When I was asked to do a product review of the new Equinox Gyrocopter and looked it up online, I was concerned about how effective it would be. I had seen numerous multi-LED effects at my local disco shop and was not very impressed with their light output. So, I was a little sceptical as to whether a unit of this size would cut the mustard, and provide a good enough effect.

However, I was willing to give them a try, so a pair of the units arrived in advance of a Christmas Dinner Dance booking at one of my residencies. Unfortunately, due to other work commitments, I was unable to test them on the bench before putting them into action on the night itself.

On opening the Gyrocopter box I was presented with a fairly compact lighting unit. It has two independent rotating heads, each with four lenses set at 90 degrees to one another. Behind each one is positioned an 8W CREE RGBW LED which generates a narrow beam of light when focused by the lens. Both heads are capable of full 360-degree continuous rotation and are mounted to a yoke that is also able to rotate through 540-degrees.

At 3.6kg, and with measurements of 340 x 210 x 175mm, the unit is surprisingly light and compact. Therefore, the size and weight is a real bonus for those who use small vans or estate cars for transporting their equipment. The majority of the casing is constructed from strong black plastic, but there are also metal elements to the base and yoke. In the box was an omega hanging bracket, a safety loop for screwing into the base, a manual, and a UK IEC mains lead (something that many manufacturers don’t supply as standard these days!). I would definitely recommend investing in cases – or at least padded bags – for transportation, as otherwise the unit’s uneven shape and moving parts will make it prone to damage.

Having set everything else up, I got to work rigging the Gyrocopters to the Equinox Overhead Kit on my booth. Affixing the hanging bracket was quite straightforward, although I was a little unsure if the bolts had locked properly into place as there was no positive ‘click’, but adding the safety loop, and connecting a safety wire, made me feel more comfortable. The units benefit from both IEC power input and output sockets as well as XLR DMX input and output connections, which is now pretty standard for most DJ lighting fixtures. The only problem I encountered was mounting them somewhere where I wouldn’t hit my head on them, as I didn’t have the height extension pieces on my Overhead Kit and, for a compact fixture, the Gyrocopter actually hangs down surprisingly low.

There is a straight-forward four button menu and small LED display on the front of the base, which allows for mode selection and DMX addressing. For easy standalone operation, the unit offers an Auto Mode, with a choice of 10 speed settings. Alternatively, the Sound Mode, triggered by an internal microphone with variable sensitivity control, can be used to synchronise the Gyrocopter’s effect to the music. In both modes, the fixture offers a choice of 14 different pre-programmed light shows that can easily be selected from the menu. Multiple fixtures can also be connected together using XLR cables for simple Master/Slave synchronisation and a Slave 2 Mode allows certain heads to be selected to run contrasting movements to the others which is useful for easily setting up a lightshow that looks impressive.

For the purpose of the trial, I initially ran the units connected as a Master and a Slave, set to Show 0, and in Sound Mode. From the moment I switched them on, I was impressed with the Gyrocopters’ effects. The light coverage, in particular, is excellent, due to the good range of the pan and tilt movement and the fact that each fixture generates eight different beams all pointing in different directions. Thanks to the inclusion of powerful 8W LEDs, the output from each lens is far superior to some other compact multi-LED effects, so my initial misgivings were most certainly unfounded.

The beam angle is 5-degrees, so quite tight, certainly comparable to a traditional pin spot beam. The combination of the eight beams creates a good visual effect, which looks even better when you can see the pin-sharp shafts of light in a little haze or smoke. Each of the 14 different in-built shows are distinctly different, making good use of diverse colour combinations, fast and slow rotations, and strobing effects. They also feature a mixture of matching and contrasting head rotation and colours, which makes for a varied and impactful lightshow.