Frequently Asked Questions

• Built-in screen: a 240×320 IPS LCD with a push/rotary knob for navigating and adjusting CubeOS settings.
• USB-A: connect USB MIDI devices directly.
• microSD slot: store shows, playlists and other projection content on a card. You can also update the firmware from the card.
• Full-size DMX in and out: daisy-chain with other LaserCube Ultra MK2 and Pro units and other lighting fixtures.
• ILDA input and output: connect an external DAC, or pass the signal on to another ILDA laser.
• Ethernet: wired network connection, including Art-Net.
• RJ45 safety interlock: daisy-chain multiple LaserCube Ultra MK2 and Pro units from one RJ45 E-Stop pendant.
• Audio: 3.5mm stereo line output, 3.5mm stereo line input, and a built-in mono microphone.

Yes. Every LaserCube, including the Ultra MK2, the Pro and the original Ultra, works with our LaserOS software.

The DMX channel profile is on our wiki. The default profile uses 16 channels, which let you control power, X/Y scale, X/Y offset, rotation, mirror, cue selection, cue playback speed, cue recolour and more.
https://wiki.laseros.com/docs/guides/ultra-mk2-full-manual-v1.4/#dmxartnet-default-fixture-channel-allocation

The Ultra MK2 has full-size XLR DMX in and out. The Pro uses 3.5mm TRS jacks, so you'll need adapter cables (see “How do I connect DMX cables to the LaserCube Pro?”).

The Pro uses 3.5mm TRS jacks for DMX in and out. Adapter cables aren't included, so you'll need one for each port:

• DMX In: 3.5mm TRS plug to 3-pin XLR male
• DMX Out: 3.5mm TRS plug to 3-pin XLR female

Wiring (the same for both cables):

• Tip → XLR pin 3 (Data+)
• Ring → XLR pin 2 (Data−)
• Sleeve → XLR pin 1 (Ground / shield)

Standard 3.5mm-to-XLR audio cables are wired the other way round (tip to pin 2), so they won't work on their own. Plug an XLR polarity-reverse adapter onto the XLR end of each cable, or have cables made to the wiring above.

Where to buy:

• DMX In cable: Eurolite DMX-Adapter IN Jack 3,5/XLR (3.5mm TRS plug to 3-pin XLR male, 1m)
  https://www.thomannmusic.com/eurolite_dmx_adapter_in_jack_35_xlr.htm
• DMX Out cable: Eurolite DMX-Adapter Out Jack 3,5/XLR (3.5mm TRS plug to 3-pin XLR female, 1m)
  https://www.thomannmusic.com/eurolite_dmx_adapter_out_jack_35_xlr.htm

These are wired for DMX, so they don't need a polarity-reverse adapter. Thomann ships from the EU, including to the US.

The LaserCube Pro is launching outside the US first and will come to the US later. Email support@laseros.com if you'd like us to let you know when it's available in the US.

The APC40 MK II and the APC mini MK II. We'll add more devices in future firmware updates.

Use the audio input for stand-alone, audio-reactive visualisers. Use the audio output for shows with an accompanying audio track. You can connect it to a portable powered speaker.

Not with previous-generation LaserCubes. Those used a single GX12 aviation connector and needed an interlock hub to connect several units to one pendant. The Ultra MK2 and Pro use two RJ45 connectors instead, so you can daisy-chain units with standard network cables. The Ultra MK2 and Pro use the same interlock, so you can run both from one RJ45 E-Stop pendant.

Yes. Both support Art-Net with a configurable universe, address offset and playlist cue selection. The channel profile is the same as for DMX and is on our wiki. The default profile uses 16 channels, which let you control power, X/Y scale, X/Y offset, rotation, mirror, cue selection, cue playback speed, cue recolour and more.
https://wiki.laseros.com/docs/guides/ultra-mk2-full-manual-v1.4/#dmxartnet-default-fixture-channel-allocation

Their ILDA input lets you connect an external DAC. Some third-party DACs have output offset errors that cause ghost beams and poor colour at low brightness. With the digital driver, you can raise the mute thresholds for the red, green and blue channels to remove ghost beams, then lower the diode threshold currents to restore white balance at low brightness. This lets you dial in external DACs that wouldn't otherwise perform well.

