2 disadvantages of the Crees.
1. Their red and blue have a very narrow bandwidth and deliver almost zero power at the desired 430 and 660nm wavelengths. The Luxeons do a pretty good job of this. However, if you are using LED engin 660 nms.

2. They are only rated up to 700ma, same as the Luxeon K2. However the Luxeon III is max rated at 1500 ma.

A possible advantage of the Cree is the narrow focus compared to the Luxeon. I will have to see if that can be put to good use.

Does anyone know if the bare CreeX emitter can be hand soldered on the top side? It looks like it does have top pads.

I will check availability through suppliers when I get a chance. Sometimes you will see very good options available on spec sheets, but you cannot buy the higher quality bins through suppliers. LEDengin is probably a good example of this.