QTX FX1000 Haze Machine Options

[MirageTool]

Good morning,
Has anyone used of seen one of the above haze machines in action ? It look like good value for money. I would be using it in venues up to 180 capacity.

Cheers

Phil.

[Aaron-Hill07]

Yes Indeedy,

Theres a brief review I've done on the machine below:

OK, so a week ago I find myself wanting to add a proper haze machine to my equipment inventory. I'm working on a budget, and haven't got the money for the Look Uniques of the world. So I begin my journey searching the interweb for an affordable yet brilliant haze machine. And I have to say, I've found it right here with the QTXLight FX1000 Hazer.

So, It turns up last friday straight from QTX. I open up the fantastic packaging and took the first look at the machine, I immediately have Le Maitre Neutron come to mind... same shape, same size yet lighter than a Neutron Star. Then my confusion began... I ordered a machine with remote and power cable but can't find any of these things! On further inspection, theres a little handy access door at the back which houses the fluid bottle and underneath is a little shelf to put in your power cables, remotes or any spares etc! Very well built door, good hinges and closes up securely...

Next step was to fill up the machine with some fluid and see what this baby's got... They say it takes about 4 minutes to heat up and be ready to go, yet no word of a lie... I turned it on for about 90 seconds and it was ready and working with the output working perfectly. It produces a very nice, very thin mist of haze which you have good control over with the remote settings for output etc.

I then tried out and tested its on-board DMX capabilities, and again.. absolutely flawless. Very smooth control over the output, and reactive control over the fan speed. The fan also is very silent, you don't even realise it's on it's so quiet even whilst at full speed!

DIP switches on the unit are very good, not the rubbish cheap switches... instead very strong sturdy feeling.

Another thing to point out about it's good build, is on the end of the pipe taking in the fluid from the bottle to the machine... it has a very good metal filter to take out any rubbish and impurities from the fluid to stop your machine getting cogged up and taking in things it shouldn't!

I took it out to it's first gig on Saturday... had it on pretty much continuously for 9 hours or so as it was a full day music concert (1:30-11). I filled the machine up at the start and at the end of the gig I checked the level... and to my suprise it'd used about half a bottle of fluid for 9 hours of continuous output! Now to me, that is seriously economical and that's without long-lasting fluid... Also after turning off the machine it does its own self-clean and cools down extremely quick.. it was ready to be put away about 2 minutes after as the machines run relatively cool.

So, if your looking for an affordable haze machine which provides economical fluid use, on-board DMX control, small physical size and very well built; this machine is certainly the one for you!

You can get these machines in most places for under £200 and DiscoWorld (Member on this forum) also sell them for £189 so I would definitely not think twice, and get yourself one of these machines!

I hope this review will help you make a good decision, I can guarantee it's so worth the money!

Thanks,
Aaron

[jgexternal]

I was also looking for a good value DMX smoke machine and had short-listed the QTX FX1000. I went for it on the basis of Aaron's review. Having bought one I can say that I agree with his review and he covers all the points extremely well - thanks Aaron ! It's a good, good value machine, appears well built, the control of both smoke level and fan speed is useful. First use for me was in a marquee taking ~250 people with a~30ftx10ft stage and it was perfect for that. I'd have no qualms about using it in larger indoor e.g. 450 person venues. Obviously I don't know how long it will hold together, but so far it does exactly what it says on the tin and I couldn't find anything with its feature set at that price point. I'm a happy purchaser and would recommend it to others who are looking at this price point.

Rgds,

John.

[Brian]

A question for both of you. What is the machine like at very low level settings? Many of the budget machines aren't too hot at low levels when all you want is a tiny bit of haze to show up beams of light. The budget machines I've seen running at low levels seem to manage low levels by adopting a "puff-long wait-puff" strategy.

[spiffoiow]

A question for both of you. What is the machine like at very low level settings? Many of the budget machines aren't too hot at low levels when all you want is a tiny bit of haze to show up beams of light. The budget machines I've seen running at low levels seem to manage low levels by adopting a "puff-long wait-puff" strategy.

Its OK. Just that really. It is better than a puff and wait machine but its not a steady stream either until the output is pumped up. I've found that it is more constant with the lighter end haze fluids. but you can also get round it by adjusting the fan speed to compensate

I have had 2 as the heater on the first one gave up after a few hours, I think it was an early production model as the new one replacing it makes completely different noises which don't make me think of imminent failure.

In short I don't think it can be beaten for its price, size and build and I think it will either last for ages or go bang after first use!

[KidRay]

Mine arrived yesterday morning, I took it along to rehearsal in a 200 capacity venue. Started with a very low continuous output setting, just using the remote control, no DMX. It produced a nice consistent light haze. I wasn't watching exactly how it was producing it as I was otherwise occupied, but it appeared to be a constant low output rather than "puff and wait".
After an hour or so I turned the output up to about a quarter on the dial and it produced a denser haze, I wouldn't want it any denser for our needs. After 3 hours it had used very little fluid (I was using the QTX light haze fluid)
So to answer the OP's question, 180 capacity venue won't be a problem for this machine, and it will happily cope with larger venues. I'll be using it at an outside gig (band in an open fronted 6m x 4m marquee) at the weekend so will report back after that. If I can get someone to take some pictures I'll post them.

[jgexternal]

...should add that I have one quibble with it - the DMX out on mine is a non-locking socket (presumably to save money) so it's easy for the DMX out cable to not be properly seated or be knocked partially out (as I discovered when setting up). So probably best to use it at the end of a DMX run so it's only your DMX terminator that's plugged in to it.

[KidRay]

Here are some very poor quality pics from the first trip out with the hazer, at an outside gig, the output was never above halfway, most of the time much less.

[paulears]

I bought the CPC version branded Skytec FX1000 link

To be honest, I didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised. Build quality seems ok. DMX is two channel and responds quickly. Fan speed on full produces a bit more noise than I'd like, but doesn't need to be run that fast normally. Dropping the other channel to lower the ouput initially chugs a bit, but once the pressure stabilises, the output is quite gentle and fine, and I'm quite pleased with it compared to the Antari it replaced.

For a cheap machine, it's a good buy. The nice foam pad to catch the drip from the ejector tube shows they put a bit of thought into it. You can fly it, and there's a big secondary attachment point.