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Thread: Looking for My First Projector: Mobile Beat Mirage vs DS-1000RGB vs ??

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    Default Looking for My First Projector: Mobile Beat Mirage vs DS-1000RGB vs ??

    I'm considering a laser projector to add to my home DJ/party light show toys. I have not yet taken a LSO course and have tons to learn about that and everything else... and I may well abandon this idea when I learn more about the safety issues. (Shoot, even my green laser pointer still feels a little scary!)

    But I want to start by picking out one or two projectors that would meet my needs. I don't think I want a Lasercube... I think I want an analog, full color, commercial grade unit that will support a lot of software... I want to "do it right." But since this is for home/back yard use, I also don't need a lot of laser power and even entry level commercial stuff talks about venues for hundreds or thousands of people!

    My budget is up to $1600 or so including an external DAC if needed, and decent software.

    So far I have found 3 units that seem to be about right and I would really appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

    DS-1000RGB $1000
    https://www.motionlasers.com/us/en/p...00rgb-shownet/

    Unity Elite 2 $1300
    https://lasershowprojector.com/colle...y-elite-2-ilda

    Mobile Beat Mirage $1500
    https://x-laser.com/products/mobile-beat-mirage

    Each is full RGB seems to scan 30k at 8 degrees. Each has ILDA & DMX. The DS-1000 also has a network port and costs a lot less. What am I missing?

    Are there other good contenders in this price range? Hopefully there's a good laser for around $1000-1200 leaving me budget for LSO training, variance, DAC, extra software, etc.

  2. #2
    swamidog's Avatar
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    Historically, LaserWorld projectors are not well regarded as quality units or measuring up to advertised specifications. There's also a matter of them being illegal to import and operate in the United States due to them not conforming to FDA/CDRH regulations. I would avoid them.

    I don't have experience with the Unity projectors, but Pangolin is a legit company and stands by their products. They are designed more with beams in mind than graphics / abstracts, but should be pretty good little projectors.

    I have quite a bit of experience with the X-laser Mobile Beat. We purchased a pair of them for Radiator development and they are rock solid little projectors. They are not high powered (~400mW), but in a home setup with light control and maybe a fogger, they should be enough.


    Quote Originally Posted by Horseflesh View Post
    I'm considering a laser projector to add to my home DJ/party light show toys. I have not yet taken a LSO course and have tons to learn about that and everything else... and I may well abandon this idea when I learn more about the safety issues. (Shoot, even my green laser pointer still feels a little scary!)

    But I want to start by picking out one or two projectors that would meet my needs. I don't think I want a Lasercube... I think I want an analog, full color, commercial grade unit that will support a lot of software... I want to "do it right." But since this is for home/back yard use, I also don't need a lot of laser power and even entry level commercial stuff talks about venues for hundreds or thousands of people!

    My budget is up to $1600 or so including an external DAC if needed, and decent software.

    So far I have found 3 units that seem to be about right and I would really appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

    DS-1000RGB $1000
    https://www.motionlasers.com/us/en/p...00rgb-shownet/

    Unity Elite 2 $1300
    https://lasershowprojector.com/colle...y-elite-2-ilda

    Mobile Beat Mirage $1500
    https://x-laser.com/products/mobile-beat-mirage

    Each is full RGB seems to scan 30k at 8 degrees. Each has ILDA & DMX. The DS-1000 also has a network port and costs a lot less. What am I missing?

    Are there other good contenders in this price range? Hopefully there's a good laser for around $1000-1200 leaving me budget for LSO training, variance, DAC, extra software, etc.
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

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    SUPER helpful, thank you. I had no idea the Laserworld PJs were out of compliance! Good to know the Mirage is solid too! I have a lot more research to do before I spend a dime though... this is clearly not a hobby to jump into blind.

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    Basically swami is spot on. The other big difference between the Mirage and the Unity is, the Mirage is all single mode diodes. (Versus multimode) What does that mean, you ask? In the simplest terms, single mode diodes are going to give you the tightest, sharpest beam quality. If you are into graphics and abstracts - another words, what you see on a wall - then the Mirage is your better choice. The drawback to single mode diodes is the overall power tends to be lower BUT... that energy is squeezed into a smaller beam so, it will still be ok for beams. The Unity on the other hand is going to have multimode diodes so... not as sharp and crisp an output but, more power and probably brighter for beams in the air.

    My home laser studio/home theater room has 4 permanently mounted and dedicated X-Laser Mirages (plus 2 Kvant Clubmax 1800's which are the slightly more refined bigger brother to the Unity's).

    Smart to do your homework first. When it comes to money in this insanity... boats, hookers and blow are far cheaper ways to spend your money. But, you'll also find some of the greatest people on the planet are addicted to lasers as well.

    Another edit... your variance shouldn't cost you anything or, at worst about $50 if you go with an X-Laser EZ-Variance kit. While the LSO class is important and worthwhile, you can hold off a bit on that for now. For control, there are a number of possibilities out there and there's different strokes for different folks but, for any new person I STRONGLY suggest Pangolin's Quickshow to start. There's about a $300 range between cheapest vs. most expensive common methods of control that people may suggest. I own basically all of them. Best all around value for the dollar, easiest to learn and use is going to be Quickshow and, if you later decide this isn't for you, it holds the majority of its value on the resale market. I'd suggest contacting X-Laser and seeing about a package deal with a Mirage, variance and Quickshow.

