Hi everyone, my name is Adam and I'm a newbie to this site, I just signed up for it today. I never knew about it until I was doing a search on smartmac reviews and just by chance stumbled across it. Seems like a great forum with a lot of people with great knowledge on lights, more than me, which is great cause I am learning and want to learn.
I have done a search on here and have read what I could find, but this decision is driving me crazy "been debating this for over a month now" and I would like others opinions. I'm looking at purchasing a couple of movers, I would like to stay around the $2000 mark for each unit. I have been looking into the Smartmac, the Mac Krypton, Blizzard's new Torrent, and Elations new Platinum 5r. I have never seen any of these up close, and would like opinions from people that have.
I'm a mobile DJ, right now I have 4-scx700s, 2 minimacs, and more misc lighting. I also use the Freekie for a controller, which I have realized now that it is a limited controller. Actually, I really couldn't use it if I went with the Krypton or Elation head because of the channel limitations. If I went that route I have heard good things on the Show Designer 1??? I am on a budget to a point. I've thought about selling the 700s and minimacs to get a little more cash. If I sold them, I may just use the two movers on totems with TVs mounted to them, some wash, and uplighting for weddings, if that means anything for the decision on the movers. Sometimes less is more for weddings if you know what I mean. I don't want to lug in 10 units when 2 nice ones will do = quicker set-up and takedown.
How do the smartmacs compare to the minimacs? Are they that much brighter, better of a unit, etc...
Things I like and dislike on the units.
Smartmac - pros - no fans, built in macros, decently bright,kind of has a stand alone mode
cons - not many gobos, no prism,
Krypton - pros - brighter, prism, more gobos
cons - no built in macros or stand alone, need different DMX contruller
Torrent - Pros - LED, decent features
Cons - New fixture, no one seems to have them, need a different DMX controller
Elation 5r - Pros - brightest, lots of features = dual gobo wheel, prism, Frost effect "which looks very nice for weddings", least expensive by a couple hundred bucks, weight
Cons - I'm not familiar with Elation. I am a big Martin guy, but would consider trying something different, I've never owned an Elation. Gobo size is really small 14mm, so to have a custom gobo made, "goboman said it would be touch unless it was initials", need to get a different dmx controller
I'm just looking for any advice, opionions, or recomendations on the units and a better way to lean towards. Thanks everyone.
Adam B