Chauvet Slim Par 56 with DMX or XLR??

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AlloccasionsDJ

New DJ
Jun 14, 2012
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Hey Everyone any feedback helps alot:

So I am at a crossroads...I just purchased a total of 20 Chauvet Slim Par 56's for uplighting. I have been just "plug and play" with them. Keeping them one color. I recently just purchased a Chauvet Obey 3 controller and it is on its way. I want to run them next Friday the 22 for a huge 350 plus wedding here in Eau Claire WI. I want them to fade colors...I am at major decision point here.. XLR or DMX..my other DJ freinds say they have been using XLR and they work just fine with their uplighting. With no interferance or degraded signal.

So what should I do..

The Ballroom we are in have these pillars and they are spaced about 30 ft apart around the entire room...
So I need (19) 30ft Dmx cords or Xlr cords...

If you suggest Dmx do you know where I can find 30 ft ones at a decent price or if I can use Xlr what is the best Xlr to use and at a decent price since I need so many...Any Info would be greatly appreciated!



Paul
All Occasions DJ Service
 
I appreciate the links...I have been online for over 4 hours price shopping...I am just having a hard time spending over $300 for cables for these lights..I wish DMX cables were cheaper..
 
Do it right get DMX cables.
 
I'll be honest, I have dmx and xlr ... with my short runs, I note no difference. I purchase xlr now.

I would not purchase 30' cables though. I would go maybe 10'-15' and connect them together; then you have better options for other spaces where you don't need the 30'.
 
DMX cables are a different impedance than standard mic cables. You may not see any issue at short lengths, but at longer distances, the difference in capacitance and impedance may cause issue with the control signals and things may not behave the way you want. YMMV. Do get a DMX terminator if you are chaining that many devices.
 
steve149 said:
DMX cables are a different impedance than standard mic cables. You may not see any issue at short lengths, but at longer distances, the difference in capacitance and impedance may cause issue with the control signals and things may not behave the way you want. YMMV. Do get a DMX terminator if you are chaining that many devices.
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I hear and understand ... just never experienced any issues personally ... even after running close to 250' of cables all daisy-chained.

Granted, it was just simple led pars; I have noted my Acrobats like to be the end of a run in other setups.
 
I am definetaly getting the terminator tomorrow. I will probably break down and get dmx, just wish it wasnt so much! Oh well I guess you have to have the best to get the best results! Thanks for all the input!
 
AlloccasionsDJ said:
I am definetaly getting the terminator tomorrow. I will probably break down and get dmx, just wish it wasnt so much! Oh well I guess you have to have the best to get the best results! Thanks for all the input!
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Did you look at the Cheaplights offerings?
 
The Pillars are approx 30 feet apart. There are 20 of them so we would like to uplight each one so we are running a total of almost 600 ft total cable.. This room is huge! I like the idea of getting 15' to use and plugging them together to make the length I need, instead of 30 ft cables.
 
I did look at cheapdjlights...Now they offer two different dmx cables...They suggest if oyu are linking more that 20 togerther or running more than 300ft to use the higher gauge heavier duty dmx cable...from their standard version..any thoughts on that?? Or possible upsell ploy?
 
AlloccasionsDJ said:
The Pillars are approx 30 feet apart. There are 20 of them so we would like to uplight each one so we are running a total of almost 600 ft total cable.. This room is huge! I like the idea of getting 15' to use and plugging them together to make the length I need, instead of 30 ft cables.
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More joints means more connections which can mean more points of broken and loose pins/connections.
 
AlloccasionsDJ said:
I did look at cheapdjlights...Now they offer two different dmx cables...They suggest if oyu are linking more that 20 togerther or running more than 300ft to use the higher gauge heavier duty dmx cable...from their standard version..any thoughts on that?? Or possible upsell ploy?
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Just like AC power Cords, the heavier the gauge the longer you can make the run. Makes sense.
 
I'm going to recommend for such a big setup (Distance) a DMX splitter. This will make several shorter runs instead of one huge run which can be more problematic specially if you use XLR cables on parts of the run. With my lighting system I tested with XLR cables in some of the scanners, color changers and strobe. The only problem I had was some mirriro movement on the last fixture in the chain, no0thing major but I have switched to all DMX cables.
 
First off, if you're going to buy cables, get DMX cables. Mic lines might work but you're taking a chance, period.

That said, I've been doing uplighting for a few years now. I started off doing color-change, but that was my idea. Synced or independent fixtures, color-change does not look good at a wedding, IMHO. What I found over time was that a single, static color looks best. Considering that and the investment you're wanting to dodge, I would simply advise you to do a single color. Cabling fixtures together adds a lot of time to setup and you'll find it doesn't really help you in selling the product. You should be charging an additional fee for cabling, IMHO.
 
Rick has a point .. if you can go with a simple static color, you can avoid all the cabling issues. With 20 fixtures and 600' to cover, realistically, you would be going with possibly several wireless connections to avoid running cable around openings. Besides the cost, wringing it out for the first time will take time, so the standalone approach might be the best given the circumstances.
 
steve149 said:
Rick has a point .. if you can go with a simple static color, you can avoid all the cabling issues. With 20 fixtures and 600' to cover, realistically, you would be going with possibly several wireless connections to avoid running cable around openings. Besides the cost, wringing it out for the first time will take time, so the standalone approach might be the best given the circumstances.
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You're exactly correct. Trying to wire that job will not only take a bunch of DMX cable, it will take a lot of work in routing over doorways, IF you can even do it. The "big dog" competitor here does sell a lot of cabling jobs but I'm convinced they do it so they can pad their bill. In their case, they typically charge for a guy to sit there and flip colors between songs. It's okay, as an effect, but not enough that it will really light the fires of a client to book with you because of it.
 
If you are able to set the color before you reach the site, you'll be even further ahead. I use XLR cable because I don't do many long runs. I've been fortunate that two of the places I have played and uplighted have a plug at every column. I choose to use statice color, although I have Freestyler but am not familiar enough to use it. :oops:
 
"XLR" microphone cables will work, until they don't. There is a reason that DMX cables exist. They are designed for this and work consistently. As mentioned too many times to even think about, they are NOT the same!!!!! Also, make sure you have a terminator at the end of the chain!
 
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