Change is the one constant.
As regular followers will know I have a regular spot two nights a week at a venue in the city and another engineer does the other 3 nights. I had a call yesterday to say that the Saturday just gone was his last night there, for health reasons. It's The Curse Of The Mustang Bar, the previous two in-house engineers passed away while holding that position. The company supplying the equipment no longer has the personnel to find a replacement at short notice, so the directors have brought in another company to help out. This happens to be my other employer, and I'm glad they're involved. The system is mostly pretty old - it's mostly analogue, except for a Ui24 available for IEM's. This *could* be repatched so it handles the foldback speakers too but the outgoing engineer didn't want to do it. I'm in favour and I have a feeling the younger guys from the new company will want to go that way too as they almost always work in digital.

I have always enjoyed what I do but you have to watch out or it can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. I try to keep a regular couple of nights somewhere to give me a reliable base income, then I can look for freelance and one-off jobs, and whatever else comes up. I've posted about the many and varied jobs I do in the industry. But what I'm getting at is that in regular positions the years go by before you notice, then you suddenly realise you're old enough to have to watch out for all those things that happen as we age. So many of the people I worked with over the years are gone for health reasons (to put it mildly). The other operator at this venue might have caught this if he'd had regular check-ups, or not, I can't say. It's not my place to say what that health issue is but I do know most of the established live audio engineers are not young any more and I would encourage everyone to stay in touch with their doctors and try to catch health conditions as early as possible.

One of the partners at the old company is in his 80's now and keeps working just because he enjoys it. It's funny isn't it, in audio, what a bunch of fanatics we are! Not many people in that line of work are what you'd call rich, but they love it and just want to keep mixing. I know I do. That boss meets his friends at the beach *every* morning at 6am to go swimming and rides his bike to and from the beach, it must be 10km each way. That's why he's got energy to keep going. He must weigh about half what I do but he's pretty fit! Well, few other audio people I know are that healthy. I guess it's the hours involved, lots of late nights and then the setups and pack ups can be hard work so all you want to do after that is rest.
Anyway, stay healthy out there, or you won't be able to keep mixing! That's a dire outcome I'd like to avoid

I haven't posted for a while as I've been so busy, there's plenty going on. Tours and festivals are slowing down and this "season" wasn't as busy as it could have been but local live music is very strong at the moment. More venues are getting back into hosting live music. The tribute band thing is doing well and that's where I get a lot of my work. A few years ago there was an oversupply of bands trying to break into that market but now I think the scene has settled itself down - those tribute acts that weren't getting enough ticket sales have pulled out and the successful ones are getting more experienced and know their market and what people will pay to see.

I'm frequently being asked if I'm available to mix, sometimes 2 or 3 people will offer me a job on the same night. I'm not what you'd call a young man any more and some of these jobs have been hard going, esp. when the rest of the crew is half my age and I'm struggling in the weather as it is. On Friday I was only mixing but they had a full capacity crowd and it was a hot, humid night. With that many people in there in those conditions it was beyond the capacity of the air conditioning and it was just getting hotter and hotter inside, I thought I would have to walk away and go somewhere to cool off but so many of the crowd were overheating too that they started leaving, then the air con was able to catch up. I can handle being uncomfortable in the heat (importantly for Perth) but the heat was starting to worry me.

That was another tribute show, Wallens and Luke Coombes new country rock style. Which is huge at the moment, amazingly. I couldn't believe all the pretty young ladies in faux cowboy boots and hats and a million guys in their best urban cowboy designer gear. Amazing. Like I said, that was a capacity crowd, they sold over 90% of the room's capacity long before the show and reserved some tickets to sell on the door on the night, and they went in no time too. Usually we're happy if we get half that. That same band was due to play last night at a bigger venue just outside the city limits and that had completely sold out weeks ago - they had a budget for marketing mostly via Facebook et al then they found they really didn't need to spend it, tickets sold like hotcakes as soon as they put up a few posters and simply listed the show on the venue's "What's On" page. I'm not much of a country fan but that's irrelevant - it's the standard of the band and the show they do that concerns me.

