CLAYPAKY VOLERO WAVE

The Claypaky Volero Wave is their latest offering for the moving head LED batten market. It is eight lights in one, as each head can be controlled individually. Each of these heads contains a mirror- based optical system, combined with a 40W RGBW LED. The mirror-based LED set up allows a higher light intensity and sharper, more focussed output than a standard LED set up. Claypaky are claiming that the Volero Wave is “the most dynamic light effect fixture on the market.”

Construction

At a shade under 21kg and 1m long, it is a bit of an awkward lift to do by yourself. For indoor use only, and although well-built, you wouldn’t want to see it get bashed around. You would definitely need the right roadcase for it if you were a production company or using them on a tour.

Like most lights these days, it can be hung at any orientation or mounted on the floor. They are designed so that you can have them next to each other and it forms a seamless fit where you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins; great if you wanted to create a long line of them. There are no user serviceable parts on the Volero Wave despite the IP20 rating and the number of moving parts.

Optics, Colour and Brightness

There are eight individual lights on the Volero Wave. Each of the eight heads are driven by a 40W RGBW LED engine with a native colour temperature of 8600K. Each head has a front lens that is 86mm x 114mm with a fixed aperture (so no zoom) at 2.9°.

The beams have a really good, sharp, punchy long throw. There is a bit of intensity loss when you employ the darker colours, but you can see the beams for a long time in a hazy room.

I’m not sure whether it’s the higher quality of the LEDs, the cooler than normal colour temperature, or the use of a mirror, but the colours you can get out of this fixture are quite vibrant, especially the greens and the blues.

Applications and Features

Each of the eight heads can tilt independently with a tilt range of 220°. The tilt seems to be very finely calibrated. It’s this finish and attention to detail here that makes it stand out from the pack. Although the eight heads can move independently, they don’t seem to lose track of where the other ones are, and are designed to be aligned.

Although the fixture itself does not have pan capabilities on its own, it is compatible with the Claypaky Panify system, which will allow it to pan infinitely.

A light like this will pretty much work in any live or televised performance space. They work well overhead, on the floor, or mounted vertically. A row on a truss or along the floor is usually more than enough to make a massive impact.

The Volero Wave really comes into its own when you use it to its full capabilities – they should be specified with that in mind. To have them uplighting a drape for a conference would not be doing the light any justice (and probably a waste of money too!).

One feature the light does not have is zoom. I imagine that in order to add the zoom function it would trigger a complete redesign of the optical system, meaning you may end up losing the mirror LED set up, which allows for the bright, sharp beams you get. On paper it doesn’t seem like a good trade off, but once you use it in person, you can understand why the mirror LED took priority over a zoom range.

Control and Programming

On the Volero Wave, each LED is pixel mappable, allowing for a huge range of effects and looks. It also features a function called ‘Advanced Layers Management’, which allows the use of three levels of effects simultaneously.

The Volero Wave can be a time consuming fixture to program and patch. To run it in its full extended mode, you basically have to patch and program two fixtures. That said, the results are well worth your time, as it is capable of doing a lot and producing some really cool looks.

It features four different personality modes that have DMX footprints of 23, 24, 29 and 32 channels. For control protocols, the Volero Wave is compatible with DMX and RDM, as well as Art-Net and sACN. It has a built-in web server, and data can be fed to and through the Volero Wave with both RJ45 and 5-pin XLR.

Power is taken in through a powerCON TRUE1, with both in and out ports. It draws 400W of power, reasonably efficient for a light this size so you can comfortably put five on a 10 amp circuit.

Verdict

The Claypaky Volero Wave is unapologetically a top-tier effect light, with its main effects being wave/tilt based. With an effect light this specialised and this high-end, it requires an equivalent programmer and operator to extract its full potential.

Make sure that you leave yourself enough time to program.

In the last few years, the LED moving bar light market has become a very competitive space, especially at the higher end. With the Volero Wave, Claypaky has entered the market with a unique offering capable of some pretty amazing things.

Product Information: www.claypaky.it/en/

Distributor Australia and New Zealand: www.showtech.com.au

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The Specs

• Light source: eight 40W RGBW LED engines
• LED colour temperature: 8600K Zoom: 2.9° (fixed aperture) Front lenses: 86 x 114mm RGBW colour mixing: 16-bit Linear 16-bit CTC 2500 – 8000K
• Tilt 220° (each module can move independently)
• High resolution electronic dimmer, 24-bit
• High speed electronic shutter and strobe
• Dimensions: 20.8kg, 1000 x 329 x 182mm