Basically title. Who are your go to suppliers for LED hardware? I’ve been trying to shop around on aliexpress/amazon and thought it would be good to check in and see who everyone else uses. Would be nice to have some kind of shared resource for people.
I haven’t received any particularly bad addressable LED products from any of the 6 different AliExpress vendors I have ordered from over the past 3 years.
My latest orders were for 144LED/m IP68 and IP67 versions of this: WS2813 sk9822 Dual Signal independent IC Built in Driver Chip SMD5050 Led Pixel Strip Lamp Programming DC5V 30/60/144leds/m|LED Strips| - AliExpress
These match all of my experiences: The LED strips themselves are fantastic, but the physical aspects were not perfect. The IP67 is good, but the adhesive backing is not so sticky. The IP68 is nice too, but the silicone caps were inconsistently caulked and placed.
Here are the supplier’s I’ve used, from fastest shipping up top (generally more expensive), to slowest with cheapest unit pricing (and occasional QA varinces) last.
Amazon: BTF strips, Alitove or Meanwell power supplies (such as the 12V workhorse, the LRS-350-12). Really cool WESIRI rings ScruffyNerf found. They almost never have the SK9822/APA102 stuff which I prefer for most projects.
Electromage stuff on Tindie - it ships quickly, always arrives working, and is well priced especially for the matrix and SK9822 stuff.
HolidayCoro seems to stock a small subset of Ray Wu’s stuff domestically. Beware their connectors are xConnect style. This place saved my bacon over the holidays when I needed to supplement my big Ray Wu order quickly.
Ray Wu on Ali Express - Very popular and well known supplier in Shenzhen. I think he’s also affiliated with Shenzhen Rita. The DHL shipping is expensive but it comes faster than many other AliExpress stores. It’s the only place I’ve found SK9822 strands, flex neon, prebuilt meteors.
ASMTLED on Ali Express for Fairy Lights. Shipped in about 6 weeks, before recent supply chain issues.
Full disclusure, I’ve never used this place but I know someone who does 20X the amount of projects as I do and swears by them for large orders with low unit prices and good QA: http://www.packever.com/