Would anyone who has used both the Halo2 and the Xion care to share their opinions as to how they compare? Thanks!
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Would anyone who has used both the Halo2 and the Xion care to share their opinions as to how they compare? Thanks!
I had the original Halo and liked it. Bought the Halo 2 when it came out and hated it. Used it for one tattoo and sold it. I just couldn't gel with it. I've had the Xion for the past few months and haven't been able to put it down or even think about trying out another machine. For how I tattoo, the Xion is the best machine I have used to date. My ONLY gripe about it is it is a bit of a pain in the ass to adjust the give when the machine is all bagged up during a session. I usually just leave it 2 clicks from the hardest setting but for some pieces that I have to get in with a liner needle and shade I like to have it dialed all the way to the softest setting so I don't get any weird needle marks. It's doable, but it's a pain in the ass. Other than that it runs cartridges smoother than any machine I've used and I have noticed a tremendous improvement in ink flow while using liner cartridges. I used to have sporadic ink flow issues with liner cartridges for some reason. I trouble shooted the ever living shit out of it and nothing seemed to combat that. I have had zero ink flow issues with the Xion. A few weeks back I had a Kwadron machine set up alongside the Xion and 10 minutes into lining with the Kwadron machine I started having shitty inkflow. I cleaned out the cartridge in my rinse cup, made sure there was no ointment build up, lint, etc. Lined for 10 more minutes and same thing. I took that same cartridge, put it in the Xion and lined the rest of the tattoo with perfect ink flow. They really did their homework on that machine and as far as dedicated cartridge machines go, I don't think there is much on the market right now that can compete with it.
Thank you for your response! I have a Halo 2 and I have just now figured out how to use it. (Standard tubes and needles) its currently my favorite shader. I wasn't even considering the Xion, but seeing how I am digging my halo, I am interested in the Xion quite a bit.
See, I've never tried the Halo 2 with standard needles so it might react totally different running cartridges. I used an AXYS direct drive for a good while for my liner and loved how it ran traditional needles but didn't like how it ran with cartridges...I could be just super picky though. I've gotten so spoiled with the cartridge system I don't think I could go back. Hell, I would need to set up 2 machines to do a simple script tattoo now because I like going back through with like a bugpin 5 or 3 and really tightening up edges and whatnot. The Xion though has been a joy for me to work with. I run it with the 3.2 cam and am not one of those guys that like to run machines at crazy high voltages so it has been really easy to layer in color or black and grey without the skin getting close to that "fuck this I'm out" limit. Another plus I noticed with it is that every other tattoo machine I've used and liked, a few times a month I would get those clients that their skin type just sucks and no matter what you do you just can't get things as smooth as you're used to. The Xion has been consistent all across the board of the various skin types I have used it on, even the shitty ones, it still does it's job. I'm guessing this has to do with how smooth and precise their drive system is that pushes the carts. The drive bar is like this oversized hex shaped pin which I think helps to smooth the system out but I could be 100% full of shit because I am no engineer.
How comfortable is it? I was looking on their website and it says that its 8 ounces?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Phillips
The weight isn't an issue - its like tattooing with a big fat marker- you don't feel the weight at all, as it sits above your hand. VERY comfortable
I have both, the Xion is the best of the two, smooth running and just all around fun.
On the topic of new pen machines, has anyone tried out the Spear from Stigma? Looks pretty interesting.
I bought the Spear and the Stylist recently for the options of both, in fact I took the Stylist before, but I cracked on the Spear haha I did not have too much tattoo yet with, it's very recent but already at the level of weight / balance the two machines are superb no worries above, very balanced, then the settings are simple twist and hop it changes easy stroke! after for the Spear we turn the knob on the top and hop full give (very very soft elsewhere with the cartridges Stigma, but less flexible with Tatsoul or cheyenne)
next vibration... well i use true grip and i dont feell much vibration, little more then hawk pen.. the power well i can start at 5v for do some little gentle details with good power, but not like the xion ( by the way fk doing great job with this specific motorbolt) a actually im try to find my good spot for lining maybe 8.5-9 and i use tatsoul cart ( bugpin and apex) very good work from tatsoul too
Stylist feel very comfortable and funny to use, well made no doubt and enough power sure..for me very good alternative to the Hawk pen.
the Spear its little bit more heavy but very ergonomic, like the possibility for Bng and pack color easyyyyy , motor are the same for booth and i like it, for me enough power to push 14r’s for sure, but i need to find the way to do it perfectly!! i will try to post a couple of tattoos using the Stigma’s But I'm sure that an artist with more experience than me will only be able to appreciate the quality and excellent workmanship of Stigma, really nice innovation and really easier to change the stroke and give on the fly !!
Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
Received my Spear on Monday and got to log a few hours on it. In a direct comparison to the Xion I've noticed a few things. The Xion is a noticeably smoother running machine which leads me to believe their drive system is way more efficient. If you take the grip off of the Spear the drive is visible and is the same system as the Hawk pen and all the other knock off pens. The Spear is significantly larger than the Xion but feels lighter. The adjustability of the Spear is really cool. With the machine all bagged up it is easy to adjust stroke and give by a few twists. In my opinion though, the Spear is a bit overpriced. $600 would be a fair price in my opinion. If you could merge the Xion drive system with the adjustability of the Stigma then it would be worth every bit of $700, but as mentioned it does not run carts no where near as quite and efficiently as the Xion does. You run a cart in the Stigma and it's noisy and chattery, pop that same cart out and run it in the Xion and it's dead quite and that smoothness 100% translates to skin. I would also like to note that I tattoo at very low voltages so if you're a guy or gal that tattoos at higher voltages you may hate the Xion and love the Spear. I'm going to log some more hours on it, but my initial reaction was a little bit of buyers remorse vs. the first time I used my Xion. Below is a piece I did yesterday using the Spear.
Attachment 30585
It might be for the fact the xion has a 10 watt and the spear is only 6 watt. I love my xion its made all my other machines cry as they just dont get used any more, my inkjecta v2s are now never used though ive used them for over 5 years. But i still do use my dragonfly ss for lining as i use a very small needle and this thing has been going for at least 8 years more or less on the same motor running at 11volts hours on end..Quote:
Originally Posted by Butternuts
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The xion have 6w motor too .Not 10w...