And these guys were great. I've worked with most of them before, some of them going back years. The drummer had whatever was Pearl's top drum kit of about 5 years ago and that thing sounded terrific. All large diameter shells, almost John Bonham style. The kick drum was a 24" by 14", large dia. but relatively shallow. I had my usual mic kit but it turned out I'd left one of the ball joints at home for my Triad-Orbit kick mic stand so I had to fudge it somehow. What I used was simply a vertical stem about 250mm tall with the mic on top, fortunately I had the other T-O piece with the long stem on it so I could get it far enough into the shell. I think I've got a photo.
I was the last person to mix at the venue about two weeks before so the console hadn't been touched. The drummer arrived first so I miked up his kit. He has a nice home studio and knows a lot of audio so he set the drums channel sends for his in-ear monitors himself the same as he'd do at home. This was so he could warm up with IEM's while I continued setting up other stuff on stage.

I figured that the drums channels should be usable from the last tribute gig two weeks ago I posted about at the time. He told me that was possibly the best IEM mix at a live gig he'd ever had! I really hadn't put any thought or effort into setting it either - hadn't looked at it at all to be honest. I told him that the sends were probably post insert and EQ, pre-fader so he was hearing it with the processing from the last gig. But I noticed later, it was in fact on my template scene, I hadn't saved that last show over it- all the channels EQ's were flat and the dynamics were bypassed. So he was loving the sound of the drums with *no* EQ or dynamics processing at all, just the mics straight through, and they sounded great! I had to agree, the kick, snare and toms sounded just how I wanted them as they were; it goes to show what a difference it makes when you're miking good sources. Probably any mics would have sounded good on that drum kit but as you know I'm pretty happy with my mics anyway.

As it's a template scene I do have *some* processing on a few channels, eg the hi hats channel has a HPF set relatively high, I forget but probably 200 Hz or even higher, the ride mic maybe 125 or 160Hz, but otherwise flat. And that sounded nice for cymbals too (Beyerdynamic MC950). In the past I might have put a LMF cut in the kick drum channel for example as it's pretty common for me to use that, but for this scene I decided to have all the channels more neutral. Again, the mic selection and positioning were all I needed to get the sound I wanted from that drum kit and he loved it in his IEM's, and I have to say I was pretty pleased with it in the FOH mix just as it was.

For most of it the lead singer was playing an acoustic guitar, and for once wasn't using one of those awful radio transmitters that hang off the plug right in the guitar's output socket. I think the receivers for those output line level, but whatever it is it's pretty hot and distorts my PZ-DI unless I use the DI's pad, then that fixes the input Z at 50kOhm defeating the purpose of using that DI. So I was glad to have it connected via a cable the old way.
I'd like to write a long spiel about faddish new equipment like these cheap RF links for guitars and mics sounding awful, and yet another one about digital modelling guitar amps sounding like crap in the hands of over 90% of users but I'll do that another time.

A feature of this gig was how much stuff I'd forgotten to bring with me and simply left at home - the important joint for the kick mic stand, my headphones, the Beta 91A I intended to put inside the kick (but we were so happy with the dynamic mic anyway that it didn't matter) and a couple of other bits. I'd decided to just use the house mics for toms, e904's. Between that and the forgotten stuff it meant a slightly simpler setup than I might have used and I think that was good for me, to focus on the basics.
4 of them had IEM's and that PA has a digital console but an analogue multicore so it doesn't have the many sends for IEM's etc that most digital setups would. Instead I used sex changers at the console end to convert a couple of the input lines into returns for extra IEM's. For one of these the transmitter's antenna was broken so it only had short range, otherwise I'd have preferred to have it at the console.

This week was difficult with the other house engineer no longer working at my regular spot so we had to find replacements for when I can't be there (which will be often). They're a younger generation with little time on analogue consoles of more than about 6 channels And naturally for the new guy's first night we had the largest setup, the swing band, but he did fine on that. That's to his credit IMO, no one else even wanted to do that gig. I think they all thought he'd kinda drawn the short straw on that one.

There are 2 bands, both do 3 sets, music from 7pm to 2.30am. After the first band from the look of the patch bay he might have had some difficulty swapping over to the 2nd one (pop - rock covers) and he said that the drumfill monitor was cutting out. It's a bi-amped old EV Mongoose, in fact just the bottom end was dropping out and that's a known problem there, we have to replace the EP5 cable.* But that was a long haul for the guy and no matter if it's an old or new rig I always feel some pressure taking on a new gig. That one's right in the centre of town and gets a big crowd some nights, last night it was absolutely full to capacity all night with a >50m right down the road and around the corner to get in for about the last whole 4 or 5 hours it was open. So, there was some pressure on him but he's a very competent and experienced guy with a level head. He'll be fine.

