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[Jon R Smith]

Greetings,

I have been upgrading my lighting lately. Mostly moving to LED. Recently I purchased a piece from Blizzard Lighting called the Puck. Appropriately named as it resembles a hockey puck just slightly larger. 8“x8”x2“. So far, a great unit. I had it out at a wedding this past week and was very pleased. Used it as uplighting for the reception. Here are some of the details about the Puck.

Flat LED Par Can
RGB Color mixing via 144 10 mm REd/Green/Blue LED's
Variable electronic strobe
Variable electronic dimmer
Built-in automated programs via DMX and master/slave
Built-in sound active programs
Full RGB color mixing in standalone and master/slave
RGB (3 channel) and extended (6 Channel) DMX modes.

Several other features are available. I just basically copied the manual above. I found it to be much brighter than some other fixtures I have looked at. Specs list it as: Lux: 3.920 @ 1m. 20 ft ceiling and wall was very nicely lit. It has a dual bracket that can be used as a stand off the floor and able to mount as like a regular par can. It will also sit flat on the floor if you want or need it to. The fixture has 144x10mm LEDs 48 each R/B/G.

At the wedding I used it as back lighting for the dance floor and programed it for the colors of the wedding. Purple and green. Sound odd at first but they worked well together.

I have been using a 3 Channel controller from Chauvet an Obey 3. I have an Obey 10 on the way and am looking forward to playing more with the DMX programing. One of the great things is that you can Daisy Chain up to 32 of the Puck together and use a little over 1/2 of the amperage of a single 1000 W. Par 56!

Other advantages: No heat baking your artists. Although this was nice with some divas. I had all my lighting powered from a single 15A outlet. It was nice. I was also running a Chauvet 4Bar and 4Play on the same circuit and never had an inkling of a problem. I was way below the amp level of the socket.

Thanks for sticking out the read. This is really a great product for the price and I am going to get several more. Going to be using them as a stage wash this weekend and will follow up on this review. If you have any questions let me know and I will give it a bash and report.

Jon

[No Name]

Nice review.  I've been looking into Blizzard Lighting for a while, some interesting products.  Now if only the had a UK dealer....

[Dan Richardson]

I bought a pair of the new RGBA version. They add amber LEDs to make the white a little less cold. I do a lot of gigs in tiny strange venues, and there is frequently nothing like stage lighting, so I want these for simple general wash.

Last week I was on a train doing sound for Jimmy Webb, Jesse Winchester, and Tom Russell in a 1940s Pullman club car. I brought the Puck RGBAs with my laptops in my carryon.

They make a hard-edged spot right out of the box, no spread at all. I bought a couple of page-sized plastic fresnel magnifiers on ebay, cut to fit, and tucked them right inside the fixture. Works a treat. Nice wide soft wash. Even gives you a bit of that color fringing in the shadows that says "stage lighting".

I got a USB DMX interface for my laptop, but ended up running them wide open.
Looked great.

[Don Ernst]

I just bought some MBT LED cans and was not happy with them.  So in an attempt to find a better can, I bought a Colorkey Par 64 1 Watt LED, a Blizzard Puck, and a Chauvet Slim Par.  I liked the Puck because of its size and the color balance was far better than the MBT's however it was not as bright.  The Colorkey can was the brightest of all but as large as a normal short par can.  I then found the Chauvet Slim Par.  It is like the Puck in size but brighter than the MBT's and the Puck and a better color balance than all the rest.  It has many of the same features as the Puck so that is the can I am going to start buying to build my lighting rig.

[James Fahey]

Nice review.  I've been looking into Blizzard Lighting for a while, some interesting products.  Now if only the had a UK dealer....

oh but they do...
http://shop.forcetwelvelighting.co.uk/

[Steve Hurt]

I then found the Chauvet Slim Par.  It is like the Puck in size but brighter than the MBT's and the Puck and a better color balance than all the rest.

I assume you got the Slim Par 64?
I'm sort of shopping these lights right now and according to specs:

- The SlimPar 56 is rated at 1290 lux at 1 meter
- The Puck is rated at 3930 lux at 1 meter
- The SlimPar 64 is rated at 3640 lux at 1 meter

If specs are real, you would expect the Puck to be just as bright or darn close.

Which SlimPar are you using and and is the difference in brightness a big one?

Thanks!

[Don Ernst]

The Slim Par that I have is a 64.  I suspect the ratings because I have both the Puck and the Slim Par side by side and the Slim Par is brighter by a good amount.

[Steve Hurt]

Thanks for the reply.

I found conflicting ratings for the Puck last night.

One source says says 3920 lux @ 1 m
another source says 2220 lux @ 1 m

That's quite a difference!
Sounds like the 2220 is the one from what you're saying.
Appreciate it!

[Steve Hurt]

From looking further, the Puck has 144 - 10mm LED's.
The Slim Par 64 has 196 - 10mm LED's
That's 25% more of the same power lights so one would expect the Slimpar 64 would be brighter

[No Name]

oh but they do...
http://shop.forcetwelvelighting.co.uk/

Sweet, I didnt realise! 

Thanks,
Adam

[Drew Huber]

You may want to check out the latest in the Blizzard Lighting Puck lineup. The Puck 3 comes with 9 - 3 watt Tri-Color LED's. It is suppose to be briter than the other Puck models.

