CNI MGL-H-532 vs. Laserwave OEM-532

[db3306]

Im getting a new greenie for my build and the laserwave is not in stock but the cni is.
Not sure if i should wait or go for the cni. The matching red is 500mW OEM-SD-637 from cni and the blue is also from cni but i have quite some bad experiences with the 532 from cni on modulation.


any thoughts?

[db3306]

I prefer CNI MGL-H-532

Why?





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[norty303]

Viasho now also have an OEM head with heat and cool driver and prices seem competitive. Contact Frank for more info. I wish Lightspace would do a DPSS green, they seem to have done good job of their blues and reds.

I've got a few MGL-H heads which I'm happy enough with, and some older LW and newer OEM-V-SS that I'm also happy with.

[m0f]

Here is my experience with the lower powered 500mW - 1W greens :

I had bad luck with the two 500mW laserwave's I've owned, though admittedly was several years ago and so improvements may have been made since them. While they had good modulation, they just didn't last as long as they should have (failed shortly after 1 year warranty expired, of semi-weekly use). As well I always had trouble getting the up to full power if it was even slightly cold in the venue.

I've also owned 2 of the very low cost 500mW CNI's MGL-H w/ WL-203 driver, which while they've lasted great, did not turn off completely and so with 0v modulation input would always output a very small amount of green. Lowering the threshold current made them useless in that they took forever to heat up to a decent output. Also, modulation was never great, in the sense that scanned effects would appear streaky, gradients would never appear smooth as long as there was green in the mix. Several years later they are still working just as they did from the start.

I've also owned 4 1W DHOM's which have been the best of all of them. When I received them, they were well overpowered putting out between 1.6 and 2W. While they've all dropped to about 1.3 - 1.5W over the last couple of years, they're still going strong. (However one of the lasers is no longer near tem00 and seems to have split into what appears to be two side by side beams, though is still quite usable) Modulation has been great, smooth gradients, etc. They are completely off at 0V modulation input, and they are also quite ready to go even when sitting at idle for a long time, they're up to full power within seconds.


I've recently purchased two 5W CNI's and am just awaiting delivery. One big selling point for me vs laserwave is they're available with a heat and cool crystal tec for a small amount extra ($35), which should really help with getting up to power quickly when needed. I expect the poor modulation I've had with the smaller 500mW CNI's is more related to the ultra-budget drivers they were using, as even the next model up didn't seem to have that problem from what I've been told and so am hopeful these will modulate just fine. I'll definitely post a review once I get them up and running.

[norty303]

Ah, it was the WL203 driver on mine (I couldn't remember what it was called!). Out of my 6, all mine turned off ok, and modulate well.
Yes, my older Laserwave heads were also very temp sensitive, either being too cold and not making power quickly, or overheating and losing power.
Of the two (in the 500mW to 1W range) I'd choose the CNI again (especially as they were also much cheaper than what i paid for the Laserwave, although some of that would be due to DPSS getting cheaper over time anyway when i bought the CNI)