It was a massive week with stories to tell, I'll post more later

*he actually did something resourceful and improvised, though I wouldn't have approved. Ther'es an old EV TL cabinet, a single 15" speaker in a box that many bass players used in the 80s and 90s. It's our one piece of in-house backline equipment, so upright bass players and others don't have to bring a bass amp... I think it's a legacy of some gig many moons ago when the pub first opened. So, he got that out and patched into the LF half of the 2ch amp driving the drumfill, and the drummer had that and the Mongoose box, with its horn still working. Neat but that's not a PA speaker! It's an old 80s bass amp cab. That drummer plays loud as heck and I'm amazed it survived the gig but it was working the next night for the rockabilly band.

Bernie, know you've had your share of bike commuting issues. The solution is right there in Perth, if you work at the right place.





Link might not survive, but there's more here.

David

David, wow what a bike rack! I would gladly pay for a spot like that, or even a fraction as good if it were only secure. I am sure there's a business opportunity for someone to open a safe, secure place to keep your bike or e-bike in the city. In the morning and afternoon, the dual-use cycleway / footpath into town is really busy, it's a major thoroughfare but just not for cars.
Maybe someone could deck out a truck with lock-up bike bays on the back and they arrange with the city to park it somewhere, and you have a pop-up bike shelter. I'd pay to use that. I had a business idea - rent a mobile band room. A truck with a green room on the back, with couch, bathroom, changeroom / whatever, and swipe card access or something. I hate not being able to retreat out of sight somewhere between brackets.

I've been working in the city a little more often recently, with the other house engineer at my regular spot leaving and some others in the area. I've said it before, I like my job, the venues and the people I work with but I just don't like that area. Worrying about my bike only makes it worse.

I did the early and late bands on Saturday, 3 sets each so it's long haul. It was kind of busy for the first band but from some time before the late band started, right up to when they closed the doors to the venue, they had a full house and a huge queue down the road outside to get in. For hours, amazing.

Since they're in a sort of interim period working with another audio company, I didn't use any of my mics or hardware or change anything that they have worked out between that band and their usual mixer. All house mics and the same settings they always use, keep everything on an even keel and change nothing.
The house mic kit has 3 e904's, they typically use one each on snare, rack tom and floor tom. I don't think much of them as snare mics, they're OK for live toms but at least with that clip-on mount it's not much of a snare sound IMO.

Last night I thought I might need to do the Wednesday night with all the default house stuff again but that wasn't the case so I used my own mics again. The difference between my M201 and an e904 on a nice snare drum was like night and day, the Beyer ate the other mic for breakfast. I get to mix some nice equipment with the bands I work with, last night I think the drum kit was called a Tama Starclassic, not high end but a pretty nice set of shells with some nice snare, and the M201 gave the snare a real voice that the Sennheiser couldn't touch . This guy has his rack tom on the dreaded floating mount but he wisely attaches that to a cymbal stand, so the flange that stops most rim-mounts from fitting is turned out of the way. I've got a photo to add later.

Today for a new installation one of my employers had to pick up a new SQ7 and router, and asked me to get it working with a tablet and ready to install. While downloading a firmware update for that and their older Qu32's, I saw the Windows driver for using these desks as a USB interface so I downloaded that too, I must try that some time. I still want to get a new laptop or surface to record live with and I'd like to be able to do a multitrack recording at more venues with their desks
EDIT I looked up how to update the firmware in those A&H mixers, like most you can do it with files copied onto a thumb drive but the bad news is, first you have to format it with the desk to A&H's file system (I guess), that's a bit of a pain. Once formatted you then copy the update file to it from a windows or mac computer then put it back into the console and complete the update. I have an el cheapo hub that allows me to connect my win laptop, samsung tablet, oppo phone and an SSD for Android, all without a single external driver or options screen and seamlessly transfer files from anything to anything... you would think in this day and age a relatively recent large device like a digital console could manage to read the default FS on a basic thumb drive.

It's not often I have a whole Friday and Saturday without a gig of some description - I've been enjoying it. I don't much like the busy city on a Saturday night and IMO Fridays are less crowded but have a higher proportion of dunderheads.
While I haven't had a gig to mix I can think of 3 people from different companies that have asked me to help them with problems connecting a tablet via a router to a digital mixer in the last few days. To me this is an IT skill and a basic one, not something you first call a sound engineer about, but that's how it goes - I suppose when you're on the spot with the clock ticking and something doesn't work, the person you call is whoever you know with experience on the same equipment. As I posted, we did pick up a new SQ7 and the boss asked me to get it and the router working with my tablet, but other calls came from working live engineers who I would have thought should have known about this stuff.

