funkymike
29-10-2006, 01:02 PM
Got my loopy tubes on saturday, so as promised a quick review
Arrived well packed in strong postal tubes, so carrying them around is not a problem, I orderd the set and 2 extra 4ft tubes plus you get the controller and loadsa cables, clips and ties, so all in all not bad for the price.
On first impression they do look pretty good, I wont call them 'naff', the pictures on ebay dont really do them justice, the colours are very clear and bright, they do look a lot better in the dark (well they would I guess like most lights). The have 3 primery colouerd LED's red, green, and blue and they are as said very bright and clear, when mixed they make up a fair few other colours like purple and yellow. So just seeing the tubes in daytime they dont look much but by the time they mix in with the darkness and smoke they are very effective.
They work of a controller which is in 2 parts first the actule controller for the settings then a wire to the box they all plug into, there are 8 ports in the box, but 1 port is for the controller it self, so you can only plug in 7 tubes, if you where to add extra tubes iam told you need another power supply and port, so therefore you can only plug in 6 tubes as you need to daisy chain to each port. (is it all making sense) Note, the tubes cant be daisy chained, they have to all plug into the port. The tubes themselves have a cable that is around 3 metres each and heres the best bit, they use USB plugs, so easy to buy extra cable from a computer shop to make them longer. As they are usb iam curious to know if they would plug into a laptop usb hub?
The controller is not the easiest thing to work out and the instruction arent either, but with a bit of fiddling it didnt take to long, basicly it has 10 pattens to choose from and they can all be altered to suit, ie speed, colours and strob effects and many more but iam still working on that bit. I find the controller the weakest part of the link, its small and plastic, how long it will last is anybodys guess, but it does have holes to mount it, which would help in the long term, but if it does break no idea apart from a new controller how to make the tubes work, think the makers should make a more pro style controller designed for road use. You also get a keyring controller as well which is rather dandy and works well, but dont get it confussed with the remote to open the car doors, they very similer:D
Above all I like them, need a bit more messing around and setting up, but yes i think they are very effective and a good replacemnt for light boxes, might be a bit over kill with star cloths (too many dots) but for ease and effects are think they are a winner.
Opps a bit more, they are also light to sound but with a mini jack plug from your mixer, and the strobe or pulse effect is wicked, i will try and get a video at some point.
cheers
mike
Arrived well packed in strong postal tubes, so carrying them around is not a problem, I orderd the set and 2 extra 4ft tubes plus you get the controller and loadsa cables, clips and ties, so all in all not bad for the price.
On first impression they do look pretty good, I wont call them 'naff', the pictures on ebay dont really do them justice, the colours are very clear and bright, they do look a lot better in the dark (well they would I guess like most lights). The have 3 primery colouerd LED's red, green, and blue and they are as said very bright and clear, when mixed they make up a fair few other colours like purple and yellow. So just seeing the tubes in daytime they dont look much but by the time they mix in with the darkness and smoke they are very effective.
They work of a controller which is in 2 parts first the actule controller for the settings then a wire to the box they all plug into, there are 8 ports in the box, but 1 port is for the controller it self, so you can only plug in 7 tubes, if you where to add extra tubes iam told you need another power supply and port, so therefore you can only plug in 6 tubes as you need to daisy chain to each port. (is it all making sense) Note, the tubes cant be daisy chained, they have to all plug into the port. The tubes themselves have a cable that is around 3 metres each and heres the best bit, they use USB plugs, so easy to buy extra cable from a computer shop to make them longer. As they are usb iam curious to know if they would plug into a laptop usb hub?
The controller is not the easiest thing to work out and the instruction arent either, but with a bit of fiddling it didnt take to long, basicly it has 10 pattens to choose from and they can all be altered to suit, ie speed, colours and strob effects and many more but iam still working on that bit. I find the controller the weakest part of the link, its small and plastic, how long it will last is anybodys guess, but it does have holes to mount it, which would help in the long term, but if it does break no idea apart from a new controller how to make the tubes work, think the makers should make a more pro style controller designed for road use. You also get a keyring controller as well which is rather dandy and works well, but dont get it confussed with the remote to open the car doors, they very similer:D
Above all I like them, need a bit more messing around and setting up, but yes i think they are very effective and a good replacemnt for light boxes, might be a bit over kill with star cloths (too many dots) but for ease and effects are think they are a winner.
Opps a bit more, they are also light to sound but with a mini jack plug from your mixer, and the strobe or pulse effect is wicked, i will try and get a video at some point.
cheers
mike