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CHAUVET DJ BLOG

The BEST Uplighting fixtures?

Posted on June 1, 2011 by webmaster

written by Nick Burke (aka DJ NickyB)
Originally posted on the GEAR BOARD at http://start.mobilebeat.com, re-posted by permission.

Well, tonight I had the privilege to see some real life, side-by-side comparisons of several of the most popular up lighting fixtures that are discussed repeatedly on the gear board at http://start.mobilebeat.com. At our local DJ Baltimore DJ Association, Inc. monthly meeting tonight, I got the opportunity to see first hand, a real life, side-by-side comparison of the following LED fixtures.

1 – The Blizzard Puck RGB
2 – The CHAUVET® SlimPAR 56
3 – The CHAUVET® SlimPAR 64
4 – The ADJ P64LED Pro
5 – The Jamstar Elite
6 – The CHAUVET® Colorsplash 200B

There were other LED fixtures shown and discussed at our metting but those were in the “effects” category and not suitable for up lighting. I only wish our local Blizzard Lighting Rep would’ve shown and brought a Puck RGBA, Puck RGBAW and a newer Puck-3 with him, but he had to cancel for personal reasons.

Anyway, IMHO and that of everyone else in attendance, the “champ” among the listed fixtures was clearly the CHAUVET® SlimPAR 64 for physical size, brightness and purity of color. The closest competitor was the Jamstar Elite BUT since they’ve gone out of business and are no longer available, I have to list the ADJ P64 LED Pro as the runner up. There has been a lot of hoopla about the Puck around here but I’ll tell you this … even the smaller SlimPAR 56 blew away the Blizzard Puck RGB for brightness and purity of color. Additionally, the setup menus on the CHAUVET® SlimPARs were more intuitive and much easier to navigate than on the other fixtures when adjustments were necessary.

Every LED fixture in the list above had some “haloing” effect with mixed colors but that was easily remedied using a frost window film which I purchased at Home Depot and had layered it onto a 10″ square sheet of clear Lexan. Just laying it over the fixture output got rid of the haloing but reduced the output ever so slightly with nearly no impact at all on overall brightness or color. Again, this is my opinion and not that of Mobile Beat but to me, it’s another case that supports the old adage that you usually get what you pay for!  I’m passionate about my DJ business and have always felt that if you’re going to do something, at the very least, do it right even if it cost you a few extra bucks. Are there better and brighter fixtures for up lighting out there? Of course there are but for the average mobile DJ, “bang for your buck” and “return on your investment” seems to have real meaning so my hats off to CHAUVET® for the SlimPAR series.

Nick Burke (aka DJ NickyB)
Nicky-B Entertainment, LLC – Millersville,MD
Gear Board Co-Moderator for MobileBeat.com
40+ yrs computer experience for NASA
Musician ’65-’87 / DJ since ’87