Customer Reviews

Chauvet OBEY40 Universal DMX-512 Controller

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was disappointed not to find any reviews on these DMX light controllers when I was looking to buy one... so let me be the first to review this one in hopes of helping you make a decision.

First - I'm not a pro, this is just an expensive hobby for me. I have 6 intelligent DMX lights connected to my OBEY40 right now and the unit seems to be working perfectly. I can control up to twelve different lights (I only can afford 6) and the slide channels are smooth to operate. In fact, everything so far with the unit works just as it should.

NOTE: Do not even attempt to purchase a DMX controller unless you know how to use one, or are willing to spend a few hours reading the instructions. I watched a few uTube videos to get me started, then poured myself a beer and read all the manuals. Remember: you must have your manuals for each of your lights because they explain what each channel does on your DMX controller (You can probably download them if you've lost them).

I gave this unit 4 stars instead of 5 because I wish there were more led lights on the unit to show which scene you're on. Sometimes it's easy to get lost while switching around in your programs... but maybe I just need some more practice?

With those warnings being said, it is a MUST to have a DMX controller if you own these type of lights. You get so much more out of your lights, and have a way better chance of getting a freaky party going. Good Luck.

I bought three LED DMX Par 64 Cans and a DMX Dimmer for use in my music room. This allowed me plenty of channels to hook up all the lights (each Can on its own DMX channels) and create a bunch of scenes and a bunch of chases. It has a nice auto chase option as well as musical. I play more rock music so when set to music it changes rather rapidly... (too rapidly for my taste... it would be nice if you could tweak the changing during music mode regarding whether it should change scene on every musical change it notices... every other... every fourth, etc... so you could set the sensitivity... otherwise with a fast song it tends to be more of a strobe changing effect. This is minor though and I expected it to be somewhat of an issue that would make the sound activated mode unrealistic. It is a very durable unit and well worth the price I am more than happy with it. I was able to hook up all my DMX lights and still have plenty of room to grow in the future. Obviously, to run a professional setup for a band with more lights and syncronization requirements this would not be the right thing. But for the home person... the DJ... or the small club or small club band, this is plenty powerful enough for the task at hand!

This controller is all right considering what it's priced for. The buttons when you click them are really loud, like you hear a "clink" everytime you press it. But the everything is there, the scenes, chases, and banks. Its a good item for starters. Here is a vid showing the unboxing and demo,
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I had read good reviews here, so purchased this item for our church. I read the online manual beforehand and it seemed like this would do everything we wanted it to do.

First impressions:
-The case for this is sheet metal, and the buttons make a very distinct "clink" every time you push them. You can hear this "clink" all the way across the room (70 ft) when it is quiet. This might not be an issues in a concert environment, but for this application, trying to make changes on the fly results in a lot of "clinkclinkclinkclinkclink" that everybody in the room can hear and just isn't acceptable.
-The manual says that you can set up fade and speed for a cue and save it to a memory for later recall. What it doesn't tell you is that the fade and speed settings only work when in "auto" mode, where the cues run from one to the next automatically. When manually choosing a cue, the lights change instantly. The slider controls don't have any affect in manual mode either. We bought this primarily for choosing light settings at will, not for running a show.
-When in manual mode, if you select a fixture, set the lights, then deselect it, the lights don't stay on while you choose another fixture. This make manually setting a scene maddening.
-light levels don't immediately respond to the slider position- there is a delay between when you move the slider and when the light level changes.

Overall, I felt like I got what I paid for, but I felt like I paid too much. The lack of features and function was disappointing. If I needed this for an automated show, my review would be different, but for my needs this was not a good choice. If the documentation would have stated some of these things, I would not have bought this unit. I went searching for help on the internet and found a lot of other people who purchased this board and were also trying to figure out how to get past these issues.
Amazon was good about taking it back though. I'll be much more thorough in researching my next purchase.