Music integration is available on the Lumishore system as well as the Shadow Caster Zone controller system and Liquid Lumens system. Lumishore and Shadow Caster connect to the audio signal with a 3.5mm aux jack. Liquid Lumens does not require this step and integrates music using a microphone.
Liquid Lumens has the music sync option on the remote and can be set to two different modes. I did not try this so I forget exactly what they are.
Lumishore music sync can be adjusted very specifically by choosing colors for specific frequencies and the background as well as the sensitivity and background intensity. Multiple “scenes” can be set with different adjustments for different genres.
Shadow Caster has 3 music sync modes. One changes color with frequencies and the other changes light amplitude with frequencies. The third is a combo of both with colors cycling while amplitude beats to music.
Liquid Lumens and Abyss come with similar wireless remotes. These both seemed to work well and had no problem with range inside the boat.
Lumitec ramps up to full brightness over 4 seconds when switched on. You can toggle the switch at anytime during this ramp up to stop at that brightness level. If you leave the switch on it begins to cycle through every color in its spectrum. To leave the light on a certain color you have to switch the light off and back on within 3 seconds and it will remain on that color. The lights move decently quickly so sometimes it was hard to stop on the perfect red green or blue for the comparisons. After the first few cycles it begins to cycle much slower and can be left on that mode. It cycles all colors over 3 minutes I believe and then repeats.
Final Notes on each system
Instead of saying in each lights section I’ll say up front. All these lights are at about the highest end of the underwater led surface mount quality spectrum. All the lights felt extremely solid and well built. I didn’t pick up any of them and think this feel cheap. The major differences are the wires provided with the lights. All companies provided adequate screws for mounting as well.
Abyss Medium Starfish Multicolor
-First of all I think it’s very important to note these come with a free controller and wireless remote. They can probably be had close to the cheapest. At $780 for a pair and the controller with free shipping direct from Abyss using their discount code posted at the top of the website
- They don’t have the white LEDs but their color choices for blue green and red are awesome.
-Particularly their blue. Abyss and lumishore’s blue are almost identical in their spectrum of color and they look amazing. Very deep colors.
- These use RGB wiring and were straight forward to install. The DMX controller is not waterproof. Wires were about 8-10 foot long and probably 16 guage per color and 14 guage for ground so may need to make extensions to get to a dry compartment depending on your setup.
- Each controller box powers up to 3 lights and can be linked together for more than 3
- Great price for a great performing light. I opted for a light with a white LED in the array as well as the smart phone control capability.
Lumitec Seablaze X2 Spectrum
-These are RGBW meaning they have the white LEDs as well.
-3 wire install. Positive, negative, and switch wire. Only about 6 feet of wire so definitely need to splice more and with a 5 amp draw if your batteries are a ways away you’ll need to up the gauge as well. Seems like it was 14-16 guage wire.
-Needs a controller. The light itself is very bright. The switch mechanism is simple if you want to just turn your light on and leave it in color sweeping mode. Any further actions require toggling on and off and waiting for the right color to illuminate.
- I mentioned this a couple other times but a few of the color pictures for the lumitec may not be their true color because some white LED is mixed in. This also may give it an appearance of a brighter color.
- Overall the brightness was very close to Lumishore. Maybe a tad brighter white. The colors in my opinion did not look as deep and true as lumishore or abyss or liquid lumens. The small edge in brightness was not enough of a difference to make me consider going with it over having a full control system. Even though there is extra cost involved for lumishore with the controller.
- It is not out yet but it looks like Lumitec has a controller device in the works called POCO. It is OEM only currently but expected to release to the public later this year. I was told it will not have a sound to light music sync function.
-Looks like the going price for a Seablaze X2 spectrum is about $589 per light.
Lumishore SMX153 (SMX93 identical for visual light performance just no controls)
-This is the system I decided to go with for my boat’s permanent install.
-First off I want to clarify the difference in the SMX153 and SMX93. The SMX153 requires the Lumilink command center to function. It CANNOT be operated without it. You can hook these into select MFDs but most wake boats do not have that so the STV2204i display is going to be required component. This can then be hidden away and use only smart devices to control the system if desired since dash space is often limited in wake boats. I plan to mount it to the drivers right in some of the free space on that panel.
- The SMX93 is the exact same visually functioning light so all the pictures and videos are accurate representation of the 93’s performance as well as the 153. The 93 is controlled by toggle switch. I cant comment on how that works because I did not have that setup.
- SMX153 Requires installation of a hub and “command center” see pics below. They made it very simple and clean to install. The wires coming out of the light were about 12 feet long and had water tight IP68 rated connectors that just plugged straight into the hub. Same connections take a DMX control wire to the Command center. From the command center an Ethernet cable runs to the STV2204-i display. Then power to the command center and display with positive and negative wires.
- Connections to the battery are from the hub. Fuses are all included and an indicator light is next to each fuse showing it is still intact through a waterproof glass.
-A downside to this system is that it has to boot up each time power is turned off and back on. This takes about 60 seconds before it is functional.
- The command center draws 0.5 amps at rest as does the display (total of 1 amp at rest) so it is not plausible to leave power hooked to these units. I plan to use a relay triggered by my stock underwater lights switch to power on these units. Extra steps required and a 60 second wait after the power is switched on but the benefits outweigh the extra work in my opinion.
- The Lumilink command center and STV2204i are very new products so accurate pricing is not readily available online. Call an authorized dealer. The prices are not always what you see online these are just the minimum advertising prices. The SMX93 is considerably cheaper with the same visual performance, but less control.
- The amount of control allowed by this system blows everything else I tested away. They don’t currently sell accent and strip lighting to the public but plan to soon and it can all be controlled through this unit using multiple zones and can sync up with underwater lighting.
-This is also the only system I tested that allows smart device control.
-The sound to light function allows for complete customization of colors by frequency. Heres a quick demo video of my trying it out.
https://youtu.be/UitRt367Aas
Liquid Lumens RGBW lights (LL)
- As I mentioned before this light design is about 4 years old and the others are much newer technology. Currently this is still LL newest tech light.
- I think this one would have performed better in clearer water or with a more wide angled lens. Their RGBW light only comes in the narrow beam lens. They have a “surfrider” lens that is a wider angle but does not come in RGBW models.
-The white from this light was the brightest as mentioned before but only in the center of the light and no further away than the other top brightness lights in white.
- LL uses a voltage upconversion to run the lights at 34 volts. This requires a separate box, which can be seen on the picture of the board with all the power supplies at the beginning of the post. Its capable of powering 2 underwater lights as well as one of their topside lights. This box has a master switch to ensure no amp draw for off-season and in season storage. The included remote is easy to use and works as expected.
-These lights are heavy duty. Built very sturdy in a large housing. The wire is sealed up very well in the house. Also it comes off the light towards the edge which can help when trying to avoid stringers during mounting.
-The wire that comes out of each light is nearly double in length of any of the other brands! I didn’t measure it but it’s close to 20 feet. The power box is not waterproof so it must be ran to a dry location. The length of these wires really helps make that simple. They have a thick protective jacket as well.
-LL included everything you need to do this install even including zip ties. The power cables came with the inline fuse holder and ring terminals already attached so install was a breeze.