I currently have two laser fixtures but will be soon upgrading to four.
currently, I have one Helios dac that I am running to laser 1 and then daisy chaining to laser 2
I’m curious what my options are outside of purchasing 4 separate Helios boxes, to get independent control of all 4 lasers, and at about 100 feet away from the units (for gigs).
Any and all suggestions welcome.
Hi Eric!
I’m loving the work you’re posting over on Facebook - it looks great!
It’s not a stupid question at all, in fact scaling up to the next level is one of the biggest blockers in the industry. It’s very common for companies and freelancers to make their own custom gear so everyone’s left to figure it out for themselves! It’s one of the things I hope to make easier in the laser industry, but I have to focus on one thing at a time, and right now it’s fixing the software stack.
But let’s try - it’s hard to give a short answer… but here goes! 
One Helios DAC → ILDA to Laser 1 → daisy chain to Laser 2
That works if you’re happy with mirrored output.
Just to clarify, Liberation’s licence tiers are based on how many lasers you’re operating in professional contexts. For public or commercial shows, the expectation is that each laser is driven by its own controller rather than splitting a single output. That approach gives you proper safety, control and creative flexibility.
If you want independent control of all 4 lasers, each one needs its own controller anyway.
Technically you can do this:
This setup can work, and some people have had success with it.
But…
USB over long distances can be hit and miss. Even with active extenders, you’re stretching what USB was designed for. When it works, it’s fine. When it doesn’t, it’s stressful at show time.
And using long ILDA cables can be a nightmare. Their nickname is “grappling hooks” for a reason!
If you’re building a 4-laser gigging rig, this is usually the point where it makes sense to move to network.
The cleaner long-term solution is Ethernet-based controllers like Ether Dream or the Helios Pro (support is coming soon!).
Best setup:
Benefits:
Once you move to network, you generally don’t go back. If you can get mini switches inside the lasers, you’ll can daisy chain the network connection as well, which is life-changing (although risky).
(Some people do a hybrid approach where all the Ether Dreams are in a stage box with network switch and ILDA cables, and that’s not bad either - but again with the grappling hooks)
Bear in mind that I advise that you put a router on the network to assign IP addresses to all the network devices.
The next step is to combine the interlock signal into the data signal, but that’s a whole other story.
Hope that helps, and all the best with your on-going journey!
Seb
Seb, thank you so much for the thorough response and also the kind words! I noticed you’ve been seeing my videos. My hope is to get a better camera set up and keep posting content on socials as I am having an ABSOLUTE BLAST with it. Thank you for your continued efforts and making the dream a much more feasible reality for us folks.