My latest purchase is the ImpossibLED aka American DJ Revo III

It's a LED moonflower lighting effect with 392 ultra-bright LEDs (140 red, 105 green, 84 blue, 63 white). The light output varies according to how many LEDs are on but at those times when most of them are lit it is as bright as, if not brighter than, a 250 watt effect (by my comparison with a 250 watt effect - both projected side by side onto a wall).

I have not used the DMX capabilites however I have used a mini controller (that I already had for another effect). This allows a selection of 12 pre-set programs, the strobe effect and standby. The LEDs are activated by a built in mic and the response is accurate and fast.

Other specs with DMX are:
1000's of pre-programmed patterns
0-100% dimmable
Linkable

The case is quite large (most of the inside is fresh air) and light - 5.0kg (including packaging). It has no duty cycle and almost no heat. In a previous post I had calculated that at 2 discos a week, 5 hours each, the unit would last for 192 years!!

When the unit is 1st activated the LEDs flash 3 times during set-up and will then react to the sound either going through a program of different patterns or staying on one with a controller. It has been described as a 'firework' effect on many suppliers web sites and I think this sums it up quite well.

For the tech heads who like to see the workings:


(the threaded bolts on the RHS are my addition of a U bolt for a safety chain)

The bank of LEDs (I haven't counted them)



The blue LEDs illuminated



The green



The red (there are 4 more red LEDs in the centre of each cluster)



and finally most of them



Expect to pay around £130 for one however, at the time of writing this, availability is like rocking horse which may effect price.

There are currently several videos on YouTube showing the unit in operation - in fact this is the 1st time I've purchased a lighting effect without seeing it live and I wasn't disappointed. I'm sure that further models will follow in the future but for now I believe this is the best of the LED units on the market.

Negative points are the size of it (I expect they had to do that due to the focal point of the lens ) and the outer LEDs are slightly out of focus with no way to adjust the lens. Oh and the lens is plastic which is good in terms of weight but may scratch easier than glass.

Finally the manual refers to fans and motors - there are none in this unit

During my Christmas Parties I made a short video of the effect - unfortunately it is a very short clip but here it is (don't blink or you'll miss it!!)

Looks cool - these are the LED effect that i achuly WANT to buy - a mate of a mate of mine from school lent us 2 LED par's for a show and they were pants, so that put me off LED's. But these new effects are really decent - i might buy them after I get the movers I am after.

What size Par Cans ?
I'm concluding that the Par 64 is possibly the only way to go and then you need 4 anyhow?

... and the back up the other comments here ...The impossibled is brilliant!!!! I got one last week.

It begs the question, up to what point would it still be reasonable to take 'em back because they failed to meet quoted life expectancy?




"Scuse me mate, can I have my money back?"

LEDs last forever, as long as they aren't subjected to currents beyond their design capability.

However, if used close to the limit, they do lose a little bit of their light output after a very long time, but this is so long as to be of no consequence.

Assuming no component failure due to poor quality, this thing should last you a lifetime - literally.

I wonder who supplies the LEDs - I'm on the lookout for a few hundred in the primary colours.

Just bought one Acme ImpossibLED this week....Paid £125.00 including delivery (arrived next day)
So far so good...Going to use this weekend
Made a low quailty vid of it running in my house

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0OlXlEoc8Tc

Bought a Chauvet VUE 3 which I thougt was the same as the Impossibled , however the Chauvet VUE 3 is slightly larger and its a real bugger to get a case for it ( anybody have any suggestions on this) so I suspect the led's may be bigger bit I'm not sure. Also although these effects are similar the Acme Impossibled has white , green , red and blue led's where the Chauvet doesn't have any white.

