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8 replies

Is there something wrong with my LED Roto Balls?

FM Former Member
Hi! I’m portuguese and writing to you from Portugal. I’ve just bought the LED rotoballs, after seeing you promotional movie on Youtube, at a local dealer.

I just wanted some fancy and unexpensive lights to make a small disco in my garage, for my 7 year-old daughter and her friends. Unfortunately, nowadays everything as LEDs on it, and of course, they cost much more than I was prepared to spend. Anyway, due to lack of less expensive options, I bought the RotoBalls, motivated by your promotional video. Well… I’m not very happy, ‘cause… or my lights are defective, or something is very wrong with your video. I’m going to have a kids party next Sunday, so I tested the lights today, for 20 minutes. Your video shows some nice strobes, both while rotating and stopped.
Well, in 20 minutes, I got no strobes. None. And the balls never stop (unless I switch them off, of course). They just roll around, endlessly, changing colors, with apparently no relation with the music, and … that’s all. I paid a lot of money (your products in Portugal cost a lot more than in America, and the price of this product in my country is equivalent to half the minimum national wage) and I’m not satisfied, so i need to understand what’s wrong. In what conditions, and time period, the strobe works? Is it randomly? Is it according to the music? Are the balls supposed to stop when strobbing?
Your specifications say (and I quote):
“Easy-to-use dual rotating balls produces 60 sound activated beams that change color and strobe to the sound of music”
Well… apparently they don’t strobe, and I have serious doubts that they are able to do anything to the sound of music. They do react to sound (on and off), not to music.
Your video says the they rotate from 0 to 35 rpm. Well, zero means stopped. I turn the knob to the minimum, but it doesn’t stop. I’m I doing something wrong?

I’m thinking about returning the rotoballs to the store. But I need a replacement. What is the best affordable option, among your products, for hanging on a 2.5 meter ceiling, that has stopping/moving/changing color lights, and random strobe effect ('cause DMX is out my budget, and only works with wires) ?

Thanks

João Cardoso
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S Studio42 (Guest)
What you want is a fixture that can act in stand-alone mode. For what you want to, I suggest going cheap, more or less.

I think you got a defective unit. Return it to your place of purchase, make sure the replacement works before you leave the store. You could have a loose element, bad LED unit, or something else wrong. The spinning is a good starting sign. It could be as simple as a loose connection. Just return this unit and test before you walk out, so you now you've got a good one.

For what you want to spend, and sticking with ADJ(or any other brand), you are going to be limited to a very few options. Buying a DMX-capable fixture isn't a wise move for you based on your neeeds. This light will rotate at a fixed rate based on the knob setting. The rest work on sound active, so bass hits essentially. It's in the manual. But, you're angry and confused because you've got a unit acting up. This is why you're asking such questions. Your other choices are to "Work with wires", DMX, and more costs(Controller or software, DMX cabling and DMX fixures). Staying low end, you have a lack of choices. Not saying low end is bad, just they have to remove features to reduce costs.

When you turn the knob down, dies the fixture slow down and speed up? It shouldn't stop. 0RPM means "less than 1RPM".
FM Former Member
Thanks for the quick answer.

I made a second test, this time for a longer period. I was able to see the supposed 'strobe': it lasts about half a second, only in one ball at the time, and it's virtually impossible to see unless you are looking directly at the ball, with all of your attention. So, it's useless.

I also took time to count the RPM at the fastest pace, and slowest.
At slowest, with the knob all the way down, 15 RPM (well above the announced 'almost zero'). At fastest, 30 RPM.

You told me to read the instructions. Well, they say, and i quote "The Roto Balls Tri LED is ready to be plugged in, out of the box. There is no power switch ...".

Are you kidding????!!! There's not only one, but two power switches, so i was left by myself to discover that one turns the unit on and off (that was a easy one), and the other one, turns the 'sound active mode' on and off. This last one, took me a while to understand, 'cause the sound sensor demanded quite a bit of volume in the hifi unit, to react, and doesn't stop revolving when the lights are out.

I'm sorry, guys, but you should have done better. I still don´t know if my unit is defective or not, but i'm starting to believe that it's not. Anyway, i will try to talk with my dealer, at the store, to see if he has another unit to compare with this one.

Right now i'm quite disappointed. If my unit is not defective, then i guess i will be forced to return it, and get my money back. Wrong manual, poor product (considering the price, since it was made in China, which i didn´t knew until i read the small letters in the box) deceiving advertising (in your movie at youtube, as well as in part of the specifications). You're an american company, known in half the world, not an anonimous low-quality chinese one.

On the other hand, if my unit is, in fact, defective, and the next one has a proper strobe effect and the correct RPM, i will even forgive you about the wrong manual (that you should correct!), and appologise for my ...'bitterness'.

'See' you soon.
S Studio42 (Guest)
Shure is one of the largest microphone companies, and sadly, most of their stuff is made in China.

I bet 95% of the components in your computer were made in China.

Just a fact of life that stuff is being outsourced to China, who then in turn screws their employer, steals the technology and starts cranking out copies without authorization. Go figure.

Chances are whatever you choose as a replacement was, regardless if it is labelled as such, made in China.

Seems the only thing they don't make much of in China anymore is Chinese people!

So, there's a power switch and a sound active switch. Really? Well, I don't have one or else I'd have one of these in front of me. Can't say it does or does not make sense as far as having those switches, depends on the thought process behind the light.

Sound active: Typically speaking, there is a knob that controls sound sensitivity. Otherwise, right, you're gonna have to hit your stereo hard, as it's not designed for taht king of output. Sound active works off bass. But how loud are you cranking it? Also, if you block the sensor(it's an electret microphone) with your thumb or finger or palm, that tends to piss it off and it goes beserk, basically forcing a harmless sound active emulation overload.

