Time to step up to Pixels!

[Giles1]

My brother in-law has been doing Christmas lights for some years now, and I think he may have caught the bug.

Until now, he has only been using store bought lights. However, his latest acquisition was some Coro Props, which he proudly showed me. After seeing some online videos, he wanted to make them sing, but when I told him that he would need to step-up to Pixels to do this, he was understandably a bit worried.

Anyway, he’s already gone out and purchased some Pixels, but as I tried to tell him, that’s only the biggening of his journey, not to mention the upcoming extra costs.

Can anyone recommend a good entry level controller, and where to get it (new or second hand would be fine). Or, would a Raspberry Pi with a Pixel Hat be the cheapest way to go?

Thanks in advance for your advice and guidance on this issue.



P.S. If anyone has an old Pixel Controller they no longer need, please let me know.

 

[scamper]

Well even with hacked store bought lights you can do singing faces etc. It just depends on the strings. Before individually controlled pixels came so cheap the go too at the time was hack store bought or buy pixel strings and control them with a dmx controller and if you got more than a universe worth, get a dedicated gateway to control more dmx controllers.

There are probably heaps of people with controllers lying around, ask in the buy sell section just in case someone misses this post.
I personally would go for a dedicated lighting controller as there would be far less work in the sense of trying to write the code etc.
And for just an entry level he can start with a small number output and power supply until he gets a handle on it and fully catches the bug

 

[someoneAUS]

Quinled makes a controller that is basically just an esp32 with some power distribution/fusing. I bought a couple as a cheap way to get started in the wood of pixels.

 

[thewanderingpine]

Agreed - these boards are good entry pathways. https://shop.allnetchina.cn/collect...r-new-improved-release?variant=39475881836646

 

[Domestos]

I guess it all depends on your brother's technical ability and how much he is willing to tinker with new things and what the budget is. I'll try to break it down best I can:

1. ($10 to $20) You can get a "controller" on the cheap, all you need is a ESP32 board and load WLED onto it. Then set it up in XLights, and you have a cheap controller. How reliable it is going to be is a complete diffirent story. (AND this involves a bit of soldering and "tinkering")
2. ($40) Purchase this all in one ready to run contoller (single output) from Aliexpress for about $40 all in. I have this controller and it is really easy to use and setup. All you need to add is a power supply.
3. ($100-ish) The QuinLED controllers mentioned above. I have some of them, and I love them, but have found it is more out-of-stock, than in-stock. Also bear in mind the price on the allnetchina website is US $'s so all in all with shipping you are prob looking closer at $100 for a 4 channel controller.
4. ($100-ish) Raspberry Pi with a Pi hat here and here - This again works out to about $100, and I have found the Berry-Hat option much more capable than the QuinLED ones. (Options to run it wired or WiFi and the DMX output is a nice bonus.)
5. ($200 - $250) A good local controller can be found here: Just remember you will also need to add a beaglebone here, or here. That is about $200 for a 16 channel controller, more than enough for dabbling with singing faces, and possible to expand. (You can also use this as you show player) - Add in an additional $50 for the FPP licence.

Like everything in this hobby, $'s or in my case the lack-thereoff is the deciding factor. This is a good community with loads of people willing to help.
PS: There are other local suppliers out there also, selling similar units to the QuinLED boards. Look around on the forums.

 

[KHill9314]

I've found the Hanson Electronics gear to be great for my first year last year. Pretty affordable compared to other options and really accessible with room to expand in the future.

 

[Skymaster]

($200) A good local controller can be found here: Just remember you will also need to add a beaglebone here, or here. That is about $200 for a 16 channel controller, more than enough for dabbling with singing faces, and possible to expand. (You can also use this as you show player)

Don't forget another ~ $50AUD for the license to run FPP - https://shop.falconplayer.com/product/fpp-advanced-features-key-48-outputs/

 

[Domestos]

Don't forget another ~ $50AUD for the license to run FPP - https://shop.falconplayer.com/product/fpp-advanced-features-key-48-outputs/

Isn't that only applicable if you run Version 6.x and later of FPP. My understaning is if you run FPP v 5.x you don't need to? But yeah valid point. Add in an additional $50 for the FPP licence. I've updated the post

 

[Skymaster]

@Domestos - Correct - but given that xLights will soon no longer connect to FPP < 6.0 then it's prudent to mention

 

[merryoncherry]

I choose not to believe the rumor that xLights will "soon" not connect to FPP < 6.0. 6.0 hasn't even been out for a year yet. They're good people and I don't think they'd drop support for something (5.5) that was leading edge, state of the art, just 9 months ago.