At my weekly gig they use a Soundcraft Ui24 for extra IEM sends and there's an Apple Airport to connect to it. Those mixers do have their own hotspot but the range is tiny, maybe 5 paces, so it's usual to use an external router. And because the company renting the venue the equipment has always used Apple since the early 80's, they've always tried to use Apple hardware whenever possible. IMO using a device that's been out of production for years, just because it's the brand you like, is not best practice. Esp. since the same company has a new installation going in, of their oldish gear (Nexo Alpha), for a venue they just had to choose and buy a new WiFi router and I recommended a Netgear model. Just a common type you can get at many retailers, about $150 AU (~US $90).
The Airport at the venue in town suddenly dropped out today, while they were there doing some maintenance on the PA itself, and would not talk to the iPad. To me it sounds like user error - did someone accidentally turn WiFi off on the iPad, or something like that - but it's possible that this >10 year old consumer device finally died. New WiFi routers from reputable brands are cheap, all the more reason to steer away from old gear. In digital and networking terms, that thing is ancient.

It's a pretty basic networking case - one router, providing a link between one tablet and one digital mixer. You might even have more than one tablet / phone / etc controlling one IEM send each via that same router but it's still only dealing with very low bandwidth links by today's standards - kilobytes per second at the most, if it's displaying RTA output, and typically less than that.
I don't know what the outgoing house engineer and the incoming temporary guy worked out between them - that band on Saturday nights uses 5 IEM sends and depends on them being available - but I'm glad I didn't get any frantic phone calls during the night

I had a good day (OK, mostly night) at work yesterday. Two bands, 3 full sets each with an hour between so a long haul, I was there for 9.5 hours and I think I only ever stood still when I was actually mixing.

In '93 and '94 I had what I consider my first serious in-house mixing job, at a nice pub in the Northbridge district of Perth, not far from where I work mid-week now. My maternal grandfather was a band leader from the 1930's to the 50's when he died young, long before I was born, and that venue was one of the ones he really looked forward to, it was quite upper crust in its day, so my grandmother said. She was impressed that I was working there, all those years later.

Anyway back then there was a very nice beer garden area out the back where they had live music and my name was given to the company supplying the PA when they were looking for an operator. I was able to work with some very good musicians and to this day I could still name-drop those guys and get some mileage out of it.
There would be an early band in the afternoon then a dance / pop covers band later, both doing 3 sets, very similar to the way the current venue does now. One of those early bands did kind of country songs, more like 50's and early 60's rock-n-roll with a touch of rockabilly here and there, but a few Hank Williams type numbers.

Wouldn't you know it, that band still plays on Sundays occasionally where I work now, or the current incarnation, which is that same singer / front man and whoever he's working with now. Yesterday in fact the bass player was the same one as back then, on his very last gig before retirement to a lovely coastal property in South Australia. I hadn't seen him since those days so it was nice to say hi one more time before he moves away. Even the current senior manager of the bar now was the manager of that venue back then, with that band playing... in fact more than half the set was the exact same songs, which I memorised all those years ago and could still sing along with.

We always had a decent if smallish PA system with good mics, desk etc back then, and the rig yesterday might be getting old but it's certainly good enough. Due to the changes recently, the other house engineer leaving and working with another company, I had intended to do everything totally stock standard with the house mics and equipment, but I really couldn't bear to do such a favourite gig with mics I don't think much of - I just don't like e906's on elec. guitar, least of all with such classic amps and guitars as all those guys use. The lead guitarist yesterday is one of the best in Perth, just a pleasure to hear and see him play, and as I had my trusty M160 with me there was no way I was going to mic him up with that Sennheiser thing. The whole band can seriously play, no doubt about that, but this lead guitarist was something else. They played about half old classics, half original, and they know all about the tones they want to get and how to get them, I love mixing bands like this with classic sounds. M160 at about 20cm / 8" off his Fender combo, which had an Eminence hemp coned speaker in it (interesting, and lovely sounding) sounded just gorgeous. Now I've started using mics like this I find it difficult to go back! For the singer / rh. guitarist (Fender Bassman, 4 x 12" in a combo amp, owned since new) I used a 57, then two of them had acoustic guitars. I brought one JDI and one PZ-DI, then it turned out both acoustics had active pickups and a hot output so I was wishing I had a JDI for both. But they still sounded fine.

