ROBE ROBIN SPIKIE

The Robe Robin Spikie is a small, feature packed LED moving head wash/beam. It is powered by a 60W RGBW light source capable of producing 1150 lumens.

The light itself draws 100W, a relatively small amount. For comparison, the Martin Mac 101 draws 123W and has significantly less features than the Spikie. It is powered using a Neutrix True-Con cable with an in and a through, meaning you can daisy chain them for both data and power, saving in cable as well as set up time all while creating a neater set up.

The light construction

It is a small compact light. It weighs 7.3kg and uses only one clamp, making it very quick and easy to hang almost anywhere at any orientation. Setting it on the floor is just as easy. You can also hang them close together too if you wish and the head is quite compact. The Spikie measures 408mm x 277mm x 147mm, its small size giving many options and to where and how to use them.

It’s also a good-looking fixture. The case has been very well designed and put together. Some real thought has been put into how the fixture itself should look, giving it a real high end feel despite being a small light. Although this doesn’t affect how it performs, it does count for something when you consider that a light this size will likely be a lot closer to the audience.

Optics, Colour, and Brightness

The Robin Spikie outputs 1150 Lumens. Not the brightest in its class, but definitely not the dullest either. Both additive (RGBW – Red, Green, Blue, White) and subtractive (CMY – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) colour mixing is available. It features a variable CTO from 2700K through 8000K. It has a virtual colour wheel on board with 66 preset colours to choose from. One thing to note is that the open white does have a purple hue to it. This can be balanced out at the expense of output.

Features

One of the main features of the light is its infinite pan and infinite tilt. With a zoom range of 4° – 28° it translates to a 7:1 zoom ratio. The front lens has a 110mm diameter which makes for a tight beam. It features a 3-facet circular rotating prism.

LED life expectancy is 50 000 hours. If you run them non-stop, 24 hours a day they should run for 2,083 days or about 5 years and 8 months. If you used them for 10 hours at a time you should get 5,000 gigs out of them, in theory.

Even though it can be opened up with a screwdriver, the Spikie features no user serviceable parts. Simply keep the air filters clean, keep it away from excessive dust, vibration, and moisture and keep the front lens clean. You can attempt to make repairs yourself if you like, though not recommended.

Application

The Robe Spikie is a good light that does a lot of things really well. What will make or break it in any particular application is how it is used and what it is used with. It can be used as beams in a nightclub or venue with a lot of smoke and a lower roof. It can be used as an eye candy feature when used en-masse on a TV gig. They can be used in large numbers to frame a LED wall on a corporate show.

Pair them up with lights of a similar size and brightness and they will work well. Put them up against some of the full-size wash/ beam lights out there they will end up being washed out and largely ineffective, at least as part of the backbone of a lighting rig.

Although marketed as a wash/beam fixture, the 4 degree beam seems much more useful as a beam than the 28 degree wash. A number closer to 50 degrees seems more suitable when it comes to wash lights, especially with a light as bright as this one.

Control and Programming

The Robe Spikie is available in 2 DMX modes; 21 channel and 27 channel. It takes 5 pin DMX input and output, and features an LCD (not LED) display with 4 buttons (Next, Previous, Enter, Escape). It can be run in stand-alone mode. Stand-alone mode also features three editable programs, perfect for high traffic areas such as entry foyers and other areas where the light needs to perform but running DMX is not an option.

Pan and tilt resolution is 16 bit and zoom, RGBW and CMY colour control can be 8 bit or 16 bit.

Wireless DMX is also an option too via the external Robe Wireless CRMX-LB100 module. This module is equipped with the Lumen Radio CRMX module and antenna. CRMX module operates on the 2.4 GHz band.

Verdict

Robe have built a name for themselves in the industry as a manufacturer of feature packed, good- looking, high-quality lighting products that are well built and age well. Despite being a small light with a cheaper price tag, the Robin Spikie lives up to its manufacturer’s reputation.

At its size and price point it packs a lot of features. The compromise however seems to be light output. I feel as though it could be brighter; something like a 125W RGBWW would give many more options as to how to spec them. However, you may be looking at a bigger, heavier, more expensive light. Approximately four times brighter than the Spikie is the Robe Super Spikie with a 250W RGBW LED engine and gobos.

Weighing up the pros and cons, the trick to getting the most out of the Robe Spikie will all come down to how you spec the light for the space you are in. It’s all relative and it also depends what other lights you are using it with.

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Product Info: www.robe.cz

Distributor Australia and New Zealand: jands.com.au

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The Specs

Source

• Light source: 60W RGBW LED

Optical system

• High-efficiency zoom optical system, ratio 7:1
• Zoom range: 4° – 28°

Fixture total lumen output:

• 1.150 lm (integrating sphere) 920 lm (goniophotometer)
• Light output: 9.270 lx @ 5m

Dynamic Effects and Features

• Colour mixing mode RGBW or CMY Variable CTO: 2.700K – 8.000K
• Virtual Colour Wheel: with 66 preset swatches
• Tungsten lamp effect at whites: 2.700 K and 3.200 K (red shift and thermal delay)
• Colour rainbow effect with variable speed MCFE™ – Multi-Coloured Flower Effects Prism: 3-facet circular rotating prism
• Shutter: Electronic with variable speed strobe (max.20 flashes per second)

Movement

• Pan movement range 540° with continuous rotation control
• Tilt movement range 360° with continuous rotation control