Xoxide have kindly provided us with their latest offering – a rheobus fan controller. Don’t let the name fool you though because this rheobus can not only handle fans but also lighting devices such as cathodes or neons. The rheobus provides 4 ports in which to attach devices of up to 17W per channel. In true rheobus style you can then vary the voltage of each channel to your requirement using the rather nice aluminium knobs.

Below is what you get for your hard earned cash - $37.99 to be exact.

In the kit Xoxide provided (Kit1) we received a fully built rheobus, an aluminium brushed drive bay and a molex adapter - not to mention the instructions and screws. The pic shows the colour of LEDs mounted in the rheo, in this case super bright blue.

My first impressions of this unit were good ones, it feels very high quality and the brushed aluminium certainly looks pleasing to the eye. The only thing that did strike me was the size of the knobs which could prove a problem if your case has a door. On the other hand they could easily be replaced with smaller ones if needed.

The instructions were easy to follow, all that needed to be done by me was to screw the fans into the terminals. This rheo is capable of having up to 17W per channel meaning you can have more than one fan on each channel - just as long as this power rating is not exceeded. So you are not limited to just four fans!

For testing I attached a Delta fan to the first channel. The channels are clearly marked so that the fan isn't attached the wrong way round and using a screwdriver to tighten screws the wires are held firmly in place.

The unit has some large heatsinks to disperse the heat generated by resisting the current; they are nicely contained within the 5¼" aluminium housing.

Testing the fan gave some pleasing results. I was able to reduce the voltage to a fairly low level before the fan finally came to a halt. A super bright blue LED is provided to indicate that the fan or lighting device is connected and working.

The noise reduction when the Delta fan was only provided with half its normal voltage was amazing. I feel Xoxide have really done there best to provide a quality unit at a good price. The drilled aluminium face plate is very well done and the unit required virtually no setup. The knobs might be a little on the large size but this does make it easy to adjust the voltage, which is of course the whole point of the unit. I like the way fans are screwed securely into the terminals although this does mean any fan you attach is going to need to be stripped of its connector. I would have liked to try a cathode or neon out on this unit but didn't have the chance. It is nice to know that it could power a lighting device if I decide to invest in one in the future. This unit gets top marks for being a good all round rheobus.

If you need a nice little xmas present for somebody you can buy one of these over at Xoxide

Recommended!