A colour strobe and wash for most rigs
Chauvet DJ Shocker Panel FX
A bright 16-section RGB and white strobe, wash and blinder; two reviews recommend it, few owners have reviewed it.
Photos: Chauvet DJ
Only 2 professional reviews so far, 2 recommending it1 owner review read
Choose it for a strobe that also washes and blinds in colour. It has 480 RGB and 32 cool-white LEDs in 16 sections, strobes from 0 to 20 Hz, and runs on 8 to 47 DMX channels, automatic or sound-active programs, or the optional IRC-6 remote. Bonedo and Pro Mobile recommend it, and both reviews and the one Thomann owner read call it very bright and easy to run. The reservations each come up once: a hard-to-read display, the price, and no remote in the box. It weighs 3.9 kg and power-links 5 units at 120 V or 10 at 230 V.
- Best for
- Mobile DJs who want a bright strobe, wash and blinder from one panel.
- Skip it if
- You want a remote in the box or a light rated for outdoors.
What people praise
- Easy to set up and run
- Very bright
One light for strobe, wash and eye candy
ADJ Jolt 300
A very bright RGBW strobe, blinder and wash in one; best run from DMX, as the menu and IR remote are fiddly.
Photos: ADJ
Only 2 professional reviews so far, 2 recommending it3 owner reviews read
Choose it over the Shocker Panel FX when you want ADJ's remote in the box and one fixture for wash, strobe, blinder and eye candy: RGB LEDs either side of a cool-white strip, in three pixel zones, on 4 to 18 DMX channels. Both video reviews recommend it, and all three Thomann owners read call it very bright, so bright that a reviewer and an owner turn it down or aim it away from faces. Setting it up without DMX is fiddly: both reviews found the menu slow and the infrared remote weak. ADJ gives no flash rate in Hz.
- Best for
- DJs and clubs who want one bright light for strobe, blinder and wash.
- Skip it if
- You won't use DMX and want to run it from the menu or remote.
What people praise
- Very bright
- One fixture covers wash, strobe, blinder and eye candy
What to know first
- Setting it up without DMX is fiddly: a slow, confusing menu and a weak IR receiver
- So bright it needs turning down or aiming away from faces
Video reviews
- C WestJan 2024Recommends
- Old School ErnieDec 2021Recommends
A warm-white blinder
Chauvet DJ Shocker 2
A warm-white dual-zone blinder and strobe with DMX and flicker-free PWM; one review recommends it.
Photos: Chauvet DJ
Only 1 professional review so far, 1 recommending it
Choose it when you want the blinder and strobe in warm white rather than cool, and steady warm light on the crowd between hits: two 85 W warm-white COB LEDs in two zones, on 1 to 8 DMX channels, with adjustable PWM to remove flicker on camera. An expansion bracket in the box joins two units into a four-head blinder. One professional review recommends it as bright, flexible and quick to rig, and no owner reviews were found, so the evidence is thin. Chauvet DJ sells it in the US, Mexico and Canada only, so in the UK and Europe it comes through Amazon.
- Best for
- DJs and bands who want a warm blinder that also strobes on DMX cues.
- Skip it if
- You need colour strobes, or you buy outside the US, Mexico and Canada.
Also considered
- Chauvet DJ Shocker FX. A 1 kg colour strobe with 280 tri-colour LEDs in eight RGB sections plus four cool-white sections. It isn't a pick because no professional review has been published; the one owner review long enough to count, at Thomann, rates it five stars for brightness, response and weight.
- Chauvet DJ Shocker P2. A penta-colour blinder that strobes on DMX cues; one review, from Pro Mobile, recommends it as bright, versatile and quick to rig. It isn't a pick because on 8 November 2026 no shop tracked here had it new in the UK or Spain.
- Chauvet DJ Mini Strobe LED. A 0.2 kg white strobe with one rate knob from 0 to 7 Hz and no DMX, for a house party. No professional review was found, and Chauvet DJ sells it in the US, Mexico and Canada only.
- Chauvet DJ Shocker 90 IRC and Shocker Panel 180 USB. Both are discontinued on Chauvet DJ's site, and its page for the Shocker 90 IRC names the Shocker 2 as the next-generation product.
- A strobe built into a bar. The Chauvet DJ GigBAR Move + ILS carries a strobe alongside its moving heads, washes and laser; the DJ lighting guide covers it and the rest of a rig.
How to choose a strobe
Flash rate and photosensitive epilepsy
Flashing between 3 and 30 times a second is the common range for triggering seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, and 16 to 25 flashes a second is the most likely, per the Epilepsy Society. The society cites the UK Health and Safety Executive's recommendation that strobe lighting in clubs or at public performances flashes at no more than 4 Hz. Strobes run faster than that, so start at a low rate and set it yourself rather than leaving it at full. Ask the venue and the client before using a strobe at a private event.
Where you can buy it
Chauvet DJ marks the Shocker 2 and the Mini Strobe LED as sold in the US, Mexico and Canada only; in the UK and Europe the Shocker 2 comes through Amazon. Its pages for the Shocker Panel FX, Shocker FX and Shocker P2 carry no such note.
White or colour
The Shocker 2 flashes warm white (3200 K). The Shocker Panel FX and Jolt 300 pair RGB LEDs with cool-white ones, so the same light can strobe white, run colour chases or match the washes between hits.
Control: knob, sound-active, DMX or software
Every pick runs automated and sound-active programs, which is where most rigs start and where they shouldn't stay, because a microphone reacting to bass doesn't know where the breakdown is. DMX lets a controller or software fire the strobe on cue; the DJ lighting guide covers DMX controllers and SoundSwitch, which writes light shows to your tracks in rekordbox, Serato DJ Pro, Engine DJ and VirtualDJ. Add up the DMX channels of the modes you plan to use before buying a controller: the Shocker 2 needs as few as 1, the Jolt 300 4 to 18 and the Shocker Panel FX up to 47.
On camera, power and mounting
If the gig is filmed or streamed, a strobe can show as flicker; Chauvet DJ gives the Shocker 2 adjustable PWM control for exactly that, and ADJ gives the Jolt 300 an LED refresh rate adjustable from 900 Hz to 25 kHz. Chauvet DJ lists how many units power-link from one socket at 120 V: 6 Shocker 2s and 5 Shocker Panel FXs; ADJ gives no figure for the Jolt 300. All three picks come with a bracket for a stand or truss, and their manuals say to use a safety cable whenever one hangs overhead.
How these picks are made
Each pick is the strobe with the strongest evidence for its situation. The evidence is what professional reviews conclude and what owners report at Thomann and Guitar Center, compiled for each light, with every source linked on its product page. Strobes are rarely reviewed, so every pick rests on one or two reviews and a handful of owners, which their cards say. Light figures come from the makers' pages and manuals. We haven't tested these lights. Prices come from daily tracking across the retailers we link to. The methodology explains the whole process.
