BillFitzmaurice.info

We are in need of some lights for the band. Seven member old guy classic rock band.

We currently have two T stands with 4 cans each and a home made foot switch (don't ask). These lights are pretty hot so we would like to switch to LED if we can get something that works within our budget, or perhaps complement our existing set up with some additional lights. We are not looking for anything too fancy, no lasers or even moving lights but as I said I don’t know much of anything about lights. We want our sound person run the lights. If we have to run a cable back to FOH that would be OK, but wireless would be better.

Our budget for this (for now) is around $500, maybe a bit more.

Thanks,

Doug

Lights http://www.cheaplights.com/cart/page15.html

Controller http://www.cheaplights.com/cart/page35.html

Same site do a search for "DMX cable" and a terminator end. They are a brick and mortar store in Chicago. I have bought lights from them and have no complaints.

(never had to do it, so this is why I ask) Is it okay to use one of the returns on a snake for DMX?

Anyways, LED lights are great. Thanks for the link to that site - sure would save me a lot of money. I have four of those small pars, and two scanners. Looking to get more.

Keep in mind one of the great things about modern lighting is that you don't have to have them all up on a tree. I hate the look of light trees as the only lighting... why not mix it up a little? I usually put some on the ground near my drumset, then behind the drums facing forward if possible, then on the speakers facing in, and a few near stage left/stage right facing up. Get creative and you'll have lots of different areas where you can place lights. Bundle DMX and extension cords together for easy stage runs.

Edit - I've also had luck with computer control: http://users.telenet.be/freestylerdmx/ and ENTTEC stuff

Cheaplights shipping is HELLA expensive... makes it not even worth it. Might as well hit a Guitar Center during a sale. Oh, and Phat - I think they're in Texas now.

I think you'll love a cheap Chauvet Obey 40 controller ($70 or so, 2U rack space, very light) and a bunch of these Chinese Par 38s.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 454wt_1059

I ordered 4 and they ended up at around $45 each shipped. Got em in about a week from China (!!). I use them for uplighting.



You can see them in the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Z8X0gKjPM

Oh, and that same seller has the exact same cheapo Chinese slim pars for $40 shipped if you buy 6 of them. I wouldn't recommend those, though. They're the little 5mm diodes.

If you do buy from them on ebay, don't forget to use Bing cashback, since it's Buy It Now! 8% back in your Paypal account.

I also have an ENTTEC controller, and I used Freestyler, as well as a couple other apps. I found them to be unreliable.

mattaudio wrote:(never had to do it, so this is why I ask) Is it okay to use one of the returns on a snake for DMX?

Ya you can do this.
prefered dmx cable but xlr mic cord just as good.

has anyone purchased other stuff from cheaplights.com?
such as mics? or any sound gear?

how do these brown box LED lights function compared to American DJ, Chauvet, etc? They look the same, to be honest.

bzb wrote:Cheaplights shipping is HELLA expensive... makes it not even worth it. Might as well hit a Guitar Center during a sale. Oh, and Phat - I think they're in Texas now.

I think you'll love a cheap Chauvet Obey 40 controller ($70 or so, 2U rack space, very light) and a bunch of these Chinese Par 38s.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 454wt_1059

I ordered 4 and they ended up at around $45 each shipped. Got em in about a week from China (!!). I use them for uplighting.

M

Hi Bobby,

Are these bright enough for normal use on stands or trusses?

I looked at some of these at GC

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Venue-LED38 ... 1446819.gc

and was surprised at how bright they were compared to regular lights.

I guess we could buy a couple of the Chinese ones and see if they work for us.

Doug

DrDoug018 wrote:

bzb wrote:Cheaplights shipping is HELLA expensive... makes it not even worth it. Might as well hit a Guitar Center during a sale. Oh, and Phat - I think they're in Texas now.

I think you'll love a cheap Chauvet Obey 40 controller ($70 or so, 2U rack space, very light) and a bunch of these Chinese Par 38s.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 454wt_1059

I ordered 4 and they ended up at around $45 each shipped. Got em in about a week from China (!!). I use them for uplighting.

M

Hi Bobby,

Are these bright enough for normal use on stands or trusses?

I looked at some of these at GC

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Venue-LED38 ... 1446819.gc

and was surprised at how bright they were compared to regular lights.

I guess we could buy a couple of the Chinese ones and see if they work for us.

Doug

I have four Chauvet 38 LEDs, and I never feel like they are enough.

mattaudio wrote:has anyone purchased other stuff from cheaplights.com?
such as mics? or any sound gear?

how do these brown box LED lights function compared to American DJ, Chauvet, etc? They look the same, to be honest.

I dunno but they have a wireless mic that looks exactly like a Sennheiser EW100G2, for $156 +ship (which was $20). If it's the same thing, that's a steal of a steal.

BrentEvans wrote:

mattaudio wrote:has anyone purchased other stuff from cheaplights.com?
such as mics? or any sound gear?

how do these brown box LED lights function compared to American DJ, Chauvet, etc? They look the same, to be honest.

I dunno but they have a wireless mic that looks exactly like a Sennheiser EW100G2, for $156 +ship (which was $20). If it's the same thing, that's a steal of a steal.

That's what I was eyeing too... Anyone want to spend $150 for the sake of all of us? (not it)

mattaudio wrote:has anyone purchased other stuff from cheaplights.com?
such as mics? or any sound gear?

how do these brown box LED lights function compared to American DJ, Chauvet, etc? They look the same, to be honest.

Watch out for shipping, ussually when the prices are too good to be true the shipping is a killer.

mattaudio wrote: I have four Chauvet 38 LEDs, and I never feel like they are enough.

Use smoke/hazzer. It will enhance the visual.

I am currently running 3 chauvet ledrain 64's, 1 chauvet elan' , 1 chauvet lg60, 1 chauvet hurricane hazer, and a chauvet obey 40 to control it all. All can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/badagentband

The ledrain 64's are bright enough but they are spots so be aware. The hazer is more than enough(except for the bar in the video...their scrubbers work great) for most bars we play. The only disappointment is the laser, it looks great(much better than the video) but it will not work if the ambient temp is below 70' F. I plan on adding more lights for wash when funds become available. I got all of them from northern sound and light.

Scott Brochu wrote:

mattaudio wrote:(never had to do it, so this is why I ask) Is it okay to use one of the returns on a snake for DMX?

Ya you can do this.
prefered dmx cable but xlr mic cord just as good.

I do a lot of stage lighting these days, and I have to chime in with this caveat:

Using regular XLR cables, whether they are standalone or part of a snake, is fine as long as you're doing short runs. DMX cable has a higher impedance than regular audio cable (110 ohms!). Once your DMX chain gets past 250 feet or so using cable that does not have the proper impedance means that your DMX data signal may begin to drop out, or suffer from reflections, causing lights and dimmers to behave unexpectedly. This situation is compounded when you're using multiple inexpensive DMX fixtures. On my new year's show I ran short of DMX cable and didn't have time to solder up more, so I punted and used XLR. Everything worked perfectly until I plugged in my cheapo American DJ Par36 LEDs, and then about half of my lights started to flicker randomly. I tried a bunch of different things, like patching the lights in earlier or later in the DMX chain, and even swapped out several of the long XLR runs with good DMX cable, but the only resolution was to pull those #$%@%#$% lights. I'm certain that if the DMX chain length was shorter, or if ALL the cord used was the proper impedance it would not have been an issue.

So, go ahead and use normal XLR, or patch into the snake - I do it all the time. But be aware that it may produce unexpected results, so if it's mission critical make sure you can test in advance, or have an alternate plan in mind.