I decided to try out this snake for a second stage at a small festival. It would've cost nearly as much to hire one in, so why not?
First thing to notice is that it is very bulky and inflexible, even compared to other multicores. For installation or occasional use this is fine but will become quite a pain if you're running it in and out every night. If so, I'd recommend spending more for a reel.
Of course, the important thing is how it performs. Initially, all was good - the festival went without a hitch so I used it again for some more events. After a few outings, I ran into the problem. During sound check, we began to notice crackles and pops through the PA - cue frantic checking of connections whilst the band look on unimpressed.
We quickly tracked down the source - the noise was happening on phantom powered mics only and was due to poor contact between the sockets in the snake head and the mic leads plugged in, causing intermittent phantom power.
Note that this fault applied to phantom powered mics only, we had no problems with the dynamic mics. Also, it's not necessarily due to the snake but perhaps a combination of snake + mic cables.
Despite these criticisms, I really can't complain because I've had my money's worth out of this snake. The price for 24/8 channels is amazing and for many people the issues I raised won't be a problem. If you're looking for a budget snake, then look no further. Just be aware that budget price = budget performance.
