Hey everyone,
I am wishing I can find a deal on rack stage pre-amps for my LS9-32 so we can just quickly run a CAT 5 cable and no heavy snake work.
BUT, these things are nowhere to be found and PRICEY when you do find them.
Will the Midas ones work 
Or any other options out there ??
All digital snake options for legacy Yamaha consoles are expensive.
While I'm not a fan of handling extra weight or bulk, I'm still surprised by the amount of disdain from users regarding multicore. Even in our small "van" rigs the snake accounts for a relatively small proportion of total cabling.
FWIW, I personally own an X32, S16, and X32Rack. I'm using the ProCo CAT5e w/shield & Ethercon® connectors specified by Music Group's John DiNicola in another forum. IIRC it uses Belden 7919. It's springy and does not always lay flat of its own accord. It can be crushed by catering carts, housemen rolling 8' round banquet tables over it, and even foot traffic. IOW, it requires the protection your multicore would under the same circumstances.
Some consoles will more happily operate with unshielded CAT5e, but even so the cable does not lay flat, will kink up, and still requires protection. All of them are a pain in the ass to take up, too, if you want to keep them in good condition. I use a spool designed for remote broadcast use.
If your decision is only about size and weight I think you should consider keeping your analog multi for another season and then look at upgrading your mixer to Yamaha's QL series with Rio stage boxes. You'll get a nicer console, very flexible i/o on stage and allegedly better audio, too. Oh, and common CAT5 for a snake.