The drummer made his name with one of the coolest local bands of the late 80's (The Stems) and rather than do the traditional drums sound check, I asked him to just play some time with a few tom rolls or hits here and there, or better yet one of the songs they were going to play, and sound checked off that. That IMO was the best way to do it - put all the channels up together, hear them mixed and make any adjustments on that basis. Otherwise I thought it'd sound too rock-n-roll (though they did actually want it skewed more that way than fully traditional). And right away I was more than happy with the drum sound. You know me, I added a ride cymbal mic of course, once I saw he was going to play his ride a lot.

The later band's drummer bought a new kit early this year and never managed to cut a hole in the kick drum's resonator (front) head for a couple of months - I certainly *encouraged* him to do so though! Finally he did, that band has played once or twice there since then, but he still had a little work to do on his kick sound. Basically he had much too much damping in there - it was more like stuffing as it was way over-filled. I said he should take most of it out and just use maybe two small towels rolled up, leaned against both skins just to damp them, and little or no other lining. That's basically what he did though he did have another towel on the bottom of the shell. He'd also taken my advice and when he did cut the hole out, made it larger than they usually are now - he made about a 6" hole and not too low down, say 4 o'clock, and for me that looked great.
It's a success. I put my usual kick drum mic on it, in the position I usually use, and right away we could both tell he had a hugely improved kick sound. We'd also replaced the drumfill speaker (2x15" and 1" horn, old EV Mongoose bi-amped) because the last one was getting a bit rattly, and I saw him try it out and this big grin appear on his face. He hadn't had a kick sound like that out of his own gear, possibly ever, and he was really enjoying it, and I have to admit I was more than happy with it too.

As ever I had all my favourite mics on everything, I spent extra time changing over from the house mics I was using for the first band to use all my own, and of course they were just great. This band is easy to set up and mix but I just want the best sounding sources I can get, and when I set up this way I'm always happy with my investment in mics and hardware.
My (mostly) Triad-Orbit kick mic stand is a success, I don't use the DW clamp-on mounting any more, unless for some reason I'm unable to take my stand with me. I get the mic in just the position I want, easily, so I get the sound I'm after, and it stays where I put it.

I don't understand why so many older sound guys become grumpy, unhelpful old curmudgeons, when with almost any effort at all you can turn the night into something you can enjoy and be proud of, and why wouldn't you? I love trying to zero in on the best sound I can get and making the most of each gig. When I get that I love it, when I don't I chase after it and try to make it better and work on it til I do get it, and that's satisfying too. And if I can't then I'm not satisfied and I think about how to solve this problem, and then next time I want it better. Again, why would anyone not enjoy that!

Someone told me that the current production Radial JDI's aren't as good as the older model because while they do have a Jensen transformer in there, it's from after Radial bought out Jensen, and different or so I've heard.
Can anyone tell me more about this? Even if that's true, what do you think of the current JDI? Has anyone posted some independent tests of it? Any personal views on how it compares with whatever you'd like to compare it to? Do you think they sound neutral, coloured and in what way, or what?

It's just I'm considering whether I want to buy a JDI Stereo. I've got a Pro D2 which serves me well but sometimes a 2nd stereo DI would be a help and if I get one I'd like it to be something worth using. I like using a stereo DI and 2-way cables and I've been using mine more often for break music or backing tracks from a BlueTooth receiver - it helps putting it through a couple of transformers IMO), and for backing tracks for a live act a few times.

I figure I'd use a JDI Stereo on stage for stereo keys, backing tracks etc, or sometimes dual mono. That would have been perfect on Sunday with two active pickup acoustic guitars, both with a brightish sound. And there are a couple of bands with an electronic drum pad and a backing track too, in mono. I use the Pro D2 for this now.
I don't think I'd bother getting a JDI Duplex. I'd rather have more single JDI's instead, and I don't think I want that. The Stereo version is only about 10% cheaper than the Duplex but it's compact. I take the Pro D2 to save weight and space over 2 JDI's if I have a single stereo keyboard. I've used JDI's instead and I can hear a difference.

Anyway they're a familiar DI to me and many others, some people sniff at them but I just want a clean, uncoloured sound and IMO the build quality is good. How do you lot feel about these DI's would you describe them like that?

Radial bought Jensen back in 2014 or so and I don't think anything changed in the process.

Now... here's where the bad stuff happens... in 2018, Radial is bought out by a private equity firm. I know they laid off some engineering folks but I don't know if they have made any actual changes in production since then or not.
--scott

Ahh dammit, that can be the start of a bad turn but who knows, they might keep making their popular lines. They must sell a lot of JDI's and J48's around the world. I guess if I do want a JDI Stereo in its current form then the safe thing is to get it soon, just in case.
I probably will get one, I've heard some people sneer at them and others say good things, as with most reviews, I'm interested in anyone's thoughts on JDI vs. anything.