No. They use the same proven scanners as the original Ultra, rated at 35k pps @ 7°.

For Art-Net, connect your LaserCubes to an external Ethernet switch to run them on one Art-Net network.

Any size up to 2TB. The only card we've certified is the Lexar Silver Plus A2. Buy it on Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9MVKMY4 or Amazon Europe: https://amzn.eu/d/gyKXMPp

Both come with a microSD card with 23 full laser shows with audio, plus demo playlists for Christmas, Halloween, birthdays and more. You can also download the content from GitHub:
https://github.com/Wickedlasers/mk2SDContent

Yes. We're committed to free firmware, feature and content updates for the Ultra MK2 and Pro.

Active USB extenders aren't compatible. Use a high-quality USB 2.0 A-to-B cable up to 5m long.

The bracket handle has a central hole that takes up to an M10 bolt, so you can attach a truss clamp that fits the pole diameter of your lighting rig. For extra safety, attach a wire safety bond to the eye bolt on the back panel.

Yes, but we don't recommend removing it. The washer set is easy to lose, and without it the handle will scratch the case when you put it back on.

Yes, but not by the user. The battery in every LaserCube, including the Ultra MK2 and the Pro, can be replaced, but it means carefully taking the cube apart, so we don't recommend doing it yourself. Battery failures are rare. If yours needs replacing, contact us at support@laseros.com and our repair centre will replace it for you, in or out of warranty.

You just require a router or ethernet switch, no internet connection necessary.

The LaserCube can stutter if used in a heavily congested WiFi area. It is best suited to being used outdoors where range up to 30m is possible. Stuttering can also occur if using the LaserCube in client mode as your router/hub is also handling all your other WiFi enabled devices on your local network reducing bandwidth for the cube. The best mode to use for the LaserCube is using the WiFi server mode, where you are connecting directly to the LaserCube with your mobile phone/tablet/computer. Another source of stuttering is leaving the WiFi network list visible on your computer, as this will cause constant scanning for other WiFi networks interrupting the normal WiFi operation on your computer (UDP packets end up being buffered by your computer for extended periods during the network scanning causing image breakup).

The mode must be set to LAN Server (yellow LED) when using one of the supplied adaptors, as your mobile phone/tablet is expecting to be supplied with an IP address from a DHCP device.

1. Connect the interlock cable between the Big Yellow Box and the interlock port on the back of the LaserCube.
2. Turn the key to the ON position on the LaserCube.
3. Turn the key to the ON position on the Big Yellow Box.
4. Make sure the Big Red Button is in the ON position. The box ships with the button locked in the down (off) position. To unlock it, turn the button clockwise until it pops up.
5. Turn the LaserCube switch to the ON position. The two white LEDs above the LaserCube key and the red LED on the Big Yellow Box will blink slowly.

As a pure diode laser projector, the laser lifetime is expected to be 10 to 20 thousand hours, but may be reduced by operating outside +10C to +40C. The internal battery is a high quality Lithium Ion pack similar to those used in laptops. In common with laptops, over time, the available capacity of the battery will reduce. The battery can therefore be replaced, but not by the user: contact us at support@laseros.com and our repair centre will replace it.

You can shop our full-line of accessories by clicking here.

Every LaserCube comes with spare keys in the box. If they're all gone: the LaserCube WiFi, Pro, Ultra MK2 and the original USB LaserCube all use a standard 12 mm keyswitch key numbered 135 (the number is stamped on the key). Look online or in an electronics shop for a 12 mm key switch sold with "135" keys: you only need the keys. For another model, or if you're not sure, email support@laseros.com with a photo of the back of your LaserCube.

If your laser projector has an ILDA port, you can purchase a LaserOS dongle to use LaserOS software (PC/Mac, Android)

You can hear the fan, more than on the Ultra MK2 and Pro.

There's no fixed maximum range: the farther away, the bigger and dimmer the picture. In our tests, beams have been seen at up to about 500 meters; more laser power, darkness and a little haze or fog make them much more visible. For graphics on a building or another far-away surface, beyond about 400 meters it's pointless unless the surface is huge.

At full size the picture is square. On the Ultra MK2, the Pro and the original Ultra it's about 0.7 times as wide as the distance: about 1.4 m × 1.4 m at 2 m (4.6 × 4.6 ft at 6.6 ft), 3.5 m at 5 m and 7 m at 10 m. On the LaserCube WiFi it's about half as wide as the distance: 1 m × 1 m at 2 m, 2.5 m at 5 m. The Expander makes it about 3 times wider and higher.

