LED Par 56

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Freaky!!!
I was only looking at these last night. I want a set of 4 and am looking to get some around christmas time. There are a number of venues and pubs around my way that put on live music but don't have lighting and if they do, they are disco lights (Scanners etc that don't really look the part or do the job). I thought I might invest in some not just to colour wash the walls at functions (I have some Source Abyss lights that can do that) but more for bands. It's something else I can offer is the way I look at it.

[wensleydale]

Freaky!!!
I was only looking at these last night. I want a set of 4 and am looking to get some around christmas time. There are a number of venues and pubs around my way that put on live music but don't have lighting and if they do, they are disco lights (Scanners etc that don't really look the part or do the job). I thought I might invest in some not just to colour wash the walls at functions (I have some Source Abyss lights that can do that) but more for bands. It's something else I can offer is the way I look at it.

they seem like as good a deal as you can get at the moment- just need to decide if i chance it with my existing controller or go for the 4 head package that they do....

[groovy-nights]

I am guessing but the channels could be
channel 1 or all dimmer and strobe
channel 2 red
Channel 3 green
Channel 4 blue
Channel 5 Pre programmed chases
This controller will be great for them
http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_...controller.htm

[501damian501]

if these par cans have no slave, how do you link them together ?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

DMX I would have thought....

[super-hero]

I bought the set of 4 and controller and they are great. What I have found so far is that, as Dillmiester says, they don't link in stand alone mode, and the speed control on the back is a bit rubbish. The first time I used them without the controller and I had to set them to chase mode, as music mode just made them go mental.
The controller does not come with any programs or chases built in, so you have to do them all yourself. This is a bit of a pain if you are lazy like me. But it does make you learn how to program the controller, which is a good thing.

What I have done with my lights is run the par cans off the first 5 channels of the controller and then used the spare channels to run some moonflowers and scanners. You can then adjust the colour of your par cans to match your other lights to create some nice effects.

I have also added a power out cable to the par cans so you can link them together. So that each par can has 2 iec cables, one in and one out.
I have also added frosted gels to them to diffuse the led's a bit.

I will try to add some pictures to show what I mean.

All in all they are good lights and well worth the money. And if you can afford to get the package of 4 and the controller then that's the one to go for.

p.s I got the par 64's as they seemed the better option for me.

[BrightLights]

I've got quite a few of these *ahem*

They're great for the money, and very versatile. Personally I almost always use them on DMX, but the standalone modes are usable too.

2 or 4 work well for lighting a dancefloor, and they're very effective for uplighting walls.

[JAMdisco]

When I use my controller I have to use channels 2,3 and 4 to change the RBG

Not quite sure what channel 1 is for but still working that out. When you slide it up my par cans go red but when I play with channels 5,6,7 and 8 they go weird and strobe and all that.

I think your 4 channel controller will be fine as you will only need channels 2,3 and 4.

Yep mine is the same - I think channel 1 is used to power up the unit but for some reason mine also go red when I slide it up.

On a more important note, I was speaking to John from Twinspin who bought 4 of these LED PAR 56's from Thomann and he said that on one of them the blue LED's just stopped working.

The exact same thing happened to one of mine on Saturday night. Apparently Thomann are very good at replacing but the phone calls are very expensive (I think John said his was around £12 on a mobile).

I feel a lot of emails coming on.

Not sure if it's a common problem but thought I'd share it anyway

[501damian501]

cheers i,ll hold back untill they fix this problem.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I bought the more expensive Visio pars from this country and have had no problems at all.