I wrote a rambling post about how great my freakish kick mic stand is, then managed to post it in completely the wrong thread and managed to delete it forever before I could copy it to this one. Oh well. It's a really great stand and I love it, there.
I'll probably write more about it but I want to comment that the flat plate base I use is perfect for kick mic stands. It can slide under the kick drum shell for most setups, even if there's only 1cm between the lowest point on the kick and the floor. It has four squooshy feet and a fairly thick steel base so it doesn't transmit much vibration from the floor.

Even the mighty Triad-Orbit only makes tripod bases and TBH I can't think of another real flat base type. The one I use is from an obscure K&M line of two instrument stands. Nowadays all I use is usually just the base plate and the special bolt it comes with. One day I could lose that and then I'd be pissed off, it's ground on the sides so it doesn't turn but it's a K&M part, you can't buy a spare anywhere else and it's even really hard to identify the part and order it from K&M. So eventually I'll find my own 3/8" bolt and a way to fit it to a flat plate from underneath.
On mine I have a 3/8" to 5/8" adapter then the IO joint or quick release joint base. And that's it for the base. Then I bring either the mini boom and joint with the other half of the quick release, or just the T-O stuff. I have a Triad-Orbit IO joint on the bottom of that mini boom now and that works great too.

I'm glad I bought this expensive, fancy lookin' hardware for a kick mic stand, I really wanted a good one and that's what I've got now. I love being able to think up a cool system then order the parts for it, and they simply snap together and there's your perfect mic mount, in seconds. Very well designed and built. As I've said I'm picky about my kick mic placement, and anyway a single centimetre in or out of the shell can make quite a difference to the kick sound when you place the mic even just amount into the shell. IMO for a great drum sound live you have to have the right mic placement, and I'm more than happy with this mic stand for what I paid for it. It's stable and dependable once I set it up, and takes the cake for ultimate adjustability, can reach any position totally flexibly. Not only that but with the mic in any orientation on the stand too as it can roll, swivel and more then you simply lock it in place. It's great.
I treat the M201 on snare drum very similarly, the mic placement has to be right. That shouldn't be hard but it depends very much on the drummer, sometimes there's not enough room among the hi hat, rack tom, iPad, SPD and whatever else. I've resorted to switching to a Beta 98 right under the hi hats for that very reason, as there was nowhere else to go

I just saw that for some reason JDI Stereo DI's are much more expensive at Thomann than I can get them for locally - the local prices here are pretty good. They might be from an older batch of stock and the next ones will be more expensive.
So I think I'll go out and order one or pick up locally, while I can get that price.
Or, a JDI Duplex for about the price of a JDI Stereo at Thomann. The Duplex is actually about 5% more expensive than two mono JDI's - I wouldn't do that, I already have 2 and I don't need four. I still think I prefer the JDI Stereo, to use specifically in stereo applications, as it would save space and weight over two mono JDI's

That new rig we've been putting together goes in tomorrow, but the news is that the operator they planned to use is not available so I get to do the first two nights with it. Which is fine because it's going to be a nice rig but... first night. So I get to encounter all the bugs first and fix them. It's also 3 hours by train out of Perth so I'll be staying in a motel overnight (I don't have a car) then I have to be back on deck early Saturday morning for another job so it's go go go.

I am looking forward to mixing on a double Alpha system with healthy amps in a good sized venue, so long as there are plenty of people there. I've heard the previous PA supplier isn't thrilled about being replaced but was unable to provide foldback and other features of a good enough standard for what they want to do down there. So I might be getting some dirty looks from across the room.

Being a first night, and being a PA from this company, I'll take plenty of my own stuff for backup - a couple of stereo XLR cables for one thing, and the usual tool kit of handy things.

Actually one interesting thing is they bought a made-in-China wall box with 32 XLR inputs built in and a passive split, via multipin connectors - Chinese copies of the LK-type plugs, whatever size is big enough for 32 channels. They also bought a ready-made multicore snake and it looks like it's really a 48 channel but they simply snip off 8, 16 etc of the lines for a lower channel count. I think this one will also have 8 returns in it.