The bigger the picture, the dimmer it looks. Detailed graphics look cleanest at half size or less: you can make the picture smaller, and set its width and height separately, in LaserOS.

Always use the charger that came with your LaserCube. Every LaserCube charger is 19V DC (100–240V AC input) with a 2.5 × 5.5mm DC plug, but the wattage differs by model:

• Ultra and Ultra MK2: 120W
• Pro 6W: 120W
• Pro 3W: 65W
• WiFi 1.2W and 2.5W: 65W

If you need a replacement, contact us at support@laseros.com.

The 2.5W is 2.5x as bright as the 1.2W, with better color. Size, weight, battery and connections are the same. Watch the comparison video.

There is no duty cycle. Use LaserCube, on battery or external power, between +10C and +40C (50F to 104F). Charging of the internal battery is disabled whilst the battery temperature is outside of +10C to +45C to prevent overheating.

The blur lens defocuses the laser output over range. It has a 250mm focal length. Diffraction lens multiplies your laser visuals causing awesome effects. The Lumia lens is made of textured glass and recreates the trippy lumia experience.

Only 7 colors are possible for TTL compared to 1000s of colors for analog lasers. LaserCube is full analog color.

Yes, the housing is dustproof. There is no air drawn (or able to convect) into the main cube body where the lasers and optics are. All LaserCubes has a blower fan recessed within a separate heatsink plate that bolts on to the bottom of the original cube housing. Air is not drawn through the main enclosure, only into and out of the heatsink plate, which conductively cools the existing base of the cube. Sealing of the lasers and optics is maintained.

Goto settings > system & device > additional settings > OTG > turn OTG on.

Image files in SVG (recommended), PNG, JPG, BMP format can be uploaded automatically into LaserOS. You can create new SVG-based logos, animations, and tracings using Illustrator, Animate and Inkspace. Watch our tutorial videos. Due to the complexity and experience required to create professional-quality laser animations, we recommend you hire a laser graphics artist who specializes in creating custom artwork: marcelo@benitoon.com.

Device requirements: Windows PC: Windows 10 with quad core processor such as Intel i5, 2.5GHz or better, 8GB RAM Mac PC: macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later with quad core processor such as Intel i5, 2.5GHz or better, 8GB RAM iPhone/iPad: iOS 14.0 iPhone SE(2020) / iPad(6th generation) or better Android: Android 10 or higher with Octa-Core 2 GHz processor, 4GB RAM or better

Create a folder of SVG files in a program like Adobe Animate or Illustrator. The file names must end in numbers that start at 1 and go up with no gaps (frame1.svg, frame2.svg, frame3.svg); a file without a number, or a single picture numbered higher than 1 (logo5.svg), isn't found and LaserOS says it can't load the SVGs. Due to the complexity and experience required to create professional-quality laser animations, we recommend you hire a laser graphics artist who specializes in creating custom artwork: marcelo@benitoon.com.

MacOS: Open a command terminal and run: rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/LaserOS/config.iniWindows: Run from a command prompt: rm C:\Users%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\LaserOS\config.ini

Please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ytx17wttMA. Due to the complexity and experience required to create professional-quality laser animations, we recommend you hire a laser graphics artist who specializes in creating custom artwork: marcelo@benitoon.com.

You may find older versions of LaserOS here: https://www.laseros.com/downloads/legacy/

Download here: Windows, MacOS, and Android.

Yes, LaserOS is fully autonomous, requiring no user input. Just choose the modes and an effect. Watch to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8sNmIihUOw

There is no internet connection required, the app works fully offline.

Goto Settings > Color, and select the Mono Color slider to choose a single color. To return to normal color mode, drag the Mono Color slider all the way to the left position.

On Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/LaserOS/imports On PC: C:\Users\ (your username) \AppData\Roaming\LaserOS\imports On Android: ~/Android/data/com.wickedlasers.laserOS/files/imports/

It’s not possible to adjust the X / Y position @ max zoom. Reduce zoom first.

