Episode 47 - Buying LED Lighting on Aliexpress

[@Butlinsgvn6]

Immensely useful video! Thanks for sharing your knowledge about buying from Aliexpress - I wasn't aware that consistency was such an issue.

[@eastanglianradio]

It's not really inconsistency - if you buy from the same batch, all is well. However, you might buy 2 of the last of batch one, and they run out - so they go to the same suppliers and re-order/ two weeks later they have new stock, but the focus might be reversed, or the red LEDs a little darker, or really silly things like the menu system is in a different order. Some trivial, but some quite annoying. Most LED moving heads have an effects bank. A DMX value of say, 56 might on your first order produce a nice slow change from blue to red and back, but on second order - 56 could be something very different. I'm just taking about a dozen out of a venue - two different batches of the same one, and they're on the ground, all mixed up! I need to find 4 that are batch 2 and separate them! Annoying but livable with. They're always excellent value.

[@Butlinsgvn6]

@@eastanglianradio Thank you. It's really invaluable since I'm putting on shows on a small budget, I think I can live with the potential hassle :)

[@eastanglianradio]

@@Butlinsgvn6 My view has always been that I could buy two or perhaps 4 expensive fixtures but I could buy a dozen cheaper ones, and even if they become obsolete quickly, the results are so much better - 12 beams or 4, that is a VERY difficult question. I'll go with the 12!