Brian, Keep your LS9 and your copper snake. Think about it as a business. If they are paid for, then they are making you money. If you get a job or jobs where it will pay you to upgrade then do it, but not now. scott stephens
I'm a weekend warrior who owns an LS9. I've been carrying a 40 channel copper snake for the last few years which I really have no problems with at all. I like that it easily interfaces with any console I could choose to rent and I can crossrent it to other companies. It does the job.
I haven't kept up with the latest offerings on digital snakes but I've heard prices have come down quite a bit and if I can find something that fits my criteria I could be interested in making the switch.
My ideal snake would:
-Be modular (a couple of 16x8 units would be great as well as a few 8 channel output-only boxes)
-Use a standard format that can be easily connected to any brand of console (no proprietary Yamaha/Roland stuff)
-Run on a single Cat5 cable
-Have control of the preamps from the console
-Have the option to use with an analog console by connecting the input unit directly to an output unit that would be kept at FOH
-Not be ridiculously hard to set up (device IDs, MAC addresses etc. )
-Be under $4k for 32 inputs
For all I know, a system like this might not exist, but I thought I would ask here to see if now is the time to go digital or wait until its possible.
Let's hear suggestions!