The Evo 7 from Futurelight is marketed mainly towards Club Installers, being a kaleidoscopic effects projector. Is the Evo 7 a worthy investment?

I must admit Futurelight is a company I have heard little about and in my head I did not really have any pre-conceived thoughts about the quality of the effect. After looking at their product range I started to think quite positive thoughts and this was before I even opened the box. The products look well built and have specs to match; the products didn’t have that re-branded air about them as many products do these days.

The Evo 7 came very well packaged from Futurelight, it had nice secure packing unlike the many budget lighting effects of today. Whilst many people may not think about packing, the more well packaged the product tends to be, the better the build quality and overall quality of the piece of kit. The first thing that struck me was the weight, weighing in at a hefty 10kg this is no easy beast to lift onto the trussing.

The Evo 7 takes its looks from the many effects projectors that are already on the market, having a slightly similar look to that of the Martin Ego range. Its design is pleasing to the eye and the projector would be equally at home in a mobile rig or even in a smart club. The rear panel is suitably kitted out with: 2 x 3pin XLR sockets for DMX, 1 x IEC connector, 1 x Jack Socket (for blackout control), a microphone sensitivity adjuster and a bank of Dip switches to set its DMX address with. The 3pin sockets disappointed me somewhat as I would much rather that manufacturers stuck to the standard and used 5pin sockets. The use of 3pin sockets means I have to carry yet another converter in the tool box, but never-the-less it is not too much of a hassle.

I have never really experienced kaleidoscopic lighting effects before and upon powering up the effect was a bit unsure of what I was going to see. The Evo 7 accepts a Discharge lamp in the form of, MSD/HSD 250 or 200 or a MSD 250/2. I personally am a real fan of discharge lighting despite the extra costs for lamps; the colours produced by discharge lighting have so much more life and are much richer. Halogen produced colours tend to be a bit yellow and dull in my eyes.

Anyway on to the review of the product, I was pleasantly surprised by this fixture; I was not expecting anything special in the optics department. The optics on this light are great, the colours are rich and the light output is extremely high considering they are only 250watt. The rig I tested this light with comprised of 4 x Roboscan 812s (150watt) and an Evo 7 in the middle, the Evo 7 is an ideal centrepiece due to its large spread on the dance floor.  I have experimented with the Evo 7 in lots of different sized rooms and it managed to comfortably fill every one with pulsating and moving colours.

The gobos in the light are quite a random selection but this makes the light even more funky. I was using the light under sound to light mode and the programs that it was cycling through were always well matched to the beat of the audio and it was commented on by the people attending the disco that the lighting was very well synced.

On to the DMX side of things, the Evo 7 keeps up its impressive list of features, the Evo 7 has 4 DMX channels which are well assigned and have a useful amount of features. In my mind nothing has been left out and all bases are covered.

Overall I would recommend this light to all Mobile DJs and club owners alike, for those that do not dabble in DMX it has an impressive sound to light mode and for those that do use DMX the light just gets better. The only thing I feel the Evo 7 falls down on is price, at £385 (ex vat) and without a lamp it’s a bit pricey. As many readers know price tends to be associated with build quality and I can only assume it’s for the best.