Laxman Light & Sound Machine

Title: Laxman "Innertainment" System

Author: Neurotronics

Source: http://www.marksgs.com/ (in the U.S.)

http://www.neurotronics.eu (in Europe)

Price: around $600 to $650

Rating: Excellent

The Laxman is the first of several L&S machines I'll be reviewing. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses. If you're unclear on what L&S machines do or what they are, please read this introduction.

The name of the Laxman is—I'm guessing here—a combination of "relax" and "walkman" (as in the original personal tape player, the predecessor of the iPod). In format, it's not unlike an over-sized iPod with goggles in addition to ear buds. Made in Germany, the chrome-and-white-plastic device has Apple-inspired styling; it is without a doubt the L&S machine most likely to be mistaken for a fashion accessory. This is a step forward aesthetically from the older mind machines, some of which look like Commodore computer accessories meant to withstand a plane crash and others of which resemble, well, um, a walkman straight out of 1985.

The goggles are also different from those of the past. Most mind machine goggles resemble cheap sunglasses with LEDs glued inside. The Laxman goggles, which rely on the Ganzfeld effect and can be used eyes-open or eyes-closed, resemble swim goggles, complete with a rubber shield. The great thing about this is there's no bleed over from the flashing lights to annoy your spouse in bed. In fact, the Laxman is pretty much the only L&S machine my wife has been willing to try out, so perhaps all that fancy styling is worth it, despite the fact that almost no one walks around wearing an brainwave tuner.

Ultimately, though, what matters most is how the machine works, and fortunately, the Laxman delivers a lot of functionality. It comes loaded with a number of ready-made sessions that are full-on experiences with beautiful lights in a whole rainbow of colors, bwe tones, nature sounds, and ambient music. Some have themes like a walk on the beach while others are more abstract. You can also download additional sessions for free or for pay, including Audiostrobe sessions and even hypnosis sessions with suggestions in English or French. If creating your own experiences appeals to you, you can program frequencies with the device interface or design a whole experience by using the free LaxEdit software. (More on that software later.) Finally, the device can serve as a stand-alone mp3 player (with an internal SD card, like your smart phone) or accept an auxiliary audio input. This is great if you want to add brain entrainment to your favorite hypnosis recordings, guided meditations, language lessons, or even audio books. The device runs on two AA batteries or USB/DC power, though the process for running on external power is unnecessarily arcane.

Belying the device's Apple-esque styling, the interface is fairly old school, reminding me of the hand-held video games of my youth. To be honest, I prefer that to Apple's iPod wheel interface, which seems to never do what I want anyway. Separate buttons turn the Laxman on and off; provide navigation, selection, play, and pause; and control volume, brightness, and contrast. The interface is simple enough that you can easily learn to operate the basics without seeing the buttons, an important feature in a device meant to be used while you're wearing goggles!

So, to sum up the plusses and minuses of the Laxman, both as a personal device and as an accessory in the hypnotist's office:

On the plus side:

The light shows are beautiful. The Ganzfeld goggles provide perhaps the best-looking photic stimulation I've experienced; a full rainbow of color versus the older machines that boasted a single color frequency. As mentioned before, the swim-goggle styling with the rubber seals make you look a lot less scary while using them.

The pre-loaded sessions are, for the most part, really well done. (I didn't care for the one that's all didgeridoo noises, but to each his own.)

The device is very versatile and easily adaptable.

It uses regular batteries, so you don't have to sit around waiting for it to charge when you need to do a session. On the flip side, the external power requires a slightly odd sequence to connect it, making it harder to use during a client session.

On the minus side:

The carrying container, though sturdy and attractive, is too small to hold the manual, which means I promptly lost the book. Fortunately, it's downloadable.

The manual, though clear and concise, was translated into English by someone who didn't speak English. It could have used an edit by a native speaker.

It comes with ear buds, rather than head phones. Any true audiophile will have some good head phones (like these), and of course, for sanitary reasons you'll want to use head phones, not ear buds, with your clients.

Unlike every other L&S device I've used, the Laxman provides no easy way to hook up multiple goggles so that several clients can enjoy the benefits at once. (Most other goggles use a 3.5 mm jack, like head phones, so splitters are easily attainable.)

The LaxEdit software proved problematic for me. It was not intuitive to use and crashed repeatedly when I was trying it. I quickly became too frustrated to bother with it, which is too bad because I would love to create custom sessions for myself or my clients.

Ultimately, most of the disadvantages of the Laxman are minor annoyances, vastly outweighed by the delightful excellence of the audio-visual experience. Of all the L&S machines I've tried, the Laxman is the one I keep by my bed for personal use and take with me when I travel.

In the introduction to brainwave entrainment, I wrote that my first introduction to these devices came with the suggestion that they produce profound, drug-like experiences. I must admit that has only happened for me once, and it was with the Laxman. Though I can't say for certain that it was like a drug-induced hallucinatory trip—as I'm possibly the only member of my generation who has never done illicit drugs—I can't help but think that what the Laxman did for me must be awfully close to a great LSD trip, without all the scary side-effects.

In short, the Laxman definitely gets the thumbs-up from me. In fact, I'm going to stop typing now and go on an "innertainment" adventure right now.


Full Disclosure: The American representative for this product was kind enough to provide me with a review model to evaluate.