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(More customer reviews)How to rate this light....?
I guess I'll go at this task in two sections.
1. The light is similar to the other lights in the Vue series, (The 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1). It has a roundish brushed aluminum housing with an adjustable mounting bracket that can be rotated, as well as slid forward or to the rear. It's a DMX light, but will also run in auto or sound active modes. It has a digital display on the rear as well as the standard DMX and power in and out ports. And it has a sound sensitivity adjustment knob, as well as a mic for the sound active mode like the other lights in the Vue series.
This light has a very interesting, and also widely varied, set of patterns that it puts out. The light also rotates the board the LEDs are mounted on for even more variety. Do yourself a favor and look this light up on Youtube to watch a video or two of everything it does. As an LED fixture it runs cool, and has very low power draw. It also runs nearly silent, even in a room with nothing else making sound. It's very lightweight, and super bright as well. An all around great light as far as features and pattern interest goes. It's also a very inexpensive light at the moment, considering the features you get. I originally had bought a Vue 2.1 and was happy with it. Then the price on these dropped and I sold the 2.1 and grabbed one of these to replace it. The extra LEDs and patterns was a no brainer. Or so I thought.
2. Now for the second part of the review.
Can you get a good one?
Here's what happened to me...
I ordered one of these through Amazon, from one of the large music stores that sell this model light. It got here fast, and the box and light were in good outward condition. When I plugged it in there was a section of LEDs out. If you look at the way the LEDs are layed out in this light, there are three elongated "S" shapes that run from the outer edge, through the center of the pattern, and on the the opposite outer edge. One is green, one is red, and one is blue. Half the blue "S" was out in the light they sent me. I took advantage of their excellent return policy and sent it back. I then ordered another light from another of the large music stores that sell these through Amazon, just in case the first place had gotten a bad batch. This second light also got here fast, and again, both the light and outer box were in good condition. But this one had four dead green LEDs in one of the central clusters. I was going to send it back as well, but decided to call Chauvet to see if there was a simple fix that might save me the extra time and hassle of another return. Sadly the only fix was a part replacement or another exchange. They sent me a new LED board, since I told them I was familiar with electronics and could replace it without too much trouble. The replacement board showed up two days later from Fed Ex and I installed it. Unfortunately the replacement had half of a red "S" section dead on it. That's three for three defects in these boards. I called Chauvet back to see if they would have any problem with me swapping some good LEDs from the replacement board, with the four dead ones on my second lights board. They gave me the thumbs up, and after some LED soldering, the light was fixed. It's been working fine now for over a week.
In short, the 4.1 is an amazing light, if you get a good one, and Chauvet is super easy to deal with if you have a problem.
If you get a dud, you may go through several of them before you find one that works fresh out of the box.
I don't know what to say about longevity. This light has a two year warranty on it from the factory, and it may be needed, since the ones I've had were both new and defective from the get go. They obviously have some manufacturing problems with the LED board. But that doesn't necessarily mean the light won't hold up over time. I guess I'll find out over the next two years.
If you get a good one the light gets five stars.
If you don't get a good one out of the box, it gets much harder to rate them.
I'll post any further problems if they arise.
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