Regardless of your satisfaction, I am not convinced the fixture is working properly. Rotation shouldn't stop, so I'm not concerned about that, but the rotation speed, that has be a bit annoyed as I'd appreciate some lower speeds, like say down to 4-6RPM. From your description, I don't think you should hang onto this light as I'm thinking you got a bad one. So, I really advise that if you want to bring it back and get your money back, then I suggest you do so. Otherwise, I ask you kindly to try a new one and do an exchange.
FM Former Member
Putting your irony aside, unfortunately you may be right about the 'made in China' sindrome, all over the world. But your company has a reputation, a commercial brand to stand for, and an incorrect instruction book, lack of knowledge about the products, and defective units don´t match with the 'american company' tag, i think.

But thanks for the quick and useful feedback. Sadly, the store doesn't have another unit available to compare with this one, so next week i will go there to try the 'mini ball' unit, which is a little bit more expensive, and, in case i'm not satisfied, i'll wait a few days until the next shipment arrives, so i will, finally, be able to compare two different units of roto balls.

Shit happens. I know that, you know that. I only wish that would not happen to me, in my first buy of a ADJ Product, 'cause i'm loosing valuable time, money, and miles, with something that was supposed to be the simplest of the commercial transactions.

Thank you.
Last edited by Former Member
S Studio42 (Guest)
Well, things happen. One of the biggest problems is that manuals go to press before the final product is released. That may be the case here, but in this day and age of electronic delivery, the manuals should updated to reflect the actuality.

I'm not an ADJ employee. On products I've worked on(and in fact, helped develop from the ground up, and these are data communications products), basically, NOTHING happened without my approval, especially in regards to the manual and the product. But, this was per typical with that entire brand, where the manual had to and MUST accurately represent the product. And yes, it was NOT made in China! They did order components here and there from China, but after a few bad batches, that stopped as well. The bad part was that it did keep prices high on an already expensive item. The good news: clients were willing to pay the premium.

It sounds like your options are severely limited. Without having your fixture in front of me, I can't troubleshoot further, but you've done enough of a job on your own to give me a relatively good idea that it's the fixture. And yes, I get your point of view. Korg's nanoPAD, I am trying to get them to ship me a 4th unit, which would be my 5th OUT OF THE BOX fatality(this product seems to be made especially poorly, but I paid money, can't get a refund and I expect satisfaction here). But, I'm a long-time Korg customer, so I stick with them.

I also equate the time is money. Working 20 hour days, my "free time" to go out and shop and deal with this stuff is typically either 3AM to 7AM, or else I have to cut something off to deal with this stuff.

Just an idea for you to play with, because I've seen crappy venues do this:
Since you don't want DMX and seem to want some degree of control(on/off), you can use a light switch via an outlet to control your fixture. I've seen a club with like a bank of 20 or more switches on the wall. This was their control, all high-tec FX. At least it was labelled!

Sorry to hear of your failure and inconvenience. I feel your pain.
FM Former Member
I'm sorry Mr. Pickett. Until now, i was so convinced that you were 'one of the guys in charge' here, that i didn´t even botherer to check it out.
In fact, you're not even a moderator in this forum! So, shame on all the people from ADJ that could, and should, have said something to me, and never did, until this moment.
I apologise for all the things that i said to you that where potencialy offensive. I trully believed i was talking to someone wearing 'the ADJ badge', so i was really demanding explanations from you.
Thank you, again. And this time, with the highest respect and consideration!
J JinglesForum Admin
JMCC I apologize for not posting to your question. I am James and I do work for ADJ (however i work out of my home and not in the office in California in U.S. I am in Wisconsin) as my dmx tech support and as a forum moderator/admin. My apologies but my area of expertise is the dmx lights and the my dmx software. The non DMX lights are not something I can discuss with confidence. Please let me have my service manager reply to your post as soon as he can on Monday.
My sincere apologies.
Sincerely,
S Studio42 (Guest)
JMCC:

No harm, no foul. Nothing to worry about. I'm actually more offended by being calld "Mr.", as I personally detest that term.

My objective,(and I am a forum admin), was to try to find you the best resolve to your issue. I deal with screaming and yelling kids and clients all day long, and while the tactics to deal with the various problems(smoking modem versus kids fighting over Lego blocks) vary, the end results are hopefully "QUIET!!". I also work heavily in the world of entertainment, so offense is not something that happens easily to me.

I will say this, while I do have some non-ADJ fixtures, I'm heavily biased towards ADJ and Elation gear, and try to recommend those products to people as much as possible. But, as we both know, sometimes, regardless of brands, problems will pop up. I was trying to get you the quickest resolve to your problem, while hopefully trying to keep you within the ADJ brand.

My background is in data communications in customer service type stuff, including tech support, pre-sales support, sales supoprt, installation and configurations, and ongoing maintenance. I also have extensive background in R&D.

My preferred work in pro audio. I just happen to have to do lighting out of necessesity. And if I'm going to have to do lights, I might as well hit it with products I can feel comfortable and confident with.

Had you been closer to me, I'd have said "bring it over, let's troubleshoot the fixture", but I'm in California in the United States, and well, it's not exactly a quick car trip for me to get to Portugal!

While I can't speak with confidence on stuff I don't own, I read the manuals and get educated quickly.

Let me know how this all works out. I still think you ended up with a bad fixture. Contact your dealer for your best recourse of action. I often test stuff before I walk out, because I simply don't have the time to buy, take it home, find it defective and then have to turn around and repeat risking the effort.

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