Acme Falcon vs NJD Datamoon

[alexperrins]

I have seen the Falcon in a Demo room and have been told it's pretty similar to the Datamoon. However, I haven't seen the Datamoon in action so I wondered if anybody out there could recommend going one way or another? I'd probably prefer the EVL Spins but my budget doesn't stretch too far!

Would be going for the double head pack, whichever I choose!
Many thanks

[abyssdjhire]

what is your budget? cant remember how much either the falcons or datamoons are these days :)

either way, they're the same kind of thing... the NJD's are a bit better, but i'm not keen on either in all fairness. its just really a personal thing though, and the datamoons are regarded as very good for mobile stuff

[alexperrins]

I'm getting a pair of rovers and the rest of the budget is going to moonflowers I think. Budget of £250!

[abyssdjhire]

if you go down the acme route, then the falcons would be the best bet, as im quite sure you can link straight through between the rovers and falcons.

however, have you looked at the rovers working? (unfortunately) we were watching a pair of winners last night, and they werent that bright... reason i ask is that the rovers aren't as bright as the winners.

[dj_ags]

I think you can pick up a pair of EVL Spins for around £250 :)

(Don't worry guys, no mention of a you know what in this thread :cool: )

I think you can pick up a pair of NJD Datamoons for around £210 from DJKit..but im unsure of the price for the Acme Falcons :embarasse

[jamesh]

I have 4 of the origional british made datamoons and thing they are great lights - never had any problems with them - pretty mcuh identical to the EVL Spin but the dish can't continuously rotate like the spins can...

Personally i prefer the datamoons as they dont strobe quite as much as spins BUT am thinking of selling all 4 datamoons with cases and replacing them with spins as i have just bought some EVL mini Spots with mini controller and already have a prostar so if i got spins too they could all work from the controller and have a nice show....

[alexperrins]

I'd be interested to know where you can get the two EVLs for £250! They did seem to strobe a lot though when I had a look at them so that is a down side for me personally. The rovers looked ok to me, didn't see the winners but I wanted to go for barrells in my setup rather than scanners as most of them are just too fast without DMXing. Any other barrell type lights I could look at then?

[dj_ags]

The only place i have saw them for £250 a pair was on EBay, and was listed by a shop who operate on there. They have since been sold and haven't been relisted, so methinks that this was a clearance offer only!

However, i have browsed the net and have found them for £299 a pair. However, and in my opinion, the spins work better used in conjunction with the EVL ePod controller as this cuts out the strobing, and enables you to select the mode, whether that is smooth, sound to light, strobe or black out!

http://www.prosound-dj.com/spin-moonflower-pair-p-1182.html

[alexperrins]

If I do get the rovers, I guess that an acme set up would be best. How would these link in terms of master/slave etc? If at all?

[abyssdjhire]

xlr cable between them, and thats about all :)

[highslayer]

Personally I think the datamoons and falcons are extremely different. The falcons have the 'blinking eye' effect which can be effective but just as easily be extremely annoying. If you want an Acme equivalent to the datamoons then the Puma is the nearest. However, the Puma and the Falcon both have very dark periods in their cycle of inbuilt programs - where the lights flash on for just a second or 2, then off for longer. For this reason I would never rely on just either of these, and would stillw ant another moonflower with them.

I doubt the Acme hand controller will work effectively witht he Winners and Puma/Falcons linked as they both have totally different programming and controls. Might be worth a try, but I doubt it will be right.

Abyss - the Winners are EXTREMELY bright for a 250w Scanner - I have had no problems at all even over long distances! They are certainly brighter than most of their competitors, and I would say you'd need a discharge effect to get anything brighter. Perhaps the ones you saw had poor bulbs in? The Rovers are also very bright and work really well either on their own, or with the Winners. In fact the inbuilt light show when you use Winners and Rovers together is very nice!

Back to the original topic - having used both, my suggestion would be that for general work, run of the mill stuff and overall quality the Datamoon would be the one to go for. The Falcons/Pumas do have excellent lampo life but are nowhere near as bright as the datamoons (even with the lampsaver switch on!). The datamoons also spend more time putting out light than the Acme ones do.

If you are just getting 2 - get Datamoons. If you then want to add later, and want a change get 2 falcons, and put them on with the datamoons, to add variety and that very different pattern.

[Creature]

i brought these for £249.00

http://www.dfb-uk.com/NJD/datamoon_kit.htm

[alexperrins]

Thanks for all the info guys. Very helpful!
In the end, it turns out Simon (Soundscapes) has sold me a couple of Pumas for a good price, but we'll see how these go. I'm definitely looking for a couple of scanners or barrels though so I think I may plump for the winners - though I haven't looked at the super leos which are apparently quite nice. Maybe not though!