Petit Crouton vs. Crystal Focus

[Squirrel]

I am brand new to the saber scene.

I am sure this has been discussed before, but I was wondering what the differences are between these boards.

I have looked at both the manuals for them and they look like they have the same features.

Any help would be swell, or just point me to the thread that details this :)


Squirrel

[Sunrider]

If you read both manuals you would know that the CF has a few more features than the PC. ;-)

[Silver Serpent]

The boards have very similar features. They were both designed by erv after all. A few notable differences:

CF supports multiple sets of sound fonts on the same card. PC only supports one at a time.
CF supports Flash on Clash. PC does not.
CF has a higher output for the main LED (2A I believe, compared to PC's 1.5A)
CF uses an accelerometer for motion detection. PC uses mechanical swing sensors.
CF supports more accent LEDs.

There's more than that, but the CF has a much more robust feature set and allows for a greater degree of customization. That being said, the PC is no slouch. They're both excellent boards, and arguably the best on the market right now. The major advantage for the PC is its availability. You are going to be able to get one easily, since they're rarely out of stock for more than a week or two. The CF is handmade in small batches by an amazing guy in France, who currently has his hands full with a growing family.

If you gotta have the best of the best, and time (or money) is no object, I'd go for the CF. They command ridiculous prices on ebay. If you just need awesome sound without *all* the bells and whistles, the PC is an excellent choice. In either case, make sure your soldering skills aren't too rusty. Some of those soldering pads are pretty small.

[Squirrel]

Thanks Serpent for the details.

Do you know how the Obsidian compares? I have one of those, I know it doesn't have the robust set of features, but I was wondering if there is a volume difference.
Is the CF louder?

[Jedi-Loreen]

The Obsidian board it just a sound board.

It has no LED driver on it so you don't get any LED blade effects like with the CF and the PC. If you want blade effects, you have to add an LED driver board yourself. It also doesn't support any accent LEDs.

The fonts are changed via a USB port. This port is located on the side of the board, as it is currently made, so you'd have to disassemble your saber and pull the board out enough to get access to the port.

That's about all we discuss about this board here on this forum. If you want to know more about it, go to Ultrasaber's site and sign up for their forums.

[Squirrel]

Yea it looks like the best is for sure the CF.

Is it right to assume that the CF is the loudest and can handle the brightest blades?

[Lord Dottore Matto]

Yea it looks like the best is for sure the CF.

Is it right to assume that the CF is the loudest and can handle the brightest blades?

The CF is not the loudest. It has very high quality sound, but an appropriate resonance chamber will maximize any of the boards' sound levels. CF can drive LEDs up to 2A (which is waaaaay overdriving most of them) and is exceptional at driving 10W LEDengin LEDs as well. Many people ask for the "brightest" and the "loudest", but the question that you really need to answer is "what do I need my board to do?" For most applications, you will discover that the Petit Crouton is the perfect blend of price and features.