Mobile DJ Light Setup

Ants Murray

Hi Guys,

Any direction on this would be good so thank in advance ... looking for the best mobile light setup for under €1000. Was thinking along the line of:

ADJ Fusion Bar 5 x 2
REVO 4 x 2
Galaxian Mini Laser

Anybody using these?
Comments on range etc greatly appreciated!

frankspencer

There is a lot of generic makes of these products out there,which are the same in quality and lower in price.
Example in 2010 I was looking to buy a L.E.D par bar from Kam.Was told it would cost 500.Found a superior par bar by Stairville that was over 10 times brighter and bigger that cost less than 300.

sweetie

The stairville frank mentioned is quality but apart from pars most led lighting is still substandard compared to halogen / discharge units that can be picked up second hand, IMO.

ironclaw

Forget about using lasers in the mobile setting. Couple of reasons:

Any laser under €600 is probably rubbish. You need to spend the money on good motors and an RGB laser. Single color just can't run all night.

You need a properly controlled and programmed laser for it to look really good. You can't just have it running sound to light all night as it will look really badly. Probably hitting everyone in the eye. You need to mount lasers as high as possible and ideally 'skim' the crowd. They are fantastic in arena's not so much with 20 people on a dance floor.

Lastly, you NEED to use smoke or haze which you can't in many venues. Depending on the mobile venues you want to run in very few will have no smoke alarms and fewer still have 'performance switches' which allow you to disable the alarm for 4 hours or so. Most pubs or licensed premises retrofitted smoke alarms when the ban came in.

I would recommend, two decent moving lights, some RGB par cans for a 'wash' and a decent strobe.

kingofslaves

ironclaw wrote: »

Any laser under €600 is probably rubbish. You need to spend the money on good motors and an RGB laser. Single color just can't run all night.

Well I'd beg to differ there, I used a KAM starcluster 3D red & green for 5 years with no problems at all. In fact although I bought it for about €300 I managed to sell it for €150 5 years later (and that was without the box or manual) You don't NEED smoke or haze for lasers, the starclusters are very good for roomfillers, especially aimed at the ceiling. In fact afaik a laser costing over €600 woulddn't be any better than one half that price. Tech has come a long way and some of the generic lasers are just as good as the big names.

ironclaw wrote: »

I would recommend, two decent moving lights, some RGB par cans for a 'wash' and a decent strobe.

So why suggest a strobe ? How many times have you used one ? I never did in 5 years here and hardly anyone in the UK I know uses one, unless they're trying to recreate a rave night. There's more people with photosensitive epilepsy who get seizures then people blinded by lasers.

OP I'd suggest 2 datamoons, 2 acme dynamos and couple pars. The datamoons and dynamos can be linked and controlled if needed. But work just as well on S2L. When you get more cash you can get a DMX desk and get creative with them. Oh and they have a strobe setting !!!

unclebill98

IMHO I hate lasers.

Seen so many of those tiny ones spreading a big beam around the room, hitting peoples eyes etc. While I can't comment on build quality I'm sure they can go forever I just find them tacky.

As for haze, of course it will look far better with it but as pointed out there are issues with alarms in venues.

Strobes are not something you use more than a handful of times per show.

If your looking for a basic setup I would agree not to disregard discharge units, one Martin EFX600/Martin Wizard would light up an entire dance floor if you can get it on a stand etc.

If you have multiple units look into DMX and learn how to use it, it's difference between a ****e show and a decent one.

ironclaw

Well I'd beg to differ there, I used a KAM starcluster 3D red & green for 5 years with no problems at all. In fact although I bought it for about €300 I managed to sell it for €150 5 years later (and that was without the box or manual) You don't NEED smoke or haze for lasers, the starclusters are very good for roomfillers, especially aimed at the ceiling. In fact afaik a laser costing over €600 woulddn't be any better than one half that price. Tech has come a long way and some of the generic lasers are just as good as the big names.

Just my personal opinion. Lasers are something you can't really save on. Theres a reason the serious units cost 1000's not that I'm suggesting for one second someone has to pay that for good one. However i think in a bang for buck scenario it would be a better investment in LED based systems in that price range.

And I consider lasers without smoke a mute point. It is needed for the full effect. You don't need a huge amount but you do need a lingering amount to get the cut of the beam.

So why suggest a strobe ? How many times have you used one ? I never did in 5 years here and hardly anyone in the UK I know uses one, unless they're trying to recreate a rave night. There's more people with photosensitive epilepsy who get seizures then people blinded by lasers.

I agree with the strobe point (epilepsy etc) and I don't over use it. But I do use one in younger shows, 18th, 21st etc. It does add greatly when you have the floor filled in my opinion.

All my rig is fully DMX controlled with a standalone 300 channel desk. I take my lighting really seriously. My biggest set up is 6 full sized movers, 2 strobes, 1 laser and back video projection. I only occasionally have that much space to run it but the comments (And resulting gig requests) make it very much worthwhile.

frankspencer

dmx is the way forward but needs time to learn,love to learn it as I plan to add some scanners to my rig