-=> Quoting Terry Smith to T Owen <=-
 TS> Cheap, cheap, and cheap, the first three rules of many pro audio
 TS> designs(???).  Maybe you've even seen unbalanced line levels next to
 TS> the mics?  Or RatShack SM-58 copies with unbal outs?  Not many folks
 TS> who understnand both the engineering theory and the practical art want
 TS> to live on the road for long.   
I've never noticed anyone running UNbalanced lines next to mic feeds, 
but then I don't look too closely at other people's equipment, for fear
of what I might find. Every once in a while I get pleasantly surprised.
That Rat Shack stuff has no place in pro audio, I agree; even thier
connectors are trash. I had to buy an xlr connector there in a pinch
once, and it DID last 2 shows, but.....what's wrong with this picture?
I worked a few shows at a now defunct bar called Molly's, this was in
Allston MA, they had a Peavey 24 channel boat anchor for a mixer, 
Peavey vocal mics, and other refinements... The line level returns to
stage were run with the mic level signals, and if you raised the gain
on the inputs and outputs of the board a bit with NO mics connected, 
you could watch the feedback build on the meters. This was an installed
"system", and there was no need to do it this way. I will never forget
that place as long as I'm a fader jockey! I have a friend in the 
business who is an electrical engineer, does reinforcement loaclly here
in NH, and he uses Rat Shack style transformers, rather than DI's; at
the same time, he is very careful to keep speaker cabling short, and
uses Beyer mics, so there are tradeoffs when money is an issue, even
for folks who understand what they are doing. What a shame. Take care.
... The mind is the weapon,everything else is a tool.
--- Blue Wave/RA v2.20
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