If you’re looking at Radial DI’s can I suggest you check out their (somewhat more specialized and certainly cheaper) Stagebug series ? Some are passive, some active

https://www.soundseasy.com.au/produc...adial+stagebug

They have a range of 7 or so units with specific use cases which might appeal to your requirements, and the above Australian prices are quite reasonable….for Radial products ! Full mfr listing below:

https://www.radialeng.com/?s=Stagebug

i find the radial duplex di practical because of its mini-jack, cinch, jack and xlr-inputs but for my taste, it's too large and too expensive.

regarding the jdi, i did not notice any difference in terms of performance between different incarnations (i still have an old jdi in an angular housing, besides several newer models) but i did neither look inside nor did i conduct any (simple) measurements.

iirc the stagebug and pro series use slightly different transformers than their top of the line devices (jdi, jdv etc.) but ime there's nothing to complain about when working with the less expensive series - nevertheless, here's an alternative from 'germland' which i can also recommend (from years of use without any issues):

https://www.atelier-der-tonkunst.de/en/products

oh, and regarding the lk-connector copies: pls report back after 1000 shows/heavy use over the years...

Will those LK-type plugs actually interoperate with the real thing? If so, I am really interested.

I see a lot of Chinese multipin connectors which are copies of Russian military types, sometimes with weird adaptations. Surprisingly, a lot of them have good gold plating, which makes me think that maybe they are from suppliers to the Chinese military. Haven't seen LK copies or Whirlwind hermaphrodite copies yet.
--scott

I was once interested in the JDI Duplex but for the same reasons as you decided against it... now that it is more expensive than 2 JDI's I think it is more flexible to have two mono instead. I would love a JDV but I think they are out of production now.
EDIT actually I find I never use mini TRS connectors on DI's myself, I prefer to use a mini jack to TS or whatever adapter cable and connect that to DI's the standard way. I try to avoid mini-jacks, mostly because until recently I didn't know a good one I could solder myself and that had a large enough cable opening for something like Canare MR202-2AT 2ch cable. But now Rean do make exactly that so I've already ordered some. I have some mini-TRS to stereo TS adapters and if I do need to attach a device with a mini jack (phone, tablet or some BT receivers) I use one of those. I notice most digital consoles have few or sometimes no TRS line inputs now, at least on the input channels (they might have aux TRS inputs) so my Pro D2 is getting used that way just to play music in the breaks, which seems like a waste of a good DI but sometimes I need to.

I agree about the LK copies, let's see how long they last. There is also an Italian brand that makes them too, I can't remember who they are but the first thing I was told about them was that they aren't as good as genuine LK. They are cheaper though. EDIT I remembered, Proel.

I think my Pro D2 uses the same "Eclipse" transformers as the Stage Bug range, and is still better than many other passive DI's, even than some more expensive ones. I need a second stereo passive DI so I think I want the JDI Stereo

EDIT and PS thanks for your comparison of the new and old model JDI's. I'd heard that the old model had a "better" Jensen transformer but who knows, and other than that one guy everyone still seems to think the current JDI is one of the better passive DI's

As far as I know they're supposed to be compatible and that's what my boss told me, as he'd bought them for that installation on the understanding that they're interoperable with real LK's, which can be hired locally, but of course I'd like to see that in real life before I depended on it.
I'll be talking to the guys doing that install tomorrow so I'll see if I can find out the brand of these cheap copies

I hadn't thought of it but your idea about the military source makes a lot of sense. Russia and China like the West still have a lot of decades-old military stuff they need to keep in service and it would make sense again if they're using that type of connector. I've seen Vietnam war-era photos of a Hughes LOH chopper with a minigun in the door with what looks a lot like a Socapex connecting it to the helicopter, though I understand they're simply both based on the MIL-5015 (IIRC) spec and likely quite different.
I'd only seen those hermaphrodite* connectors by LK before, lovely high quality parts and very expensive, I wasn't aware of a Whirlwind version.
*I love words like that, with Greek or Latin mythological roots - Hermes and Aphrodite together in one word.

Yes they're a good little range of devices - compact, affordable and decent quality. I've seen plenty of them in guitarists' pedal boards for some particular task, not so many as plain old DI's as we know them. That retailer is always worth looking at too if you're after a local source, for many things. I've ordered from them and got a fair price and smooth delivery, no problem.

I still think I like the JDI Stereo for what I've got in mind now but I would absolutely consider the Stage Bugs at other times... in fact I think I like the Ice Cube iso transformer for fixing the buzz when I use a passive split with my RE520 vocal condensers. They're affordable and while they may not have a high end transformer I'm confident I'd have no complaints about them for a 16 track capture of a live performance

In the old days... those were an adaptation of the military circular connectors that were specifically made by Amphenol for the mining industry for control applications. Because they were not a standard connector and weren't really used outside mines, they didn't get second-sourced. But they became an informal standard in the audio industry for the same reason people liked them in mines, that you could unwrap the cable from either direction.

