Which Controler???

[MPhilippe]

Hello everyone,

I brand new to this whole light show hobby.  I?ve been watching quite a few of how to videos and everyone seem to have their preferences  of controllers they are using.  My question is, Which one would be the most user friendly for a newby like me.  I?ve looked at the Falcon, Hinks pix pro and just saw a video on the Kulp.

I?m planning to mount a display for Christmas 2021 which will consist of roof line lights including around windows and doors and also a mega tree with 16 strings to start with.  I would also like to broadcast sound with a fm transmitter.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[ozaz]

define easy. 

If you don't want to build a controller in a box, then both Falcon and HC sell "ready to run" controllers in an enclosure all wired up ready to go.

If you're happy to build your own enclosure, then falcon or kulp boards are the way to go. The Falcon used to be the most popular by far, but recently Kulp boards have also become quite popular.

IMHO they're all about as 'user friendly' as each other, however there's much greater support from xLights and the lighting DIY community for Falcon boards and more recently Kulp.

To confuse a new person even further  all manufacturers sell multiple types of controller boards, some are better suited for spread out displays.

[relook]

If you mean the controller for the LED Strings, I had good experience with the D1 Mini NodeMcu mit ESP8266-12F (4MB). You need only 5V and the data wire, so 3 wire per controller.

About the software setupyou can look up for 'Xlights mit ESP8266-12F (D1 Mini, NodeMcu) WLed WS2812B Pi3B FPP 5V' there is my description.

You flash wled to the D1 and can use xlights on PC and the falcon player on a Pi 3B+ or higher.