-lighting product I hear you say? #turnspage… but WAIT! This isn’t your average up-light. Not only is this fixture battery-powered, it also offers a built-in Bluetooth receiver allowing control from a dedicated app. No need for complicated DMX programming, no need for DMX software, no need for DMX hardware – just grab the light, charge it up, turn it on and pull your mobile phone from your pocket and take full control!

70 CHAUVET DJ EZLINK PAR Q6BT The CHAUVET DJ EZLink Par Q6BT features six 3W quad-colour red, green, blue & amber (RGBA) LEDs. The true amber allows for creating nice warm colour hues including gold, which I find is particularly demand at the moment. OK, so they aren’t hex LEDs, which means you don’t have the cool white or UV to play with, but you’ll still be able to achieve most of the colours you’ll need for 99.99% of events.

The unit itself looks like any other up-lighting par product, feels well-built and comes with a (pretty much) standard dual purpose hanging/floor bracket. On the back you’ll find a power switch, IEC power input and output sockets (great for charging), as well as 3-pin DMX input and output connections. To be honest, I have no idea why you would buy battery-powered fixture like this and then wire it up for DMX control, but the option is there if you want it.

A simple 4-digit LED display, with the customary 4-button interface, allows mode selection, addressing and also serves as a Battery Life Indicator. There’s also a cover for the battery compartment on the back panel, which is user-accessible should you ever need to replace the battery. This is another USP over some competing products, which have to go back to the dealer/manufacturer to have their battery changed. The fixture charges in around 7 hours and CHAUVET DJ suggests a running time of up to 8 hours with all LEDs on and up to 20 hours on a single colour.

Certainly, set on white (all LEDs on), it was dead by morning where the one I left on Magenta overnight was still going strong well into the afternoon of the following day. Thus far, it sounds pretty similar to the myriad other uplighters on the market. So now let’s talk about what sets this unit apart from the competition, its compatibility with CHAUVET DJ’s BTAir app. This where the fixture (and the others in the BT series including the four LED EZLink Par Q4BT model) ‘break the mould’ when it comes to up-lighting. means you can control the light(s) wirelessly from your smartphone without any additional hardware.

Put simply, battery-powered lighting just got more convenient and so much easier to use. The BTAir app is available from both the Apple and Android app stores and is compatible with either tablet or smartphone. Once you’ve downloaded to your device (for free), setting up really is a piece of cake. Turn your lights on, active the Bluetooth CHAUVET DJ EZLINK PAR Q6BT CHAUVET DJ EZLink PAR Q6BT function, grab your smartphone and open BTAir.

It quickly detects what lights you are using and allows you to assign them to one of eight groups that can in each handle a maximum of eight fixtures – that’s 64 lights you can control from your smartphone! You can name the group as you wish just by holding down the current name and entering a new one – ‘Top Table’, ‘Dancefloor’, ‘Left Wall’, ‘Right Wall’ – you get the idea. Once set up, controlling your lights with the app is incredibly simple. First you select the group (or groups) you want to control and then you choose from one of seven modes: Fixed, Fade, Pulse, Scroll, Rainbow, Zone Chase and Sound Activated. a Fixed mode can be used to set a static colour, while the others allow a variety of different animated chase patterns to be created using your choice of up to eight different colours.

Specific colour hues are easy to select using either the RGB colour wheel or a set of RGBA faders, and Speed can also be customised between 0 and 100 for all of the chase options (apart from Sound Activated – obviously!). Independent Dimmer and Strobe controls are also provided in every mode. All put together using a simple layout, this makes for a great deal of control flexibility but from a very intuitive interface that literally anyone should be able to use. is It a it THE EARLY DAYS ink PAR Q6BT I tested the Bluetooth control up to a distance of I around 60 feet with absolutely no problems and CHAUVET DJ quotes a maximum operating distance of up to 150 feet (unobstructed view), so it should be more than capable of covering even the biggest of function rooms.

I was also stupidly impressed with the response time of the Bluetooth which, if I’m totally honest, I didn’t have high expectations for when I first started this review. Protection wise, hook yourself up with CHAUVET DJ’s CHS-40 soft-sided transport bag. This features an internal divider as well as a separate front pocket, so can easily accommodate two fixtures plus any cables, clamps and accessories that you need. 72 72 can see this product being of use to all mobile DJs, especially if you want ease of use and full control of your up-lighting via the device we all spend most of our lives on until the battery dies!

CHAUVET DJ has covered that possibility as well though; the units can also be controlled via the IRC-6 remote control (sold separately). At just £, the EZLink Par Q6BT is also cheaper than most other fixtures on the market offering comparable power and battery life. Overall, it’s an awesome lighting fixture that I think offers a glimpse of the future, both in terms of up-lighting and wireless lighting control. m CHAUVET DJ EZLINK PAR Q6BT READY, GET GO!

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