Smart RGB -- Advice Needed

[BMurray]

1 hour ago, lightingnewb said:

I'm looking towards Holiday Coro for my pixels. I'm thinking of buying this controller and four or more of these ribbons to start.

I happen to have several of these controllers and all have worked well for me. No issues whosoever. I also have smart strips from HC as well going on 4 seasons this year. No issues with these either. Though because of cost I am using Ray Wu for pretty much everything except the controllers.  including upgrades to my shows this year for Halloween and Christmas.  I use Boscoyo Studios for the awseome props they have. It's all a matter of choice, opinion and personal experience with the product and customer service that determines the value of who you go with. Again, no problems with HC but there are several in this forum who have apparently had the worst experience of their lives (George). 

[OzAz]

3 hours ago, Mr. P said:

.. the Alphapix is an E1.31 controller only, it will not daisy chain into an LOR network. ...

however, the alphapix does have dmx output and you could run your lor controllers in dmx mode (Falcon boards have the same capability) 

 

the wonderful thing about this hobby, so much to choose from and everyone has an opinion on which is best 

I have no opinion, I just provide options  

[Mr. P]

I personally have no beef with HC as they have a bunch of nice products. However, I own six of the Alphapix controllers in both the 16 and 4 and all six of them have bad outputs. I still use the good outputs but I have moved on to other controllers that I have found more reliable. I just can't recommend the Alphapix to anyone in good conscience.

In the past if you bought a controller at the HC pre-season sale in January the warranty only lasted until June. You could test it when received but until it was put into the show in December you really never knew if it was good. Now you can purchase a 1-3 year warranty but that doesn't do me any good for my six controllers.

Example: I purchased an Alphapix4 in January 2016, setup and tested off my computer when received in April and all was good. Come November I connected it into the show but it would not work going through a 16 port switch, warranty expired before I ever got to use it so I was SOL.

One more thing, if you sell something then you should support it and not charge the customer for support.

Edited August 3, 2017 by Mr. P

[Ebuechner]

You will hear the Falcon controller come up several times and there's a reason for that.

The F-16 V3 and the F-4 V3 is where the smart money is at because they give the best value for the dollar with excellent support and features that no one else has even thought of yet.

Holiday Coro has support if you pay extra for it and chances are you will need it with their controllers. 

I bought a holiday Coro controller once and I was quite surprised when I found out that I paid for the privilege of being a beta tester ( I never recall volunteering for that position).

[k6ccc]

If you are looking at E1.31 controllers, I have nothing but good things to say about the SanDevices E6804 and E682

http://sandevices.com/

 

[Mr. P]

Heed the warning. You have some experienced pixeliers (just made that word up ) in here. If you still insist on the Alphapix then at least get the 3 year warranty.

[Ebuechner]

11 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

If you are looking at E1.31 controllers, I have nothing but good things to say about the SanDevices E6804 and E682

http://sandevices.com/

 

They "were" a good controller and still a good work horse but they haven't kept up with the times to take advantage of the faster refresh rates that the 2811 can handle. Plus I find their setup page a little clumsy and difficult. But they're still a good Workhorse controller once you figure out the way they do things and I would take one over a holiday Coro controller everyday of the week but it's not what I would prefer. 

[k6ccc]

2 hours ago, Ebuechner said:

they haven't kept up with the times to take advantage of the faster refresh rates that the 2811 can handle.

You have old data.  The version 5.something or another adds that.  Version 5 also improves the setup quite a bit.

For truth in advertising, I use two E6804s every day in my landscape lighting, and add one E682 for Halloween and two more E682s for Christmas.  One more planned for this year or more likely next, and when I expand my pixel tree, one more.

 

[ebrown1972]

I am a huge fan of the falcon controllers. I have 5 of them with 4 expansion boards. Super easy to set up and run. I do not own any lor pixel controllers but I can imagine they are as great as the rest of their hardware. Falcon has great support and so does lor. I really don't think you can go wrong with either. I only hear of good about the sandevices too. I have had no issues with holiday coro but several have. Good luck with whoever you go with!

[lightingnewb]

I'm hearing a lot of things between the Alphapix and the Falcon, but nothing much on the Pixcon 16...

I'm thinking about the Pixcon 16 with some ribbon from HC (here), since it sounds like this is the most likely way to expand.

What do people tend to use to sequence with these?

[Mr. P]

The Pixcon is your best bet if you want to daisey chain it in with the rest of your other controllers. The added benefit is that it will also do E1.31.

[Mr. P]

Think of the Pixcon as 16 CCRs in one box.

[lightingnewb]

Update:

With the Summer Sale going, I want to go with the Pixcon 16. What I need to know is:

1. Where do I buy an enclosure specifically for this?
2. What software is being used to program the pixels?
3. Any advice on where to buy lights? Extension cords?