Stairville xBrick Full-Colour 16x3W

I have had 10 of these units for the past 3-4 years (Mk1) and toped up with 6 more (Mk2) within the last year or so, had no real issues only that they blow fuses quite regularly and 1 did get returned (Mk1) under the 3 year warranty as it failed to come back on. This as always with Thomann was easy and fast.
They have a spare fuse holder in the IEC connector so I keep fuses in them for when they blow, i probably use the lights 10 times a year for 2 days at a time and would estimate that every other time they are out a fuse blows.

If you are using the lights to uplight a wall, the stands do get in the way and are not tall enough to allow an XLR to sit in the DMX socket without caching the floor, I have got around this by adding some stands, but if you are flying these or using them as a general wash this isn't an issue.

The main feature that is missing which is a real pain for me, is the ability to set a solid colour. You have the ability in standalone mode to set either "Fade" which fades through the colour spectrum at a chosen speed, "Sound" which plays back patterns in time with music or "Colour" which I would expect to be able to set for instance red or blue, so the light stays on a pre selected colour but this setting scrolls through different colours without fading or the ability to adjust the speed.
So the only way to keep the lights on lets say red all the time, is to DMX them together and have a control desk, a real pain if you have 16 lights around a marquee and you want to alternate red and white, especially if you are uplighting the walls as the addition of the DMX lead means you need an additional stand to get the angle right with out the DMX cable hitting the floor.

All in all a very nice light but the lack of a solid colour option means that they are sometimes a pain to use. Not really recommended for architectural use as the fuses do blow.

The Mk2 update was nice with the IEC Loop out.

Warning. If you are going to use these for mobile DJ and small venues, don't use them in standalone mode they will blind your audience. They are seriously bright and they only way they are useable for me is to run them via DMX and turn the brightness down on them.

The output is not beams but a wash so bare that in mind. They are great for floor mounting and pointing at backgrounds and ceilings etc, but I would avoid pointing them directly at your dancefloor area. My favourite way to use these is using all white and running chases from my DMX controller. That effect is really cool on them, and if your DMX controller will flash fast enough, they strobe nicely (or in 5 channel mode you can strobe from the unit on channel 5)
5 or 13 channel mode,
5 channels gives you R G B control, brighntess and strobe. The disadvantage in this mode is all 16 LEDs are the same colour.
in 13 channel mode, you control 4 banks of 4 LEDS and can control RGB for each bank. Channel 13 for brightness.

It's a shame they didn't utilise channels 14 and 15 for a strobe function in this mode, and also to range through the pre-programmed modeds like other Stairville lights do,

All in all though, a whole lot of light output for the money, and very useful in any setup.

Bought 2 of these for giggin with my band (2-4) nights a week.
They're nice and small and affordable but you get so much for your money. They're easier to case, transport and use than cans.
Way more effective when put up as high as possible on a stand. Also less likely to blind your eyes when up high. 2 of these will fill any normal stage or dancefloor with colour. They vary their patterns nicely.
They blew fuses very quickly but haven't since I replaced them, but should always carry spares.
Compared with all other lights in similar price ranges that I've worked with, for all round light and colour, for non-lighting people, I couldn't recommend these more for bands and DJs.

Great light, nice disco effect, good for washes too.

The manual was difficult, and the buttons are confusing.

I eventually figured out how to set sound-to-light vs fades - two useful manual settings - this is what I cut out and stuck onto the light for reference...hope it helps for you non-dmx people out there!

STAIRVILLE XBRICK
PRESS MENU until it says SLAVE MODE (ENTER)
UP/DOWN until it says MASTER MODE (ENTER)
now it says SLAVE MODE again (PRESS UP)
Now it says SHOW MODE (ENTER)
UP/DOWN to select SOUND/FADE/COLOUR (ENTER)
If FADE is chosen, use UP/DOWN for fade time (ENTER)
PRESS AND HOLD MENU TO ACTIVATE

Summary:
This will change your lighting load out forever

These XBricks are the best things to happen to my lighting needs ever. I was recommended them by a friend, and I will be forever in his debt for the recommendation. My entire lighting rig for everything up to large venues fits in a laptop bag! Seriously. Think about carrying led bars or even pars around. Now, think 2 xbrings over your shoulder in a single laptop bag.

They have DMX out/in so you can slave one off the other. I cannot recommend these highly enough. Just a complete game changer.

Note: The lifespan I had to fill in. I've had mine for 10-15 gigs so far and no problem at all. I don't foresee a problem, but I can't rate it accurately (I had to fill something in)

The light is a fantastic, little bit of kit and for the price the output is surprisingly bright.

I'm hanging the light from a grid approximately 4.5m in the air, aiming it at an area approximately 5m wide and 11m deep.

I ordered two as an experiment, however I probably could have gotten away with just one (although the more the merrier!) as it easily floods the space.

The only downside, as some of the others have pointed out, once you connect DMX and IEC it becomes impossible to stand the light on the ground pointing directly upwards like you might do if you were up-lighting but for the price I can't complain.

As for lifespan, it hasn't failed me in the hour or so I've used it. The case is metal and all in all it feels like a very solid piece of kit so I expect it to last me a good amount of time.