I call them "Whirlwind" connectors because they were the guys who publicized them and kind of made them a standard.

So.. when the mining and petroleum guys all went to fibre optic they stopped ordering those connectors, and so Amphenol discontinued it all because they were only selling a tiny trickle to audio people and audio people are almost as cheap as ham radio operators are.

When this happened audio people panicked and Whirlwind got someone to start making a second-source connector for them, and then later on LK started making them. I don't really know any of that newer history.
--scott

In the same vein of "compact, affordable and decent quality", I've no complaints about my Radial DIs except... the "affordable" bit!

So lately I've been buying DI's from a UK company called Orchid Electronics.

Definitely 'no frills' active-only products and obviously not as well-featured as some of the Radials but at a quarter of the of the price well worth considering for anyone building out a DI locker from scratch and/or needing a large number of boxes. The important stuff is their sound and build quality which is irreproachable in my opinion, one might even say unbelievable for the incredibly low price.

In any case I'm downsizing, so with the proceeds of the sale of my two rack-mounted Radial JD6s I will certainly be investing in a few more Orchids, with no worries about sound-quality. (Although of course I will still need a channel or two of passive DI's, and I also realise there may be perfectly valid technical reasons why you and other folks running much larger rigs/OB etc might simply have to have transformers in the signal path.)

Anyway, great review of all the Orchid boxes from Hugh Robjohns of Sound on Sound magazine here - it's well worth reading.

- - -

PS Eagle-eyed readers may be able to identify my case as an Utz Group Rako container - I have dozens of these stackable beauties from when I lived in Switzerland and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Very cool, thanks James... and *one tenth* the price of Radial you say? If they're that cheap and the sound quality is still OK then that sounds like a real winner... Dee also recommended a brand of German DI's, I'd be more than happy to investigate too.
I don't usually have to fill the technical rider for tours but they like to see familiar brands and of course "industry standards". That isn't my problem of course, if someone's hiring the equipment then it's up to them if they want specific stuff. All the same, I'm confident in JDI's. You probably can get a box built around the same or equivalent transformer cheaper and just as good by other brands, however I can get one of these nearby any time without paying and waiting for shipping so I think that's what I'm going to do.

I'm still happy to see recommendations for DI's that will suit people's needs at a good price, I'm all for that. Spread the word, support these independents, that's good. Thanks guys

No - I got carried away. I've edited my post to state probably around 1/4.

All the same, a perfectly viable alternative to the Radials if you don't need all the bells and whistles. For example, I do sound for an acoustic band who need an electric guitar for literally only one song in their set which the percussionist plays. He doesn't even travel with an amp! So the little Orchid is perfect to have in the case for that - just run it straight into the desk and I'm always amazed at how good it sounds. The only 'problem' is that the Micro ones I carry (see photo) are so small and well-camouflaged that I sometimes can't find them onstage when I'm striking!

OK so maybe not 1/10 but still a lot cheaper than Radial. Again, if they can offer good sound quality at that price then they're worth considering. Radial's better stuff isn't cheap but IMO it's in line with the main competitors. The worst critics I've seen of the JDI seem to be complaining that it lacks character, ie it's uncoloured and doesn't add anything to the sound, but I don't consider that a bad thing! Not in a DI for general purpose live use anyway.

I was just about to order that JDI Stereo then the store I chose annoyed me because they turn out to be one of those new style places that do not pick up the phone, ever. I saw a whole string of bad reviews from customers who needed after sales support and couldn't get through to talk to anyone about it. I think they see phone service as an expense and an interruption but I wish they'd consider it from the customers' POV - I won't order from a place like that. It's a test I use - if they won't talk to me I won't place an order.

I stopped working at one venue because they don't even have a number to call, and I was trying to chase up payment for my services a couple of months later by email and they wouldn't do it. Not being able to talk to anyone about it just convinced me not to have anything to do with them or any place with the same ideas about phone calls.
If it really is all about online orders and sales now then there should be so few phone calls they've got time to answer mine!

James it looks like you've got the better version of the X-Y condensers for your Zoom H5, from the rubber grommets and short cable from the mics which the standard type doesn;t have.
Do you think they sound better than the standard set that comes with these units? I don't plan to buy them but I'm just curious because I was thinking about it at the time I bought my H6n.
When these came out I used to get band members setting these up by the desk all the time. And for a while even those Sony minidisc recorders