GENERAL ADVICE ON PICKING A GOOD AUDIO SNAKE

[Lucas]

Hey Everyone,

I'm looking for a general use audio snake that I can move around pretty easily. I was looking at the Pro Co SMA Series Drop Snake, - 25' TRS (LINK). The setup we have is a mixing cart (with a headphone distribution unit) that is about 20 feet away from where the 'talent'(students) sit and I'm looking for something that allows me to run 4 mics (xlr) down to the board and then feed the headphone lines (1/4" TRS) back down to the 'talent'. Any tips on how to achieve this better or any snakes other than the one I found that would work for this purpose?

Thanks,
Lucas

 

[TimMc]

Hey Everyone,

I'm looking for a general use audio snake that I can move around pretty easily. I was looking at the Pro Co SMA Series Drop Snake, - 25' TRS (LINK). The setup we have is a mixing cart (with a headphone distribution unit) that is about 20 feet away from where the 'talent'(students) sit and I'm looking for something that allows me to run 4 mics (xlr) down to the board and then feed the headphone lines (1/4" TRS) back down to the 'talent'. Any tips on how to achieve this better or any snakes other than the one I found that would work for this purpose?

Thanks,
Lucas

Does the mixer accept microphone inputs on 1/4" TRS connectors?

 

[NickVon]

I'm a big fan of the ProCo brand. I think they are a significant step up from cheap crap (like a lot of HOSA stuff), with out the Very High cost of branching into Whirlwind stuff, when rugged touring gear isn't required. I've found that ProCo stuff, both the number of stage snakes and XLR patch snakes I own all hold of really well in the light to moderate duty rolls they full fill.

 

[Lucas]

Does the mixer accept microphone inputs on 1/4" TRS connectors?

Yes, it's a small/medium sized Mackie board

 

[joe2you]

Have a look at CBI snake cables

 

[rwhealey]

Hey Everyone,

I'm looking for a general use audio snake that I can move around pretty easily. I was looking at the Pro Co SMA Series Drop Snake, - 25' TRS (LINK). The setup we have is a mixing cart (with a headphone distribution unit) that is about 20 feet away from where the 'talent'(students) sit and I'm looking for something that allows me to run 4 mics (xlr) down to the board and then feed the headphone lines (1/4" TRS) back down to the 'talent'. Any tips on how to achieve this better or any snakes other than the one I found that would work for this purpose?

Thanks,
Lucas

Are you on a budget? How many headphone returns do you need?

If you have the money, Whirlwind and Wireworks are two of the top pro manufacturers and can custom make any configuration of snake you want. I never saw much of Proco or Rapco/Horizon on tours, but they do also make higher-end pro-grade products and can likely also custom-build the snake you need.

If you are looking for a lower budget option, EWI (audiopile.net) is generally considered good imported equipment. You could swap out some of XLRs with the correct gender TRS connectors.

Also keep in mind that 25' is getting to be a long cable for a headphone-level unbalanced signal. There is a chance you will get hum/buzz, and it may be susceptible to cell phone interference.

 

[JD]

Might want to list the board model anyway. Many Mackie boards have both XLR and TRS inputs, but the TRS inputs require line level signal.

 

[Jason Hennigan]

I always put my money in Mogami, it is great stuff, very flexible, and durable and still quite affordable. I have a place I have worked with for years that can custom build about anything you need. Here is a 4x4 one:
https://eventhorizon-srv.com/ecommerce/os/catalog/mogami-2932-4-chx4-ret-stage-snake-p-3698.html

 

[Jason Hennigan]

OH, I would suggest you might instead of feeding headphones down the snake you feed a line level signal to a headphone box so the talent can have their own volume control.

 

[dumaisaudio]

Another thumbs up for CBI products. My local shop deals with them, and I've ordered many custom snakes from them, you can even specify custom labeling on each cable.

 

[pbansen]

I would suggest instead of feeding headphones down the snake you feed a line level signal to a headphone box so the talent can have their own volume control.

That's an excellent idea - run line level to a headphone amp/distribution box at the 'talent' end.

You might think about just having Redco make you a fan to fan snake that includes the number of microphone channels you need and a headphone channel as the return. When I ran the custom cable creator app on their website, using Rapco-Horizon 6 channel snake cable and Neutrik connectors, I came up with about $120. If you're on a budget, buy the parts from them for about half that amount and build it yourself!

https://www.redco.com/Custom-Cable.html

 

[pbansen]

I'm looking for something that allows me to run 4 mics (xlr) down to the board and then feed the headphone lines (1/4" TRS) back down to the 'talent'. Any tips on how to achieve this better or any snakes other than the one I found that would work for this purpose?

Hey Lucas - Is the talent getting individual mixes or are they all hearing the same mix on their headphones?