Lux: 6,500 @ 1m vs Lux: 2,995 @ 1m of the Puck RGBA

[Jon R Smith]

You may want to check out the latest in the Blizzard Lighting Puck lineup. The Puck 3 comes with 9 - 3 watt Tri-Color LED's. It is suppose to be briter than the other Puck models.

Lux: 6,500 @ 1m vs Lux: 2,995 @ 1m of the Puck RGBA

Yes! I watched a youtube on the new “Puck3” and it is much brighter and a better mix of the colors without the typical shadows that LED's tend to display. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bVXlXqJQVQ

I like it. Under $200 and I really like the pucks if for nothing else, they are all metal! Powder coated and they just feel like they will last.

[Mark Gifford]

They make a hard-edged spot right out of the box, no spread at all. I bought a couple of page-sized plastic fresnel magnifiers on ebay, cut to fit, and tucked them right inside the fixture. Works a treat. Nice wide soft wash. Even gives you a bit of that color fringing in the shadows that says "stage lighting".

I took your advice and tried this - great idea, thanks!

MG

[Brad Majors]

I have a bunch of the rgb Pucks- they do a good job. Had a couple of minor issues such as a few leds not working and tightening knobs breaking but nothing major. Recently got a Puck3 to compare and it is quite a bit brighter.

Unfortunately, color mixing is still not great. Lots of bleed and splotch-iness when making pastels like amber. I'm looking towards the new Blizzard Q12 rgba as an even more powerful alternative. Hoping to get some smooth color mixing out of these or at least a decent amber.

Anyone have these?

event lighting

[Mac Kerr]

I have a bunch of the rgb Pucks

Please go to your profile and change the "Name" field to your real full name as required by the posting rules clearly displayed in the header at the top of the section, and in the Site Rules and Suggestions in the Forum Announcements section.

Mac

[Scott Parr]

I sold 8 of my original RGB Blizzard Lighting Pucks and have 6 of the Q12W (white as a 4th color) Pucks.  Oh Man!  These are about 4 times as bright and don't have the significant 'ghosting / shadowing' with color mixing.  With White as your 4th color, it gives you a nice mix of pastels (Green looks sick for a wedding but green and white gives a softer look that is very acceptable).  Orange looks great and yellow is still just OK.  But with White as a 4th color option.  I could even put a gel on it if I really needed a specific yellow or any other color 

(I'll be buying more when Will from Blizzard comes out with Q12's in battery powered fixtures)

- Scott

I have a bunch of the rgb Pucks- they do a good job. Had a couple of minor issues such as a few leds not working and tightening knobs breaking but nothing major. Recently got a Puck3 to compare and it is quite a bit brighter.

Unfortunately, color mixing is still not great. Lots of bleed and splotch-iness when making pastels like amber. I'm looking towards the new Blizzard Q12 rgba as an even more powerful alternative. Hoping to get some smooth color mixing out of these or at least a decent amber.

Anyone have these?

event lighting

[Gary Fitzpatrick]

oh but they do...
http://shop.forcetwelvelighting.co.uk/

The website above seems to have been shut down. Are there any other UK dealers?

[Steve Hurt]

I have a bunch of the rgb Pucks- they do a good job. Had a couple of minor issues such as a few leds not working and tightening knobs breaking but nothing major. Recently got a Puck3 to compare and it is quite a bit brighter.

Unfortunately, color mixing is still not great. Lots of bleed and splotch-iness when making pastels like amber. I'm looking towards the new Blizzard Q12 rgba as an even more powerful alternative. Hoping to get some smooth color mixing out of these or at least a decent amber.

Anyone have these?

event lighting

Haven't tried the old Pucks.
Have tried the Puck 3 and the Q6A and Q6W
The Q series is smoother on color mixing than the Puck 3 was.

[(Brian) Frost]

I like my original pucks but am thinking of going brighter.  I wish the puck 3 had rgba and rgbw as options.

2 questions:  Do you prefer rgba or rgbw?

and: is the q6 going to be a lot brighter than the puck or should I just get the q12, conversely will the q12 be blinding on a tall ultimate stand light tree?

Thanks

Haven't tried the old Pucks.
Have tried the Puck 3 and the Q6A and Q6W
The Q series is smoother on color mixing than the Puck 3 was.

[Steve Hurt]

I like my original pucks but am thinking of going brighter.  I wish the puck 3 had rgba and rgbw as options.

2 questions:  Do you prefer rgba or rgbw?

and: is the q6 going to be a lot brighter than the puck or should I just get the q12, conversely will the q12 be blinding on a tall ultimate stand light tree?

Thanks

I haven't used the original puck, but from specs, the Puck 3 is 6500 lux where the puck is 3920

I tried a puck 3, a Q6A, and a Q6W together.  They were all VERY similar in output, until you turned them on white.  On white the Q6W was much brighter than the other 2 lights. The Amber on the Q6A helps a bit, although the amber LED's are not that bright.

Since I use mine for uplighting at the front of the stage and was already getting complaints about the Puck 3's being too bright, I got the Q6A's.  If I were putting them in trees, I would have gotten the Q12W's.  (or Q6W's if I couldn't afford the 12's)

If you put the Q12's in tall trees, they shouldn't be too bright.  (and if they are, you can always dim them down!) In that application, the extra light could be very useful.

[ProSoundWeb Community]