or an ETC Mosaic, which is the same platform under another badge — the record utility is free and integrates directly with Designer 2. Same if there is already a Nicolaudie DVC or SUT device: DMX Recorder writes straight to it and the recorder itself costs nothing. Adding a second platform to capture DMX you can already capture makes no sense.
Lightjams is built around live input — MIDI, OSC, audio, sensors driving generative effects in real time. If the installation needs to react rather than repeat, that is a different tool for a different job. And the two combine well: recordings made with the Lightjams Recorder import directly into DMX Core 100 as cues, so a Lightjams-programmed show can play unattended on an appliance.
If the show must chase an external timecode clock, look at controllers that implement SMPTE/MTC directly — the Visual Productions CueCore3 is a good example.
Madrix, MadMapper and Resolume are design tools for building pixel and video content from scratch. DMX Core sits downstream of that, on the operations side — see how they work together below.
If a shop window, a plinth or a single facade element needs one recorded look replayed forever, a small dedicated player is the cheaper and simpler answer — a Nicolaudie SUT stick, an Enttec S-Play Nano, or a DIN-rail player from someone like DMX4ALL. They cost a fraction of any software licence and they disappear into the enclosure. Buy one of those; come back to us when the rig has zones, a schedule, several protocols, or more universes than the box can address.
VenueMagic is built for exactly that, and it is very good at it — joystick-recorded animatronic moves, mouth movement extracted from a dialogue WAV, video tracks, escape-room puzzle logic, serial and UDP control, and SMPTE/LTC lock that DMX Core 100 does not offer. If the lighting is one track among many in a themed attraction, evaluate it seriously. The trade is universe count and platform: two universes at most, and Windows only.
A source is a source. Whether the show is programmed on a grandMA, busked from Lightkey, or generated in Madrix, the relationship to DMX Core 100 is the same: they author, it operates.
Consoles like grandMA, ETC Eos, Hog, ChamSys, Avolites and Onyx; software like Lightkey, Luminair, Blackout and QLC+; design tools like Madrix, MadMapper and Resolume. All of it is creative, iterative work done by a designer on the desk or machine they know. DMX Core 100 does not try to replace any of it.
Capture the finished looks over Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 or KiNet and the venue runs them nightly on a schedule — without the console in the rack, a designer's laptop, a dongle, or a per-seat license living on site.
Keep the desk or the design tool as a live source and let DMX Core 100 handle zones, scheduling, triggers, user permissions and the touchscreen the staff actually press. With stream routing on, the incoming sACN or Art-Net is passed straight through to every mapped output — including DMX-512, KiNet, TPM2.net and smart bulbs the console cannot address — and merges by priority with the cues DMX Core is running. Each tool does what it is good at.
The distinction that matters is not console versus software — it is authoring versus running unattended. DMX Core 100 only claims the second. It does have fixture control, and it is perfectly capable of driving a small job on its own, but it is not built to program and operate a theatrical production or a live event. If that is what you need, the desk you already own is the right answer.
A volunteer team cannot reprogram a console every week. Record the looks once with someone who knows the desk, then let the team recall them from a touchscreen.
The commissioning designer leaves with their console. The building keeps the show, running on sunset triggers and seasonal schedules for years afterwards.
Different states for lunch, dinner and late night, per zone, without anyone touching a lighting desk.
Repeatable shows with synchronized audio, triggered by a button, a sensor or a show-control cue — the same every performance.
Honest, feature-by-feature comparisons against the products most often evaluated alongside DMX Core 100.
CueServer alternative · Enttec S-Play alternative · CueCore3 alternative · Pharos LPC alternative · Nicolaudie DMX Recorder · Full comparison
Standalone DMX playback software stores a lighting show and replays it without an operator or a live console present. It is typically used in permanent installations — retail, hospitality, architectural facades, museums, houses of worship and attractions — where a show must run every day on a schedule or in response to a trigger. DMX Core 100 provides standalone playback as desktop software on Windows, macOS and Linux, or on a dedicated touchscreen appliance that runs with no computer attached.
Yes. DMX Core 100 records the DMX stream itself rather than a console's show file, so it works with any desk that outputs Art-Net, sACN (E1.31), DMX-512 or KiNet — grandMA, ETC Eos, Hog, ChamSys, Avolites, Onyx or anything else. The console is only needed while you program and record; after that the recording plays back on its own.
No. DMX Core 100 stores the capture in a protocol-neutral form and converts on output, so a show recorded over Art-Net can be replayed as sACN, DMX-512 or KiNet without re-recording. This matters when the programming rig and the installed rig use different transports.
Those utilities are free and work well, but each records into its own vendor's ecosystem — Pharos DMX Record imports to Pharos LPC controllers, and Nicolaudie's to Nicolaudie interfaces. Nicolaudie records without a documented universe cap on the computer; playback is then capped by the interface you write the show into. Network capture is Art-Net only, so an sACN or KiNet console needs converting first, and the recorder software is Windows and macOS only. DMX Core 100 is console-agnostic on the way in and hardware-agnostic on the way out: it captures Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 and KiNet, converts on output, and the same recording plays back on desktop software (Windows, macOS and Linux) or on a DMX Core appliance, up to 800 tested universes. It also imports the others' recordings directly — Pharos DMX Record files (.pdrec), DMXking recordings, Enttec S-Play backups and Lightjams recorder videos all convert to cues on import. Note that ETC's Mosaic DMX Record is the same tool as the Pharos one — Unison Mosaic is built on Pharos technology under license — so it is not a separate option.
DMX Core 100 supports up to 800 universes natively at 40 Hz, without add-on nodes, for both capture and playback.
Yes. Recording is unrestricted in the free demo, which has no signup and no expiration. Demo mode only interrupts DMX output for one minute in every sixteen, which affects playback rather than capture — so you can record a full show, review it and evaluate the workflow before buying anything. A license is needed when you put the playback into production.
No — and neither do the comparable tools. DMX recorders capture the lighting data only. What DMX Core 100 adds is the ability to attach an audio track to the recording afterwards in the timeline editor, so lighting and sound stay locked together on every playback. Nicolaudie's audio features live in the full ESA Pro 2 software rather than in standalone microSD playback, so check whether audio survives the step onto the interface.
There is no single number, because recording and playback have different limits. Nicolaudie's documentation states there is no cap on the number of universes recorded simultaneously or on duration, because that happens on the computer. Playback is capped by the interface the show is written into: the Output Patch cross-patches show universes onto device universes, and universes beyond the device's count have nowhere to go. Growing the rig means buying a larger interface and re-writing the show. On DMX Core 100 the ceiling is the licence tier — an eight-universe install can grow to 800 without changing what is in the rack.
Not for network capture. Nicolaudie's documentation states that only the Art-Net protocol is supported for network input. If your console outputs sACN (E1.31) or KiNet, you would need to convert it before recording. DMX Core 100 captures Art-Net, sACN, DMX-512 and KiNet directly, and converts between them on output.
Download the free demo, point a console at it, and hit record. No hardware required to evaluate it.