As this is my first review for Pro Mobile, I thought I should start by introducing myself. I’m Chris and have been DJing for over 25 years. I also happen to be the Sales Manager for DFB Sound & Light / UKDJ in Nottingham and in this article I’ll be taking a look at the exciting new LED-powered GOBOflower effect from CHAUVET DJ.

I personally welcome back the GOBO moonflower with open arms, from a personal DJ perspective, but also from a sales point of view. In the past I worked for NJD, one of the market-leaders in DJ lighting effects back in the day, so had first-hand experience with the popular Datamoon and Chaos fixtures. I was even involved with the development of the later Chaos 2000, which built on the popularity of the original Chaos by adding a coloured dichroic dish to introduce another dimension of colour mixing.

Back in the ‘90s, and even into the early ‘00s, some form of moonflower effect was a staple of pretty much every mobile DJ’s rig. However, after the demise of lamped products due to people wanting lighter-weight effects, as well as the power-saving and long-life benefits of LED, things changed quite dramatically, and everything became dots… yes dots.

Over time, the dots got brighter, the dots were arranged into matrix effects and so on… but they were still just dots! And then what happened next? The smoking ban! Every venue in the country fitted smoke detectors and thus the dreaded phrase, “You can’t use smoke machines in here mate,” became the bane of every mobile DJ’s existence!

LED effects continued to get brighter and more exciting, with the addition of lasers, strobes and UV washes to some models. But, without smoke, they are just still dots on the floor!

So, when two of the biggest lighting suppliers in the UK announced they were bringing the GOBO moonflower back [Equinox with the Helix, reviewed in issue 99, and CHAUVET DJ with the Obsession] I couldn’t have been happier.

Although it seems that not all DJs share my enthusiasm. I’ve read numerous posts on DJ Facebook groups along the lines of: “Why are they bringing moonflowers back?” and “They are old hat!” However, the answer to that first question is quite simple: demand! CHAUVET DJ have 280 of these Obsessions arriving into the UK on their first shipment and, at the point of writing, I believe they have almost sold out!

Yes, you can create a similar effect with a moving head and the right prism and GOBO combination. But this can only be achieved with DMX control and high brightness heads. Not everyone has the budget for these, not to mention the understanding of DMX, so why make it hard?

We need new lighting products to keep DJ setups looking fresh and, in my opinion, the Obsession ticks all the boxes. Yes, this style of effect was developed years ago, and those of us who have been DJing long enough will have our favourites from the past, whether it be the NJD Datamoon, Abstract Twister 4 or EVL Spin. But this is the first time since LED technology’s coming of age that we’ve seen a GOBOflower at this kind of price point and, yes, it’s brighter than an EVL spin!

The CHAUVET DJ Obsession features a 60W white LED light source, separate colour and GOBO wheels, and the option of IRC remote control. It has IEC power input and output sockets as well as 3-pin DMX input and output connections.

Straight out the box, it doesn’t look like a conventional moonflower fixture, with its weird, almost bat-shaped case. Why? Well, when you take the lid off, things become clear. The positioning of the LED, parabolic reflector dish and focusing lens fit perfectly into this oddly-shaped case arrangement.

When you plug the unit in, it takes around three seconds to reset and light up. Straight away you can see how bright it is! On the back it has a four-segment LED display with four corresponding push buttons that are used to setup the operating mode (and DMX address if required). One key feature I really like is in sound-active mode you can select what happens when no music is detected; it can either rotate slowly (like the spin used to) or black out. The mirror rotation motor is very smooth, so when it does go slowly, it’s really well controlled.

The fixture has a sensor built in for use with the CHAUVET DJ IRC6 wireless remote (sold separately). This gives you simple wireless remote access to black out, mode selection, speed and so on. One key thing which is nice is the dimmer feature on the remote, which you can use to dim the LED down if the venue does not require so much brightness or if you want to create a more subtle effect early in the night. The dimmer control works on all modes (auto and music) which is a really nice feature.

In sound-to-light mode, the unit runs through all of its GOBOs one at a time (not scrolling like previous Obsessions) whilst the colour wheel steps through solid colours as well as split colours. The Obsession is not event specific, as it has a range of various generic GOBOs. It’s aimed at the mobile DJ who wants bright colours and bright patterns on the floor or walls for all occasions.

I imagine that many DJs will use two – or even four – of these fixtures linked in a Master/Slave configuration. For this there are two options. Slave units can either be set to copy the master head like-for-like or set to ‘Slave 2’ mode. This creates a mirror image effect, so the dish of the slave rotates in the opposite direction to the master. (Which is something I personally asked CHAUVET DJ for.)

While trying out the fixture for this review, I tested it in a room with dimensions of approximately 8m by 4m. Projecting one side to the other, it pretty much filled the back wall with large images and a good spread.

If you are looking for an all-round dancefloor or wall projection effect, this product is for you!