Deal of the Day; Dark Shock LE Review (FIRST SABER!)

[Lord Fenrir]

All right so I just received my first ever Ultra Sabers Lightsaber in the mail just now and took the time to unpackage it, look over everything, set aside what needed to be set aside, etc.

Now here I am, holding my Saber.

The pride that I feel holding this thing and sheer love I feel for this saber is absolutely unequaled by any saber or sword I have ever owned (I collect Eastern Sword; A.K.A. Katana's) At the first moment I took it out I activated it and felt electricity run up my back (no, it wasn't short circuiting and electrocuting me), this thing is phenomenal! Besides that, before this I was inquiring about the price of this thing due to some discrepancy I had with the advertised price but now that I have this thing and can truly see it's majesty and quality, I don't care that I paid almost 300 for it.

It was truly worth it!

I cannot wait to find others in the Salt Lake City area and begin dueling and training and using this thing as much as possible!

However, that's just me gushing, lets get to the review as I pride myself in a professional reviewer and neutral opinion on things (*points above to my starting statement* you can tell, right? XD)

But in all seriousness let's get started;

=========================================================================
The Blade;

I opted to get an Ultra Edge Heavy Grade. Why? Well a lot of people say the Ultra Edge Heavy Grade is...well.....Heavy! Personally speaking I prefer heavy due to the weight it gives me to work with, it feels like a real weighted blade and allows me to utilize it as such. Besides that I don't see the tube effect everyone is talking about and even looked up comparison reviews where I saw them side by side and saw the same light effect as the others. However, where I saw the tube effect strongly was when they places a Heavy Grade with a darker pigment coloration against a mid-grade with a lighter pigment. The Lighter pigmentation clearly outclassed the darker and made it duller than it seemed, giving it that tube look that everyone was talking about, but against it's own coloration, it's the same in every video I have seen.

The tip doesn't bother me, in fact, as i looked at pictures I thought it would be more prominent, more bulbous, but thankfully that's not the case and it matches up well with the blade and is even drowned out by the light of the blade itself, making it seem almost non-existant.

Durability....I haven't dueled with it yet, however, I saw the 'Durability Test' video that Ultra Sabers put up and...well....I think that rests my case, especially for an Ultra Edge Heavy Grade which is supposedly more durable than the Mid-Grades shown in that durability test.

The Color; I got Blazing Red and for a bit I was regretting it a little as I am wanting to be a Dark Jedi, so I saw Blue and thought it might of been better if I got that....but once I activated my saber and saw the crimson tinge in all it's glory I knew I couldn't have picked a better coloration.

Final Verdict:
10/10

=======================================================================
The Hilt;

I opted to get the Dark Shock LE which was, like in my title, the Deal of the Day for when I ordered it. (though I'm not sure that really mattered price wise and yes, I am going to gripe about that for a bit here and there even though I'm happy with my purchase and said above that it was worth it)

The Design; What drew me about Dark Shock LE was the design of it; the striking black with the beautiful silver rings all prominent and showing off it's beauty. But I didn't expect it to be as gorgeous in design as it is up front. Truly I expected more melt lines around the Covertec Wheel or even the button area for where they would put the extras through the body, but surprisingly it's smooth as can be.

The Length and Grip; It fits my hand(s) perfectly with no real obstruction or issue, however it is a bit of a tight fit for both so I utilize one handed motions with it mostly, but even then it it comfortable and bearable.

The Emitter and Pommel; When I got this I was glad to see they were MHS Compatible and taking them off to actually see this made me giddy about customization of my saber at a later point, so I am really looking forward to that.

The Strength and Weight;
Again, I hear people talk about the weight like it's some big deal when really it feels natural to me, however, that may be due in part to my use of my Katana's and sword collection through the years as well as all the manual labor I did, but over all, with an Ultra-Edge Heavy Grade Blade and all, it feels natural to me.

Final Verdict;
10/10

===================================================================
Obsidian USB:

When I first pressed that button and heard the sounds come to life I know I had felt love hit me like a ton of bricks. This thing is gorgeous with it's sound and is clear and strong in it's output. Upon seeing it when I took out the pommel I was surprised that the little board was what loaded up and had the sounds in it and I was very appreciative of the mini sub-woofer a the bottom to truly output the sounds clearly.

Sound Font Program;
Just uploaded this and looking it over and I am happy to say that it's very well done. Simplistic in design, easy to use, easy to understand and a whole board dedicated to nothing BUT that, it's truly a well done effort.

Final Verdict;
9.5/10

I gave this a 9.5 due to a small discrepancy I had whilst I first had turned it on and am worried this will get worse as it progresses but...at one point while my saber was on I flicked it hard to make the clash sounds some more and, to my worry and disdain, the flow effects (the effects you get when slashing your saber through the air) are what came up instead of the clashing sounds. This was righted after I turned it off then back on, but even then it was a worrying thing that I hope doesn't get worse.

