I did not see it compared to the Rainbow Flood but compared to the V-Flood and the Mighty Mini the Aether was much brighter and covered more area.
There were a couple of fixtures that were demonstrated that appeared to be stage DMX fixtures. I saw one which was brighter. I never heard if the device(s) would survive being outdoors without some kind of enclosure being built/purchased. Assuming I am correct, I would have liked to have seen those devices in a weatherproof enclosure to gauge the impact it would have on brightness. There was also little/if anything said about RGB spotlights vs floodlights.
To head off on a tangent...
I really would have liked to have had it set up so there would have been some discussion about when a person would use a device like the Aether vs when one of the other DIY floods might work a little better. I personally will use a combination because if I use the Aether for one part of my display it puts the fixture in the middle of my driveway. I feel that mounting the fixture on the side of my house is a little more work that I want to do and there is a good chance that it would be too close and not be effective.
Earlier in the day Mike Z (Zman) gave a DMX presentation. The theme of that presentation was: Options. I think it would have been great if the demo had turned into a discussion about options.
I am certain RJ never intended the Aether to be all things to everyone. It is a wonderful device, absolutely the most flexible device I saw demo'ed. I am thrilled to have gotten the chance to play with it and am looking forward to using it in my display. It is going to knock people's socks off.
