Digital Snakes

[Remoteness]

On the surface, they seem very cool. Is the price point there yet? Are they workhorses? I guess time will tell.

The bi-directional circuits, mics, 96/24 A/D's, networkable and the ability for remote control make them very inviting.

Have you tried any of them out yet? And what about Whirlwind's eSnake?

[Coolstuff]

I have not tried them yet, but have been keeping my eye on such lines as the QSC Rave, the Whirlwind ESnake and EMod systems, and the Aviom CAT-5 personal monitor network system.

Lately, I have been researching networkable DSP systems for a corporate conference /broadcast facility. (Symetrix's Symnet, BSS' Soundweb, etc.) Similar to a digital snake, but has DSP's distributed throughout the I/O interfaces. That gives you drag & drop network design and processing right at the inputs and outputs. By DSP, I mean mixing, routing, EQ, comp/limiting, etc.

The A/D D/A convertors are up to 96/48 or better and you can get mic pre's on the inputs (or use your own, but you can contol theirs on the network).

Seems very cool and if they work well, that's what I'm about!

[theoryinmotion]

Have you seen where SymNet is at now? Amazing features and networking capabilities. Literally amazing sounding commercial platform!

[BenFranske]

I have installed and maintain a Whirlwind eSnake Cobranet installation for live sound use in a 800 seat theater. What specifically are you interested in knowing about?

I would think that for recording purposes a non-IP based digital snake (such as MADI) would be better. The IP protocol adds a lot of complexity and some latency, for an installed system it does add some useful flexibility though.