Matrix Switch Corporation good?

[eug]

Hi everyone,

We're currently looking at upgrading our Kramer 8x8 VGA matrix switch to something that's at least 16x16.

After some browsing, it looks like Matrix Switch Corporation have the best pricing around. I can't find any comments about them though! Has anyone used their products? Their About Us page looks pretty impressive, with NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc as customers.

We're thinking of the MSC-5-1616 paired with the MSC-GCP2U32 SmartPanel.

http://www.matrix-switch.tv/products/vgaswitchers/

[prochlea]

I've never heard of them... Personally - I would stick with a known quantity like Kramer or Extron. At least you know they'll still be around when/if you have problems.

Actually - you might try contacting Kramer and see if they would offer you some sort of trade in incentive to stay with them. It happens more than you might think.

[eug]

Thanks for the reply... after some emails with someone at MSC, I decided to go ahead with them. They're definitely a smaller outfit compared to Kramer or Extron, but they only make one thing - matrix switches. They're also made in California. It was a whole month between when it was ordered till when it was received by the reseller (VTP Corp)! They're obviously not mass-market manufacturers (or are really inefficient . Fortunately we weren't in a hurry to receive it.

The Navy has used some of the MSC-5-1616 switches for periscope simulators. Now that's an interesting application.

I didn't bother contacting Kramer because here in Australia, prices of equipment are horribly marked up. The VP-8x8 we bought from the US three years ago for US$935 delivered costs US$2,500 here today. ??!

Anyway Kramer's largest vga matrix switch is a 12x8. Extron's MVX 1616 was on the list, but it had an RRP of nearly $12,000. The MSC plus the LCD-based control surface cost $5,449. The LCD panel makes labelling inputs and outputs easier too.

I just installed it last week - it works well! The control surface seems pretty intuitive - the multimedia person worked it out herself before I arrived late last Sunday. Presets are set up through a web interface, I can also control the switch from my phone if I ever had a need to.

So if anyone else is looking for a matrix switch, do check them out as well! The person at MSC whom I dealt with over the phone and email was very friendly and helpful.

[Brad Weber]

I had not heard of them either but according to the company info, Matrix Switch Corporation is a fairly new entity but has its roots in Grass Valley Group (which went through changes of ownership in 1999, 2002 and 2010), Hedco (acquired by Leitch in 1982 which in 2005 was then acquired by the Harris Corporation broadcast division) and Sierra Video Systems (acquired by Kramer Electronics in 2003) which were all respected manufacturers. My guess is that some people probably left those companies somewhere in all those changes and started MSC.

I do have to say that their domestic "Where To Buy" contact list is rather odd as it includes manufacturer representatives, contractors and mass/online retailers (TecNec and Markertek) with the latter apparently being the only option for some areas of the country.