Recommended Equipment for 2026 - Controller/Level Shifter

[anthonylavado]

Hi there! I have been using a NodeMCU with WLED for sometime, and recently switched it over to HyperK. The performance has been awesome. Thank you!

To this point, I haven't been using a level shifter, considering it's been a relatively short run as well (about 10cm from controller to LED strip). I want to re-do my setup, so I've been collecting equipment. So far I've gotten my hands on the UGreen 25173, freed up an RPi 4 that I already had (with good PSU), planning a switch to SK6812 and more.

My main question: What controller/level shifter should I use for the setup? I was considering:

• Adafruit Feather RP2040 Scorpio - connected via USB, w/HyperSerialPico
• Pimoroni Plasma 2350W - connected via WiFi (or USB) w/either HyperK or HyperSerialPico

What should I use in this day and age?

Thanks!

[awawa-dev]

Hi,

There are really a lot of options... you need to decide whether you prefer a cable or if you also want to have a good option for Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 6). Latest Hyperk 0.0.5 also supports HyperSerial:

• ESP32 + level shifter (for ex. Adafruit 6066), alternatively Gledopto GL-C-616WL / GL-C-618WL (possible Ethernet connection via Hyperk + power relay as a bonus): HyperSerialESP32/Hyperk

• Bleeding edge but Wi-Fi 6 and HyperSerial: ESP32-C6 + level shifter + Hyperk. Since nowadays even hair dryers can have Wi-Fi, not to mention fridges or vacuum cleaners, the network gets crowded - Wi-Fi 6 helps if you have a suitable router.

• rp2040/rp2350 + level shifter - for rp2350 there is experimental support in Hyperk and HyperSerialPico, although from my tests it should already work; alternatively, a Pico with a built-in level shifter.