Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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91 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best LED music lights, January 3, 2007
I have gone through a long series of music stand lights over the last 30 years or so, always trying to find a 'better mousetrap'. I desired a small, lightweight illuminating device that could run without needing to be plugged in and would still take up a minimum of space in my instrument case(s).
My latest is the new XtraFlex Duet lamp from Mighty Bright, a company with lots of different models. The Duet is the dual lamp version of the regular XtraFlex lamp, being identical except for the extra light emitting head.
The base unit is just big enough to hold the battery comprised of three AAA alkaline cells, plus the spring clip mechanism that grabs onto your music stand, music folder, or book. Extending from the top are two narrow goosenecks that terminate in penny-sized LED heads, one super-bright white LED per head. Each head also has an on/off switch and a lens that distributes the LED light over a wide area of about the size of a normal page of music. The goosenecks are flexible enough to allow them to be easily wrapped around the base unit for storage, yet firm enough to support the weight of the LED heads in whatever position you place them.
Having a separate power switch for each head is a nice touch, because if you only need light from one head you can turn the other one off to save battery life. However, I suspect that Mighty Bright just put two gooseneck/head assemblies on a single base unit and shrugged their collective shoulders when they discovered this meant having two power switches. Hard to be sure, but it's the results that count in this case.
Battery life is good, since by my calculations and experiences with other AAA powered LED lamps, you should be able to get quite a few hours out of a battery set.
Brightness is not overwhelming, but is certainly adequate to make pages of music easily legible in even the darkest orchestra pits.
I find that this lamp does a better job of lighting a pair of side-by-side pages than my previous Mighty Bright lamp, the Mighty Bright Triple LED Music Stand Light, which was larger, heavier, could not reach over tall music as well, and was generally less flexible in different situations.
I would rate this lamp 5 stars, except for the slightly lower than desired build quality---professionals would like to see a device that is just a bit less typical-Chinese-plastic......for example, a pro who uses a lamp frequently, or a church that uses them twice a week for hand bell choir rehearsals and services (for example), might expect to change batteries often enough that they would appreciate beefed up version.
Still, a very nice lamp fairly priced at about $20.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not "Mighty Bright", March 7, 2008
I'm an adult taking music lessons and bought this based on recommendations here, and also because it's cordless, and I like to move my music stand around and practice in various locations, including out on the porch at night (in nice weather). I'm frankly very disappointed with the strangely faint blue light this casts on the sheet music. One or the other of the lights went out several times as I moved the heads around to illuminate dark spots on the sheet music. Then, after only 9-10 hours total use, it appears the batteries (the recommended high quality ones) have died. Strangely, my music teacher bought one after I did, and he told me he didn't like the light either. Based on reviews of other stand lights, I think I'm buying a cheap, goose-necked, plug-in clamp lamp for this purpose, and giving up on the high tech solutions.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
light light, April 9, 2008
As a professional musician I have worked with many types of lights. Love this one.
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