Buying a snake

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vagodeoz
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Vagodeoz

Vagodeoz

One-Man-Band
Hi people, I need some help here.
I want to buy a XLR stage snake. At first I though they would be like 50 bucks... hahaha idiot me...
I found here (in bolivia) two, that are about 250 and 280$. If i remember correctly one pearl and one horizon.
That's a lot of money... especially for an "accesory" (my mixer which is the most expensive part of my studio costed about 320$).
So the only option below 200$ I found was this one. It's 50 feet and only 8 channels, and no returns, and it's 76 bucks.
Then the next one on the price scale is one from the same brand, that btw has great reviews. This one with 24 sends and 4 returns and is 200$. But those are in usa and I would have to pay like 20 or 30% more for shipping.
If I'm buying a snake I think it should have returns, so that eliminates any 200$- option.
The ones here that are 280$, I could probably have the price dropped, maybe even to 200$ (a friend did that with some behringer monitors).
I thought about how practical a digital snake would be, and I did found one from mackie and one from peavey I think... They cost like 7000$ :)
So for now I'll just stick to analog hehe
Suggestions? Experiences with any of the brands?
 
I've never done much research into audio snakes before, as I have never had the need for one, but perhaps try ebay, or if you are good at soldering and metalsmithing, you could try to build one... it would be pretty make-shift, but with cheaper components and bulk cable you could probably cobble something together for less than 280 bucks.
 
have you looked at the Hosa "Little Bro"? its good for the money, great for a small/home studio. 6 XLRs, two balanced 1/4" runs, available in lengths of 30-60 feet (I think).
 
Hi_Flyer said:
have you looked at the Hosa "Little Bro"? its good for the money, great for a small/home studio. 6 XLRs, two balanced 1/4" runs, available in lengths of 30-60 feet (I think).
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:eek: That one looks pretty damm good! However... since I'm spending big buck for a snake, I thought I could buy one that I could use also for live sound. On my drumkit I use 11-12 mikes. I would need two of those, that cost almost like the big ones :) especially if I buy the 50 feet model, that I would need for gigs. Lately I'm doing PA for orchestra, with no more than 6 mikes, so that shouldn't be a problem, but I think I would need at least 16 channels for my studio, so I won't run out of channels anytime soon.

cusebassman: I kinda did the numbers some time ago, and it was even more expensive than the 280$ models.
a 24x4 snake has 28 channels x 50 feet = 1400 feet of (good) cable. Without counting the 56 connectors and the box.
 
I actually have the AV link. I'm in the process of testing right now to see if/what any differences may be between plugging into that and just running straight to the board. I have an odd shaped/laid out home and I can't really make upgrades, etc for recording purposes. In idle use it seems to work just fine. The construction is pretty solid. My only complain is the XLR ends that plug into the board, the cables running out to each are pretty thin and flimsy, I could see problems if you arent careful when things are plugged in. If you dont have anyone walking around, kids or pets running around when it's in use, it would probably work out fine for you.
 
My advice is to buy as many channels as you really need, then just figure out a way to pay for it. What's the point in buying a snake that doesn't have enough channels? It will always be a problem and you'll just eventually need to buy another bigger one.

In reality, you should be buying a snake with *more* channels than you currently need, not less.

Avoid any snake that uses plastic molded ends. Hosa makes those, and don't waste your money on them. Hosa also makes snakes with metal ends, which are the only ones from them you should consider.

Another option is to have a snake custom made for you, to the exact specifications of what you need. This will not necessarily cost that much more, and you'll have the exact snake you need to make your work easier for you.
 
Yeah, but I also have a 10 mic input mixer. If I get a 24 channel snake I would have 14 useless cables taking a lot of space in my desk. But I'm planning on upgrading my mixer in 1 or 2 years max.
Right now I use my own cables, since they are rather long, and for one or two channels only I have to put two short cables together. So the other option was to buy one of those 6x2 snakies and for the rest of the channels just use the long cables. At least until I upgrade my mixer, and then I buy a good 24 channel snake. And I would also have a small snake, so if I need to do PA with 6 channels, I take the small one, instead of the huuuuuge one.
But not sure...
200$ Big snake
300$ Big snake + Small snake

And for the brands? any suggestions? For what I have heard the horizon are the best of the options I have seen. But I'm not totally sure if it was horizon the ones I saw here. I'll go tomorror to check.
 
I found a no name brand on ebay for 50 bucks and it suits me very nicely. Great for a home studio check it out the guy sells a million of these things.
 
DAS19 said:
I found a no name brand on ebay for 50 bucks and it suits me very nicely. Great for a home studio check it out the guy sells a million of these things.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link?

I have had some snakes made for me by http://www.hotwiredcables.com/

They are very good quality, but may be a bit pricey. If you tell them what you need they'll give you a quote.
 
I got a snake from these guys

http://stores.ebay.com/Seismic-Audio

The qaulity isn't what I would call "gig worthy" but the price is right and if you don't beat them around they aren't so bad...


something like this one looks like it may work for you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-50-12-x-4-CHANNEL-PRO-AUDIO-STAGE-SNAKE-CABLE_W0QQitemZ110199259564QQihZ001QQcategoryZ41461QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

The shipping might be your only problem but when I've dealt with them they were super nice guys so you never know until you ask.
 
Wow, nice suggestions guys, but the shipping to USA alone is at least 20$. Then I would have to pay more to get it sent here to bolivia, that would be not very far from the price I would pay for them here.
I'll get the money on monday, so until then I'll keep researching a little more.
Thanks again!
 
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