Download: http://zadig.akeo.ie/ 1. Connect LaserCube to PC 2. Open zadig 3. Options > List All Devices 4. Choose Laserdock Interface 0 5. Choose libusbK as driver 6. Click install Repeat 3-5 for interface 1 and 2

LaserOS needs an audio input in order to generate music reactive visuals. Loopback audio is superior to microphone in both latency and accuracy. On Windows, all you need to do is select a Loopback audio source. On Mac, you need to install Sound Siphon and then you have to select Sound Siphon as Audio Output in Sound Settings. For Android, goto Settings > Audio and select ‘loopback’.

Locate the LaserOS app in Finder and Ctrl-Click it. If you select Open from the resultant menu, the app will be opened.

“Under the hood” we use Openlase as a renderer / path optimiser of the vector images. Our hardware DAC rate is 30,000 points per second on the WiFi models and 35,000 on the Ultra MK2 and Pro. There are quite a few control parameters fed from LaserOS into Openlase to determine how the image is created. Where we set a minimum or maximum number of points, it has a direct impact on the frames per second. i.e. at 30,000 points per second, setting a maximum number of points to 1000 will force a 30 FPS minimum frame rate, but images that would require longer than 33ms to draw will be simplified to fit into the fixed number of points and may look rounded or distorted. In the latest LaserOS, it was (over) adjusted to try render some images at 45 FPS, meaning only 600 points were useable before the image began to simplify. We could just revert to 1000 points, but are in the process of checking that increasing the maximum number of points even more (and therefore internal buffer sizes too) won’t cause any unexpected issues in different parts of the LaserOS software. If you are interested in controlling the cube directly, take a look at our Github.

This is due to Apple’s DRM / audio recording limitations and nothing to do with our LaserOS software.

The LaserCube Ultra MK2 and Pro work with Pangolin QuickShow and Beyond through a Pangolin interface (such as the FB3) on their ILDA input. To learn more about LaserOS vs. QuickShow differences, please visit this page

We can highly recommend Laser Graphic Converter, available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aktuna.utils.giftosvg&pli=1. Due to the complexity and experience required to create professional-quality laser animations, we recommend you hire a laser graphics artist who specializes in creating custom artwork: marcelo@benitoon.com.

LaserCube is compatible with Madmapper, Liberation, Touchdesigner, Ableton Link, Resolume, Modulaser, and Lasershowgen. Learn more about how to integrate into LaserCube API. Visit our official Github API here.

Yes. Every LaserCube has an automatic temperature cut-off that switches it off if it gets too hot inside. It doesn't restart by itself: once it has cooled down, switch it on again.

Generally you do not need laser safety goggles when using laser show projectors when following the best safety practices, however If you are experimenting or testing, you need goggle that covers the entire RGB spectrum. We recommend you check a certified laser safety goggles manufacturer such as https://lasersafety.com/ and email them directly to find the most suitable goggles.

There is no general value available to determine the safe distance (MPE). There are many relevant factors relevant: Scan speed, scan angle, scanned pattern, beam divergence, beam diameter, output power etc. The IEC 60825-1 Laser Safety Regulation applies internationally. Do not allow emission in a public area to exceed laser class 3R.

Do not shoot lasers at people. The very bottom of the laser projection should be at least 3 meters (10 feet) above the floor, or above the highest place someone could stand, so there is clearance between someone’s head and the lasers. To the sides, keep at least 3 meters between the beams and people. As with all lasers, never allow any laser beam to enter the sky: laser beams striking aircraft can blind pilots, and this is a crime in most countries. Audience scanning is unsafe unless the show has been approved by a laser safety expert and the operator has received approval from the authorities. Check with local authorities before using a laser in public areas. Please watch our safety video.

LaserCube has a much lower power density compared to the static ‘laser dot’ of a handheld laser because the ‘laser dot’ of the LaserCube is moving at rapidly (tens of thousands of time per second) in order to create laser graphics. The actual power depends on several factors such as LaserOS software settings and distance.

There are a variety of things you can do in the LaserOS settings that reduce power. You can lower the master power slider, increase zoom for a bigger image, and setup attenuation zones. You can also use accessories like diffraction lens, lumia kits, and expander. By using a combination of lens and software settings you can reduce power density to any level you desire.

You can attentuate or disable the laser output to zones specified in LaserOS Safety Zones settings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E8B7qowNjI