which snake?

[lookingforcool]

I was wondering if anyone can recommend a decent snake. I need something inexpensive I can run out to Guitar Center and pick up. (ie: not like a website I can order from.)

I just have no idea what brands are decent for the money. I obviously wanna stay away from Hosa, but their prices are just so pretty!

I need an RCA to 1/4 inch 8 channel recording snake.

Any tips on better than horrible companies? (Money is an issue here, unfortunately.)

Thanks in advance!

 

[mikedaul]

stay clear of hosa.

I have a proco snake on the way, and I've used other cables from them in the past without any problems, so I think for the money they are at least decent...

 

[sonusman]

Go here: http://www.theredsector.com/ed/index.html and listen to these mixes.

Tell me if you think they sound okay, then I will tell you about the snakes that were used.

Ed

 

[DeadPoet]

I think Hosa will do just fine in a permanent setup, but not if you plan on redesigning your wiring every month. The cable is good, it's the connectors that are bad and they will become unreliable ...


Herwig

 

[sonusman]

I agree mostly with you DeadPoet.

Since nobody commented, I will go out on a limb. All but two of those mixes ran through all ALL Hosa cable in the signal path. Would I prefer to use Mogami? You bet!!! But when I built my first studio, I could afford Hosa, and I NEVER had a problem with any of it at all. EVER!!! And obviously, it sounds fine.

About the "reliability" of their cable and connectors. One of the clubs I work at has Hosa insert snakes. We have 14 channels of processors that we can use. In the 4 years this stuff has been installed, not even ONE line of the Hosa insert cables have failed. This club is open 7 nights a week, and the cables are inserted, pulled out every night.

Hosa will work JUST FINE if you are on a budget. If you are looking to step up, look at Horizon/ProCo. If you want even better, try Mogami. If you want the best, get Monster Studio Pro 1000.....but you will need to morgage the house for that...

Ed

 

[lookingforcool]

well, the reason i didn't want to go with Hosa is because i am permanently on the move.

I record some things at my mom's house, some stuff here at mine, some stuff in the tracking room at a local studio, and some live shows for local artists.

so i have to be able to break down and reset everything up at least twice a week. every single week.

i guess what i can do is just buy a hosa, and if it poos out, i'll replace it. i mean, it's like 20 bucks or something, right?

i never thought the quality of sound would suffer (though i'm sure it could improve with much higher quality cabling.) but hopefully it'll last a couple months, at least.

thanks guys!

ps - sonusman, i thought you were just eff'in with me, that's why i didn't reply. i just never even thought about the quality of sound suffering, and it was pretty clear what your answer was gonna be. no offense, though. i think i'll go listen to that stuff later anyway, when i have the time!

 

[TexRoadkill]

Pro/co or Horizon is usually a good bet. Keep the snake as short as possible since you are using unbalanced lines. Less than 10' would be best.