If you look around the internet you’ll soon discover that DMX is often regarded by many DJs as an art-form that only the greatest mathematicians have been able to grasp. Opinion seems to be that you need a degree in a subject that you could only learn at Hogwarts in order to master it. However, DJ lighting supremo ADJ has come up with the latest ‘must have’ piece of tech that not only intends to bring DMX to the masses, but does it without wires! Is it too good to be true?

The problem with lighting these days is that we all have the ability to choose colours and GOBO patterns, make them spin this way and that and access our fixtures’ built-in shows with the supplied wired or wireless handheld remote control devices. But sometimes this simply isn’t enough, we long to create slow sweeping movements that look stunning in haze, perfect for first dances, and generally make our lighting do more to enhance our clients’ events. Previously, unless you had the time to program hundreds of different points in an imaginary universe, your options were pretty much limited. Professional hardware controllers still cost thousands, and even if you can afford one, you’ll still have to spend a lot of time patching your fixtures and programming scenes and patterns. Budget controllers work fine for static scenes and basic chases, but it’s pretty much impossible to create fluid movements.

This is where ADJ’s new WiFLY NE1 controller comes in. I first saw it at the Pro Mobile Conference in Oxford earlier this year in ADJ’s Break Out room. To be fair, at that point the guys from ADJ hadn’t had the unit in their possession for long and were still getting to grips with it themselves. Even so, after a brief demo, I think that everyone who saw it knew that they wanted one, irrespective of the cost. There were a lot of DJs staring at it with gooey eyes! It truly was a wonder-box, the Holy Grail, the answer to our prayers… and it was coming to shops near us soon.

The WiFLY NE1 is a small, compact controller designed mainly for use with LED pars and bars and the Inno-range of lighting from ADJ, however it will work with pretty much any DMX enabled product on the market. It can control up to 12 individual fixtures (across 432 DMX channels) and has simple buttons giving us the ability to easily choose colours, GOBOs and access built-in shows. But, more importantly, we can create movements for moving heads and scanners very quickly and simply: moving patterns that – at one time - only high-end lighting gurus could create after sitting in isolation, in darkened rooms, for days at a time. These monumental movements are facilitated by the built-in Effects Generator, which is perfect for use with moving lights like scanners and moving heads but is also great for making some really cool colour changing effects when used with LED wash fixtures.