Mic Splitter quality levels.

[MikeV]

So looking at a few 4 or 8 channel snake splitters online that are rack mounted, I noticed a large price difference through a few different brands including ART, Radial, and Whirlwind.

So the lowest price pieces being the ART devices, featuring 8 inputs and either 2 or 3 outputs, with transformers. Buy ART S8-3Way Eight-Channel Three-Way Mic Splitter | Microphone Preamps | Musician's Friend

So it seems that some companies are advertising Lundahl transformers and I was curious just how much of a difference these various quality levels make?

I would most likely be taking the direct side and supplying phantom and letting the house take the transformer side.

[bishopthomas]

If you're always taking the direct side then who cares? Screw the other guy! But really, the quality of the transformer makes a difference. Whether you will hear that difference or not is the real question.

[tnjazz]

Originally Posted by MikeV

I would most likely be taking the direct side and supplying phantom and letting the house take the transformer side.

Good luck with that.

You would not be accomplishing that in ANY club I've ever worked in. FOH guys are absolutely loath to give up control of phantom power around here...

[MikeV]

Originally Posted by tnjazz

Good luck with that.

You would not be accomplishing that in ANY club I've ever worked in. FOH guys are absolutely loath to give up control of phantom power around here...

That is one of the feelings I had, we are relatively close with the technicians we will be working with most of the time and it shouldn't be a problem. Most likely, we will be only running phantom to drum OH and everything else is dynamic or a mic placed specifically for recording, so it shouldn't be TOO much of a problem as far as I am concerned, but other venues may be different.

[jasonraboin]

The quality of the transformer makes a big difference when you send things at line level though them. I found this out recently when provided a CBI snake with Neutrik NTE-1 transformers that are rated with a max input level of -3. I was using the line output of an Avalon U5 and the line output of several other instrument pres onstage. They distorted - a lot. Having used the same pres onstage for hundreds of shows, and usually being provided high quality splits, this was the first time I had experienced this problem.

[LX3]

That's why mic splitters have pads on them... hopefully.

If your splitter doesn't have built in pads, you can use an inline XLR pad.

Most house PA systems aren't set up to handle line level from stage, so it's not a problem you run into that often.

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by bishopthomas

If you're always taking the direct side then who cares? Screw the other guy! But really, the quality of the transformer makes a difference. Whether you will hear that difference or not is the real question.

except that with all passive splits both sides are going to be affected but a change on the other side.

[bishopthomas]

I've always heard this but still have not figured out what these "changes" actually are. Are you saying that as one side turns up a preamp it will affect the other side? Because that's not true. I insert a pad between the mic and my preamp and FOH gets the drop too? Nope. Of course phantom passes from both sides so caution should be taken. But what about these "changes" you speak of?

[aussie_techie]

the common issues that comes to my mind is the loading change and transformers solely can't get around this. the input impedance that a mic sees can drastically change its performance. on most live console simply engaging a pad changes the input impedance and that change will be reflected across a passive split. If the transformer your using doesnt represent even loading across the spectrum then you could be info trouble before you start.

same goes for any noise that's generated on the isolated side would still be transferred to the direct side.

that said how many people notice the difference in performance of a mic with a Y split? So with a transformer split you probably wont notice anything at all. There not likely to actually be any problem, just saying that problem exist and the idea that transformers isolate a split is kind of misleading.

[Remoteness]

Keep in mind that an isolation transformer only isolates you from the other systems and passes all audio signals generated even the ugly ones.

Did anyone ever unplug a patch (with phantom on) at FOH or MON world and the truck heard a pop? Same thing goes with unplugging a channel in the truck; everyone hears the noise if their faders are up.

If there's a buzz or hum or short on someones snake channel (or equipment) that has nothing to do with a chassis to chassis or pin one issue the sound will pass thru the transformer like any audio signal would.

Remember, transformers pass audio signal, so if you can hear a hum or buzz or whatever it will pass thru to the other sides of the split.

We recently had a problem like this happen to us when using one of our passive splitters with a PA company that had a few issues with their rig...

We heard every one of their problems like it was our own...

In this situation you are only as good as the gear they're using.
We helped fix their problems which benefited our capture.

[MikeV]

is anyone taking their split from the monitor tail of the house split? There are a few more points in the signal chain, but it seems to make things a bit easier for everyone.

[edwinhurwitz]

I use a Y split on a daily basis and I've never had any trouble. Not once in three years of touring. If there are any sonic degradations introduced, they are surely less than the noise generated in a noisy club, theater or outdoor venue.

I suppose if I were doing jazz or classical music or something with a bigger dynamic range and a quieter audience, I might consider a tranformer isolated or active system, but this works great for now.

Edwin

[bishopthomas]

Sure. I've taken monitor tails when there is no monitor console for a show. I've also taken a third split out when it is available. Most House of Blues that I have come across have 3-way splitters. Advancing this ahead of time will allow you to leave gear at home or in the truck.

[bishopthomas]

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

I use a Y split on a daily basis and I've never had any trouble. Not once in three years of touring.

That's excellent news. In January I was on tour with a band that had their own (well, my rig they eventually bought) monitor console. I had built the splitter and it worked perfectly on every show but one. Soundcheck went fine but when I returned before the show the house guys informed me that they were getting a lot of noise through my splitter and ended up having to bypass it. We were sharing channels with the opener and left everything patched, that is how they figured it out. We change back over to our splitter and sure enough, bass and a vocal were being attacked by killer bees. We ended up using a simple Y cord and all was well. The rest of the tour everything went perfectly. Sometimes you just run into Gremlins.

[drums001]

I am a touring drummer trying to build an in-ear monitor rig with an 8 channel splitter in it. I was thinking of the ART- S8 (ART S8 | Sweetwater.com).

Will this create signal loss for FOH if I give the direct outs to FOH and use the parallel outs for my rig?

[bishopthomas]

Nope. That should work for you. Have you thought about how you're going to get the signal to your splitter and how you're going to get it back to the house rig? You might want to invest in a couple of subsnakes.