Which lights to go with?

[forrejam]

I am currently using the full Abstract XP DMX range lighting. They are hot running lights and getting a bit on the tired side. I am in the market for new LED fixtures with a minimum 50W LED. Problem I am having is the abstract lighting has very smooth and impressive lighting show thanks to the Supersound chip that comes built in. Looking at current lighting on the market, led has became amazing bright, better gobo contrast, less power consumption and cooler operation, however... When looking at all light in the market, they still have that thoughtless movement of either a boring slow movement or a massively fast pan/tilt movement that gives the appearance that the lights are taking a heart attack, no finesse at all, It looks terrible. I do not want to manualy write light shows as that has its pit falls also.... Are there any lights on the market that will give a professional smooth light show?? Jamie

[rossmck]

I'm guessing from your current rig (and "Supersound" control engine) that this is for DJ type use, this forum is more geared towards theatre and live performance lighting so you'll probably find most people on here won't have that much experience with that type of lighting.

 

I have a few of Showtec's Indigo 4500 LED moving heads (60W LED source) which are aimed somewhere in the middle between your market and mine, but I've found them quite suitable for use on small stages - they compete surprisingly well with the Martin Mac 250 Kryptons I have for example. I can't comment on any of the auto modes on them (don't think they do sound to light to be honest) as I always use them under DMX control but they're bright, run very cool, and have much better gobo projection than I expected.

 

You give your location as Scotland, which is a big place but if you're anywhere nearby (Glasgow / Edinburgh) you'd be welcome to have a look at these to at least give you an idea of what to expect from a budget 60W LED fixture.

[Ashley R]

I kind of know what your on about, with the whole sound to light functionality. the HES trackspot also had just a way of predicting the beats, and put on a pretty decent show just wiggling there, with nothign else hooked up to it.

 

So far out all the disco type fixtures ive come across (Which is quite a few actually) Movers almost always have horrible programs built into them. and the best scanner that I have come accross for not doing to lightning fast pans all over the place has been the ADJ X Scan LED, Comparable/ better than a Martin MX-4. (Much nicer output, doesn't draw anywhere near as much, and has got a dimmer, but the MX does have more colours and gobo's)

[Richard CSL]

Tim Sabre will be along soon, as he (or his company) was the inventer of the supersound chip system for Abstract. He may well know of other chinese lights that have similar designs.

[timsabre]

Nice to hear you think Abstract Supersound was good!! We spent many hours in dark smoke filled rooms making it work properly.

 

The Abstract and software units were copied (without permission) by Acme and I-Rock, so you will find a similar lightshow in their products. However I don't think they do an LED version - yet.

 

You may be interested to hear that Abstract have decided to go back into disco units and we are currently working on some new LED disco products with them. However they will not be scanner/gobo projector type products as everyone's doing them, we are going to head off in a different direction. They are good effects though. Watch Abstract's website for news.

[forrejam]

Hi, iam familiar with the lights that you are currently working with I as do operate high end lighting in the Club I DJ in, and working with this type of lighting is more than likely to be the reason that I am so fussy when looking at cheaper end lighting on the market, however thank you for the offer.

 

Jamie

 

I'm guessing from your current rig (and "Supersound" control engine) that this is for DJ type use, this forum is more geared towards theatre and live performance lighting so you'll probably find most people on here won't have that much experience with that type of lighting.

 

I have a few of Showtec's Indigo 4500 LED moving heads (60W LED source) which are aimed somewhere in the middle between your market and mine, but I've found them quite suitable for use on small stages - they compete surprisingly well with the Martin Mac 250 Kryptons I have for example. I can't comment on any of the auto modes on them (don't think they do sound to light to be honest) as I always use them under DMX control but they're bright, run very cool, and have much better gobo projection than I expected.

 

You give your location as Scotland, which is a big place but if you're anywhere nearby (Glasgow / Edinburgh) you'd be welcome to have a look at these to at least give you an idea of what to expect from a budget 60W LED fixture.

 

 

 

 

Well then you done an excellent job with supersound, the built in light shows on the abstract units are excellent, they save hours of manual programming. I know abstract went way off in a totally different market direction, however I think if they updated there units with the bright LED, rotating gobo's and possibly prim etc etc and combined it with the supersound technology, I really do think they would lead the way in there market, even with customers who do not really know much about lighting. I have looked at Irock and Acme and TBH I am still not impressed, great units but bad programming. I am at the stage of paying to have the bright LED technology installed in my old abstract lighting to minimise the amount of Halogens I go through. Thanks Again

 

Jamie

 

Nice to hear you think Abstract Supersound was good!! We spent many hours in dark smoke filled rooms making it work properly.

 

The Abstract and software units were copied (without permission) by Acme and I-Rock, so you will find a similar lightshow in their products. However I don't think they do an LED version - yet.

 

You may be interested to hear that Abstract have decided to go back into disco units and we are currently working on some new LED disco products with them. However they will not be scanner/gobo projector type products as everyone's doing them, we are going to head off in a different direction. They are good effects though. Watch Abstract's website for news.