It is not often that a product comes along for the mobile DJ market that gets me excited and lives up to my expectations for what I want it to do. The Gig Bar Move did not disappoint.
I have thankfully been able to log enough events I feel comfortable giving this product a proper review.
The Gig Bar Move is a greatly improved Gig Bar 2.0 with moving heads.
The 800 MSRP is spot on for the value that you get with this fixture. It is worth every penny, at this price. There are some insane deals flying around on the internet right now in regards to The Gig Bar Move which makes it a must buy during this holiday season. I have seen new units on sale as low as 634.00 (as of 12/09/2020)
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Actual real world use:
All in all out of the box this thing is perfect for an ultra quick light show set up, this thing is amazing!
They really paired the moving heads with just the right amount of lumens for the rest of the fixture. The reason for this is not a single person has complained at a wedding that the moving head was blinding them or uncomfortable to them.
This is something that someone would complain about at every single wedding when I had a Gig Bar 2 paired with a duo spot 155 under it.
It pairs beautifully with a Gigbar 2 when the Gigbar Move is set as master and the Gigbar 2 is set to slave. I did have the opportunity to pair The Gig Bar Move with the Gigbar 2 at a few events. The client wanted lots lighting, but the venue had an extremely short set up time so it is great to have compact fast solutions available.
They work wonderfully in concert together, and you can have multiple Gig Bar 2s set as slave if you need that extra lighting and are short on time to set up this makes a great out of the box light show.
After using the Gig Bar Move for a bunch of events and then using the Gig Bar 2 by itself at another event. I realized how spoiled I really was using the Gig Bar Move.
DMX
I did take a whole day to play with it in all the DMX channel modes. It has 35, 17, and 3 channel programming options available. I spent the most time playing with the 35 channel mode and I can say for sure that you can program each and every light fixture on this to your desire.
A common question I have gotten from other DJs is: Can you control the moving heads independently? The answer is YES, you will need to be in 35 channel mode to do so. For the technical snobs out there 12 channels have been dedicated to just the moving heads in 35 channel DMX mode.
What is included:
For those who are familiar with the gig bar family line of products you will find it still comes with some familiar features just like before a ir remote, and a wireless foot pedal, a carrying case, a tripod light stand, tripod stand carrying case, some stickers, an owners manual, and a power cord.
Though I should mention the power cord that came with mine was rather short, so you will need to pack an extension cord if you plan on using the power cable that comes with.
The foot pedal controls power source has been upgraded to a more commonly found battery 9v
The menu screen on the back of the unit is now a full color easy to navigate full color menu screen.
Which is good that they upgraded the menu screen because this unit really has a lot to offer both in stand alone mode and for the more experienced users who want to program their own dmx scenes. It is nice to see some high end features trickling down to the entry level market of lighting fixtures.
For stand alone users they have created what they call totem mode that really works well. Though perhaps they should take some ques in the future from speaker manufacture settings such as “stage, wall, pole, etc) realistically this mode is perfect for when you have this unit along the wall.
The automatic mode has many pre programmed scenes and sound mode will gladly cycle through them to the beat of the music. You can also tell the unit to turn off or not use certain fixtures as well through the menu with out the need for dmx programming.
This unit probably would have been all the talk of Mobile djs this year but 2020 happened. Some Djs have not seen a single gig since the actual release of this product. Others have been able to some events during these unusual times.
Notice:
If you purchased the gig bar move early on in the year or happened to receive one of the early batchs you may need a factory update to its firmware if you are running the unit in sound mode.
Not all units but some units running the firmware 1.0 may need upgraded to 1.0x Unfortunately that means shipping the unit back to Chauvet to have them update this.
So how do you know if you need this firmware update? If in sound mode, and you have version 1.0 installed on your unit and it is non responsive to sound.
The best way I can describe this flaw is as follows, if you have the sensitivity settings set low say 40 and when you introduce loud music the unit basically stops moving, but when there is silence the unit is going crazy. You need a firmware update.
You don’t need this update if you are planning on using this unit in dmx or automatic mode solely.
Keeping the box is advisable at least until you know for sure if it needs sent back for a reprogramming.
Room for future growth:
Don’t let this prevent you from buying a Gig Bar Move. I am buying a gig bar move for every member on my team.
I don’t foresee Chauvet releasing an updated model any time soon.
Since I don’t have a direct line to the research and development team over at Chauvet, these are my requests:
Some things that I would love to see in the future say on a Gig Bar Move 2.0 or Gig Bar Move Pro
Brighter Moving heads say 32w light engines like on the duo spot 155’s or brighter, brighter and more refined Hex lighting on the par or even a cob cannons in their place. The Derbies upgraded to all of the features and brightness found in the mini kintas (add the white led), I can’t tell you how much I wish they had white. each also with the built in laser. Ultimately change out the laser on the top of the unit with a different light fixture all together.
One upgrade to the menu if they went this route would be an intensity setting so you can dim all the light fixtures across the board.
There is one DMX feature I wish the Gig Bar Move had as well, a setting that would allow the whole unit to go to sound activation mode. I know this feature can be integrated as it has been integrated in other fixtures in the past.
A taller more robust lighting tripod.
I would pay significantly more than 800 for a Pro Model of the Gig Bar move, considering I paid more for the duo spot 155 then I did for the entire Gig Bar Move
Disclaimer:
I have no vested interest in Chauvet at the time of writing this 2020. I also have no vested interests in Hollywood DJ, I was not compensated for mentioning or providing a link to their contest. I was not provided a sample unit to keep, or a demo unit to test. I was not compensated in anyway for writing this. These are my opinions and experiences with the Gig Bar Move that I purchased.