Par Cans

[The Light]

Is it better to stick with the orginal Analogue cans or is it better to invest in Dmx Cans?

thanks

[Mystic]

I can't say I've ever seen a "dmx" can. :\
Personally, I would stick to traditional ones because they are reliable, less expencive, and you can get a load more of them for the cost and still have money left over for some rad effects lights.

[DJNaviss]

I must say the DMX par's are great. Not only can you program them, But also never have to worry about gel's. Plus you get four colors to just one gel on a par can. Seem to be very bright as well.
However if you like to put out the money for such a non-exciting light (400 in some $.) then go for it!

http://www.djnaviss.com/naviss.gif

[bAd]

Are these the LED fixtures? I have heard that they are not near as bright as traditional pars. However as Naviss said, you do get 4-1 on the color and they are neat to control. I thought about getting some, but I think I will go with the color changers instead of pars like this one: http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl~waGroup1datarq~[waGroup1datarq]~eqint_KeyIDdata~11598~UID~2006061001452764~ttype~ 4~str_category~[cat_Code]~disp_IMG~Y~catgroup~%5BcatGroup%5D

[The Light]

Yea they are the LED par fixtures. They are meant to give off no way near as much heat and can produce the brightness of a 500 watt par can bulb!

[Mystic]

Ohhhh, yah, the LED pars.

I dunno man, those things are really expencive. I'd personally wait till they come down in price. I've never even seen one of these in person to decide if I like them or not.

[bAd]

The Light...go and see them in person first before you pay for them. A guy by the name of Jamesnet on here uses some killer lighting and he picked up one of these to check it out. He sent it back. Said it wasn't bright at all and the color fades where not very good.

[The Light]

Thanks for all your feed back!
Yea i think i will! the only disadvantage to the analogue is that they need dimmer racks!

[Mr Blobby]

and whats with all the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'s (rant over)

[Designer]

If DMX control is an issue why not get normal par cans and a DMX dimmer pack and it'd still work out cheaper than DMX par lamps

[bAd]

Holy crap! Designer is posting again? Welcome back my friend. :) I totally forgot about just plugging them into DMX packs.

[djscrizzle]

If DMX control is an issue why not get normal par cans and a DMX dimmer pack and it'd still work out cheaper than DMX par lamps

totally off-topic... but... where the HELL have you been?! We missed you! I missed your inside advice on stage lighting and DJ lighting the most.

[jfred1989]

The other concern i have thought about is cost over time. LED's have a virtually unlimited lifespan while par64 lamps cost you more than the fixture each time they need to be replaced. I understand the traditional pars are still brighter though. I would like to see some uses of LED's in DJ setups. I have seen some nice uses of LED's in concert venues as strips along the outside of the stage etc.

[Mystic]

Well, I worked for a production last night that had at least 50 of these LED pars. It's a very nice effect they have and are very bright. I talked with their head lighting tech after the show and he was saying how much he loves the addition of these lights to their rig. I have to agree and I would love to get some to play around with, but not at $200-$250 each.

jfred1989, while the actual LED may last a long time, there are other things which can happen that are mainly electrical as I also found out last night when they had some LEDs out on a couple of the lights. That being said, with this type of light, if you want longevity from it, I would steer clear of cheap models like AJD or Chauvet.

[Designer]

Hey guys :) i'm back by the way. This is totally OT so i appologise in advance

Had shedloads of commitments at my day job since i got promoted to engineering manager so have had no time on my hands at all as i've been working 12 hours a day. Nice to be welcomed back so warmly. Thanks bAd and scrizzle :)
Also been working on the car for months getting her ready for the car shows (piccies here http://www.da-performance.com/id75.htm)


The other concern i have thought about is cost over time. LED's have a virtually unlimited lifespan while par64 lamps cost you more than the fixture each time they need to be replaced. I understand the traditional pars are still brighter though. I would like to see some uses of LED's in DJ setups. I have seen some nice uses of LED's in concert venues as strips along the outside of the stage etc

The brightness is always going to be the big issue here really, think of it this way, par64's can go to 1000W + where as the nearest you're likely to get with an led much less

[jfred1989]

jfred1989, while the actual LED may last a long time, there are other things which can happen that are mainly electrical as I also found out last night when they had some LEDs out on a couple of the lights. That being said, with this type of light, if you want longevity from it, I would steer clear of cheap models like AJD or Chauvet.

Yea I'm not suprised that like any new technology LED's have some issues. Technology keeps making everything more complciated and intricate. I cant wait when new digital ligh projectrors start getting dead pixels or worse yet a live BSOD on the catalyst servers at the next big rock show.

[Mystic]

Heh, if you mean the new LED screens? The LED pannels have to be changed quite a bit in them because they get bashed around a lot while on the road. Either people grab them on the front or smack them into another unit while putting them away. Luckily, the pannels are small enough on each unit that if one needs replaced, it won't cost an arm and a leg each time. Damn shame they cost so much though. Something like $8,000 - $10,000 per section which pretty much amounts to nearly $800,000 for a decent size screen.