Onyx Software, Hardware, License & Key Explained
This article aims to address some questions and clear confusions around Onyx hardware support, licenses and Keys. These can be confusing to new users and some users who have been using Onyx with third party hardware.
Do I need to buy a license with an Onyx hardware for it to work?
No. If you have bought any Onyx hardware, excluding Onyx keys, it would come with a license. The number of universes you will obtain from these licenses depends on which hardware you have bought. Below link shows you exactly how many universes you will get out of each type of hardware from Onyx.
ONYX Licensing (obsidiancontrol.com)
Which hardware should I buy to be able to use Onyx software and output DMX data?
The least expensive option would be NX-DMX, and it come with 2 DMX ports, giving you a total of 1024 DMX addresses to output to. NX-Touch, NX-Wing, NX2 and NX4 are the next step up in terms of both price and size. Please note NX0-Touch only come with 1 DMX port despite being the next size up from NX-DMX.
Also, if you are buying a NX-DMX, NX-Touch, or a NX-Wing, you will require an external PC to run the Onyx software.
Does Onyx support their party hardware to output DMX?
Not any more. Previously know as Martin MPC, Onyx the software did support third party hardware including but not limited to Enttec, and DMX-King.
“4.2.1057 marks the end of support for all ENTTEC USB devices for DMX Output. Going forward only M-Series and ONYX USB devices are supported. While we understand that some users have relied on inexpensive Enttec devices to utilize the completely free ONYX PC version we have seen increased support and development cost to maintain their compatibility and we ask such users to consider investing into a genuine ONYX hardware device. ” Read the full version of this post from Obsidian: ONYX supported hardware and license changes (obsidiancontrol.com)
Does Onyx support M6, M1 and M2Go? What about other Martin-M series hardware?
Version 4.2 is the last version to support the Martin M1 and M2GO hardware. No upgrade options available for these 2 hardware. There is a hardware upgrade option for M6 consoles available since early 2020.
M-Series hardware remains supported for DMX Output: M-DMX, M-Touch, M-Play, Martin One-Key with M-PC or Martin Lightjockey License, Martin USB-DMX, Martin USB DUO DMX, M2PC (including M2GO in USB mode), M1 HD, M2GO HD, M-Series Playback Wing, Submaster Wing, Button Wing.
Do I need a Onyx Key to unlock DMX output on an Onyx hardware?
No, unless you need extra universes on top of what are already included. Current Onyx hardware including NX-DMX, NX-Touch, NX-Wing, NX2 and NX4 all come with 1 to 4 DMX ports depending on model. Onyx keys are only needed if you are to unlock more universes.