====================================================================================
Over All;

This product is truly worth every penny, again, I am still a little miffed about the price but that's more so about my questionnaire boards getting tossed into non-existence with hardly any questions answered except by the lovely community (which I thank you all for). I still feel like the advertisement that they give is not congruent with what it actually is and feel that it should be looked over before further issues (like claims of false advertising and such) come up. But besides that, this product is completely outstanding and I don't see how the claims could even come up when they are blinded by the majesty of their order.

The Delivery time was surprisingly fast too, which is even better!

So my Final Verdict about the entire thing is a whopping;

10/10

Yeah that sound issue was scary but it was just a minor misstep and even then this thing, and all of Ultra Sabers products I muse, are just pure beast versus their competitors (if any).

I would highly recommend this and spread the word about it, as well as buy other sabers in the future.

-Lord Fenrir

[Master Nero Attoru]

Very thorough review, which isn't always the case on here.  Point for that!

Also, the Dark Shock is one of a couple hilts in the Ultrasabers collection that I've always craved... I'm sure one day I'll own one, but for now I'll just drool over the ones in these reviews  Great saber!

[Lord Fenrir]

Thank you for the kind words, and if you want my personal opinion the Dark Shock LE is a fantastic saber hilt, very balanced and very well done. I love the way I can handle it, especially near the pommel and covertec wheel I have.

Although I have a new update for it;
Upon trying to put more fonts into the obsidian for more variety, I found that the Obsidian 3.0 doesnt do well with the blaster lock sound in the Starkiller folder. In fact, upon trying it a spot beneath the black electrical tape got really red and heated up and started to smoke, I immediately stopped it and reset everything to default sounds. Sadly, the idle sound that it has is still the same and whats worse is I can hear some choppiness in the audio as compared to when I first activated it, but it also gives it a darker tone which I'm all for.

But still, I don't want this obsidian USB crapping out on me just when I got it.


On the plus side;
It gives the real lightsaber effect when on camera and I love it!!!!

[Zren Tobas]

Nice saber. Get some pictures up. We always love to see pictures if possible. Try keeping the defaults on for awhile. You might've just goofed up. Get the Dooku font on your board. I think it'd match your saber. There are multiple power ons/offs. Can't wait to see your saber. Nice review by the way.

[Lord Fenrir]

Thank you kindly, further, if you have a link to the Dooku fonts, please link me =D

[Lord Fenrir]

Here's Pics for you all;

Dark Shock LE(w/ Covertec Wheel and Sound)


The Saber without the blade is the same length as my Ninjato Hilt!


Disassembled


Dark Lord


Better look at the Ultra-Edge Heavy Grade


IT LOOKS SO REAL!!!


Cooling Down after Deactivation


Don't tempt me...

[Sandtracker]

Here's a link to forum member created fonts, including Dooku's: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=11414.0

[Darth Ryga]

Very thorough review, great job, Fenrir. Hopefully your issues are resolved shortly, but definitely keep an eye open for any further smoke issues. Obviously, that could be an issue. I absolutely love the Dark Shock too. So much so, that I ordered my second one, with the Deal of the Day, also, and received it yesterday. Now, I can create my Shock staff! Absolutely amazing! Here are a few pics I just took









Pyrestone Orange, with Orange FoC, and Orange A/V
My phone camera makes them look a bit more Red, than they actually are, but that's all I have for now.

[Lord Fenrir]

Nice and not nice.

Nice, cause those look sexy as hell and I love dual lightsabers.

Not nice, cause now I wanna buy another Dark Shock >_< XD

[Darth Ryga]

Haha! After I received the first one, it immediately was a thought I put in the back of my mind. I let it pass as DotD once already, so once it was staring me in the face again, I had to pull the trigger 

The temptation got me! 

[Darth Ryga]

This might not help either...

[Lord Fenrir]

Yeah, not in the slightest....

Also, bad news;
One of the Li-on batteries is not charging and is causing an issue for the bulb (I have a battery store nearby conveniently so hopefully they have that brand) but over all it sounds like the obsidian board may be the issue rather than the battery since the sounds are causing the light to pulse in a weird way.

[eerockk]

Lord Fenrir, this is one of the best review threads on the forum for any saber! Great score on the D Shock, and great photos and descriptions! 

Oh, and Ryga, that staff is amazing too! 

[Lord Fenrir]

Thank you for the feedback Eerock, however to changed up my review a little and give more info.

I don't like the Li-on batteries that were provided, one of them didn't last at all and ended up being a dud, so I bought some new ones with a 0.1 less voltage charge and left them on the charger all day then put them in when I got home from work, checked them out on my camera and...surprisingly....they actually make the light brighter near the base where the flange is. I was completely taken aback and happy about this revelation;

[Edit: Here are the pics I just took to show you, I actually had to lower my webcam's brightness while my light was on in my room]

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW NOW; I MAY SEEM BRIGHTER BUT I HAVEN'T CHANGED ANY SETTINGS SINCE LAST PICTURE EXCEPT FOR LOWERING THE BRIGHTNESS, IT LOOKS BRIGHTER ONLY WHEN THE SABER IS ON!

[Darth Ryga]

Glad to see it's working a lot better now. Finally, you can truly enjoy the Dark Shock to its fullest! 

Oh, and Ryga, that staff is amazing too! 

Thanks Ee!!