Here's a comparison of the difference between the 2 units:

Chauvet Vue 3 / Acme Impossibled

9-channel DMX-512 DMX channels: 10 & 4 selectable LED display
Blackout/static/dimmer/strobe Strobe and 0 - 100% dimmable
Built-in sound activated programs via master/slave or DMX Sound activated, Master/Slave and DMX modes
Access built-in programs in master/slave mode via dip switches Thousands of pre-programmes
Light source: 469 (280 red, 63 green, 126 blue) LEDs 100,000hrs 392 (140 red, 105 green, 84 blue, 63 white)
Weight: 12lbs (5.5kgs) 5.0kgs
Size: 305mm x 279mm x 279mm 250 x 250 x 280mm

It looks like the bigger size is to accomodate the extra 77 LEDs (which in theory should make it 20% brighter than the ImpossibLED)

Ok..... i have let the moths out of my wallet and ordered one online.......only to get an e-mail saying they were out of stock and not expected till end of week.. very annoying as the website said they have stock !!


Just my luck.

really wanted it by saturday as I am at Brocket hall ( hmmm wonder if I could dig up a Lamboughini in the grounds)

I've spoken to the new American DJ European distributor - they inform me that they seriously underestimated how popular this Revo 3 was going to be, their initial stock of 500 units has now sold out, plus their current order of 500 units is pre-sold (so check your local retailers in about 2 weeks for stock)..after that new stock is expected mid march.

The Chauvet Vue 3 are in currently in stock, but not many left.

this is all very confusing...which to buy,the vue3,impossiled or revo 3? i was also tinking of getting 4 mirracled"s, has any one got any of these?

I have two impossibleds, I got my CA-8 controller this morning, makes them a lot more versatile and no need now for DMX, I can run them master/slave and black them out as required. Brilliant.

I have 1 and will be getting another shortly. I would buy the impossibleds (pair) rather than 4 mirracleds.
The impossibled fits nicely in those tough, waterproof plastic boxes from Staples (£12ish)

Edbray, how do they link together? as ive never seen a ca-8 controller.....

you link them together with a dmx lead select one tobe master then take the dmx lead from the out socket to the in socket of the other light which you select tobe the slave.plug the ca8 controller into the master light then use it to switch lights on/off and select what pattern you want.
this is what they look like but shop around i got one from my local dj shop for £15
http://www.djstore.com/item/acmca8.htm?affid=froogle

Cheers andy, gonna order 2 ImpossiLED on tues and will order a controller at at the same, I had a idea thats how it was done...

hi all i'm pretty new to dj ing well i have bought one of these
impossibled lights after seeing one of the many vids on utube well my problem is i can't get it to do any of the light shows it i can only get it to do one fixed patten i have read the book that came with it but can't make no sense out of it i have no controler its beeing used as a stand alone can s0omeone help please

Hi, just got my 2 immpossiled's with a ca-8 controller and giving them a good work out in the house and by god am I impressed, how ive lived without these I dont know. The ca-8 controller makes light work of that control panel on the back....

i have had 2 of these for a few months now , and they are absolutely brilliant lights, no waiting for ages for cooldown time at the end, brilliant light output , no expensive bulbs to replace, i now cant wait to offload my other lights, scanners and moonflowers which look quite dim and poor by comparison.

i have just taken delivery of 2 chauvet vue 3's as the impossiled's were out of stock.

i forgot to ask about the controller.
would the ac 8 work or do i need a dedicated one?

Used my new pair of Revo 111's for the first time last night at a gig - awesome well impressed lit the venue up like a Christmas Tree, was thinking that I may need another light to complement the Revo's but no chance that will do nicely.

dodger

does anyone know if you can link impossibleds and miracleds together in master/slave? since they seem to have the same sort of circuitry.....

I can't with mine, not in master & slave configuration anyway.Probably could with a dedicated DMX controller.

Manual describes how to do master / slave.

http://prolight.co.uk/images/media/11/1115.../IMPO01-um0.doc

Mind you the description on the manual uses dip switches and mine is electronicly controlled.

Tried to make sense of that...still doesn't work.

I have 2 Impossibleds and a Miracled and I tried to do exactly that but it wouln't work. If anyone knows how to do it I would be very interested.