DJzone DJ Magazine

Everyone is out to add a little bit of laser to their show or club. The problem with traditional laser type lighting is that without a controller most are limited on their coverage. Enter a new series of laser lighting that creates a star field effect.

It all started with a high-end laser effect created for Disney by a small company called BlissLight and made its way into the mainstream via two major lighting players, American DJ and CHAUVET. We had a chance to take a look at both the CHAUVET Storm and the American DJ Galaxian side by side and here is what we found.

Both lights appear to be extremely well made and rugged. Both units arrive ready to use in stand alone, DMX and master/stave configurations, but the similarities end there.

The Storm has a larger case, weighing in at a hefty 11 lbs., compared to the lighter 6 lb. Galaxian. This might not mean much, but that’s 5 less pounds on the truss.

Setup on the Storm is performed through a dipswitch array located on the back of the light. A problem we found in the past with using dipswitches on various lights was the inability to be able to set them in a darkened room. You must have great eyesight to read the switch layout, and it’s easy to get the on/off confused. We found the Galaxian to have a more user-friendly way to configure of the two lights. A digital LED mini control panel located on the top that allows you to access the many features this light has to offer. Other things that made the Galaxian stand out from the Storm is that it has both red and green lasers and the pattern system appeared to be more sophisticated when in the stand alone mode.

When evaluating this type of effect light, you may wish to look at the coverage. The Storm boosts a nice spread of 80 degrees, but the Galaxian rolls in with a cool 90 degree spread. That extra 10 degrees could mean the difference between covering the whole ceiling and just laying down a strip up the middle.

In our opinion, given all the extra features and specs,  the weather man is predicting clear weather for the American DJ Galaxian.