    (Oh, and Quickshow is "free" software. It's the DAC (hardware) you're actually paying for. You can download a demo version from Pangolin and play with it. There are a ton of YouTube tutorials for it as well so, my suggestion is download a copy and sit and watch some videos and follow along with them. Costs nothing and will be very educational.)
    Last edited by Bradfo69; 03-20-2021 at 16:57.
    PM Sent...

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    Thanks so much @Bradfo69, that is incredibly helpful. I think my applications would be mainly on-screen graphics, not in-air effects, so now I know single-mode is preferable.

    I've seen QuickShow in use in a few videos and it looks like a great way to get going, very glad to hear it's actually decent.

    >
    Oh, and Quickshow is "free" software. It's the DAC (hardware) you're actually paying for.

    Ohh.... now I see. It comes with the Flashback 3 DAC.

    OK, without opening a big can of worms... if I get QuickShow with the FB3, does that mean that I can only use Pangolin software until I add a different DAC? On the Modulaser site, it says:

    Unfortunately we cannot support QuickShow due to Pangolin allowing their SDK to be used with Beyond only.

    That implies that all I can do with QuickShow+FB3 is QuickShow -- and it looks like there is a lot of cool inexpensive or even free software out there. Wait, I can google this... Yes, that seems to be the case. OK. Too bad.

    And so lastly a related question... I thought I read elsewhere that not all DACs are FDA approved ... so if you find an inexpensive DAC supported by lots of fun software, it still may be problematic for your variance. Did I misunderstand that?

  6. #6
    Bradfo69's Avatar
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    I've never heard about a DAC not being "approved". That's not even really a thing. A variance basically has to do with any device that contains a laser that emits radiation above 5 milliwatts. A DAC doesn't contain a laser.

    Yes, buying a FB3 or FB4 is a proprietary proposition which ties you to Quickshow or Beyond. Which... is really the industry leading software worldwide. The rest of the stuff out there has a mixture of boutique, niche user bases. Often they may excel at one thing but not be so great for other applications.

    An example is one popular program with some users here called LSX. It's a little less expensive software ranging from about $130 to $360 depending on version and it works with a range of DAC's from $100 to $300. So people will argue you can get $129 software and $100 DAC and have something that is more powerful than Quickshow... in certain areas. And that's true but... a) it's trick is being stupid powerful for spending lots of time creating amazing abstracts using a confusing program with not a lot of documentation or tutorials and is sold by only one individual who has a history of accepting payment for the program and not even responding or shipping it to you for months. And... if you have a question or issue, only emerges from a mountaintop cave in Nepal on the 29th of February every fourth leap year to check or respond to an email. But, yeah... it's cheaper than Quickshow. And doesn't do 75% of what Quickshow does. It just excels in one area.

    X-Laser has it's niche product called Mercury that doesn't even exactly use a DAC but, its for people who understand lighting consoles and want to do beam shows without having to learn laser software. It doesn't do timeline work. It's not really for graphics or abstracts but... what it does, it does very well.

    Moncha is a great software/hardware combination and has a lot of similarities to Quickshow but, small user base - mainly in Europe. It's comparably priced but, you have a couple more DAC choices than just the FB3. Heck there are even hackers who make DAC's out of computer sound cards and use open source software that's free to play laser shows.

    So yes, there these as well as many other options out there and as I said, I own almost all of them. But, I'll say it again.... for a new person getting into this (and a majority of people), Quickshow with an FB3 is your best all around bang for the buck out there.
    Last edited by Bradfo69; 03-21-2021 at 07:39.
    PM Sent...

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    People know I fly my Pangolin flag all the time but there is a reason for that. The thing to also note is that you can import ILDA files into Quickshow so, you don't really lose outside content by going that route. The caveat is that you can only play your Pangolin generated content in Pangolin software, which only affects you if you share content to non Pangolin users.

    Following what Brad has said, I have a few of the other softwares, as well. The one I reach for about 99% of the time... Pangolin. The other thing to note is that Quickshow has a pretty powerful DMX suite, too. So, if you're using any DMX lights or moving head/scanners, Quickshow can run them. You can program DMX cues and even put them in the timeline to work with your lasers. My whole Halloween setup of 32 DMX lights, 3 fog machines, a fogscreen and animatronics runs via Pangolin software. Granted, it's Beyond and not Quickshow but the DMX suite is very similar, if not the same. You just need a DMX controller, specifically an Enttec Pro.
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    > I've never heard about a DAC not being "approved". That's not even really a thing. A variance basically has to do with any device that contains a laser that emits radiation above 5 milliwatts. A DAC doesn't contain a laser.

    Makes sense now @
    Bradfo69 -- somehow I just got the wrong idea that the variance was for the whole system and that each part of it needed to be kosher.

    I read you guys loud and clear, there is a lot going for the Quickshow route. The DMX support is actually very enticing @
    absolom7691, as I recently got interested in those toys too. Pangolin is not the cheapest solution but I can see that this is not one of those hobbies where one weird trick saves you a bunch of money.

    Thanks again guys, this was super helpful.

    (I have a handful of other broad questions about how to safely position a projector and what I might be able to do with it in my home... I'll start another thread for that. It's still very unclear to me if I have any place at all to safely use an eyemelter.)


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