Members Unalaska Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 I bought some of the OSP 57 knockoffs and they wer not bad actually. I stull use them from time to time. The snakes (esp. the siesmic) are horrid. no way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NUSound Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 If it's any help, here's what I believe is the OSP warranty from their snake products website overview webpage:http://www.ospworldwide.com/productcart/pc/viewcontent.asp?idpage=2 Thanks Mark. Certainly not enough to sell the product for me, but information is always good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 I just ordered a Seismic Audio 24x4x100'. It's due to arrive tomorrow according to Fed Ex tracking. I really hate the looks of the connectors on the box and the fact that it appears that they mount from INSIDE the box (under the top plate), not from on top of the box, making it a dog to service if (when?) needed. I went with Seismic rather than OSP because of 22 ga wire rather than 24. I'm going to use it for location recording projects that are few and far between, so it makes sense to get me going. If things pick up I'll just dump it off and buy a good one. A group came through with a Seismic Audio split snake recently. The connectors looked like Neutrix Knockoffs (not terrible, but not great). The box seemed well built & steain relief looked pretty good. I asked for their opinion. This snake had only seen a dozen shows so they couldn't comment about longevity. They did mention poor strain relief at the fan connectors (the shrink tube was too short, so in effect no strain relief). They also said the soldering inside the couple of connectors they'd inspected was pretty mediocre. I think I'd stick to EWI at a minimum (unless you buy extra channels and don't mind repairing all of the time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 Well, the Seismic Snake arrived as planned today. I've attached some pix that I took while first inspecting it.It arrived in a double box, not a bad idea. But there was plenty of room for the snake to rattle around inside the box.The box is not terribly heavy duty, but it should work for what I will do. The strain relief nut was loose upon arrival.The inside of the box is like a bowl of spaghetti. I certainly could have and would have done a neater wiring job and maybe used a few cable ties to keep things neat. There is a spare wire at both ends that you can (maybe) see in the picture.Connectors at the box are, as I suspected, installed from the bottom, a very bad practice in my opinion. This is probably the worst part of the snake (in my opinion).Very Neutrik like connectors on the fan end, but, as expected, not the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 From experience I can tell you that the box XLRM connectors will get stuck and you'll be hacking away at the connector to get the cables free. The cable connectors aren't in spec with anything (even thebox end) and will also get stuck. The plastic used to hold the pins doens't like heat at all, so when you solder the ends back on you'll need to make sure the pins don't loosen and fall out. sorry but to me it's a waste of money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted January 23, 2011 Members Share Posted January 23, 2011 Everything tested out as working properly. I am, weather permitting, going to use it on Wed evening to do sound and record a band (Voodoo). Hopefully all will work well. I recorded the band previously back in November and some of the songs can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/richard-king I'll probably use 16-18 of the 24 channels in the snake plus one or two of the returns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted January 23, 2011 Members Share Posted January 23, 2011 The inside of the box is like a bowl of spaghetti. I certainly could have and would have done a neater wiring job and maybe used a few cable ties to keep things neat. Connectors at the box are, as I suspected, installed from the bottom, a very bad practice in my opinion. This is probably the worst part of the snake (in my opinion). I suspect the reason for the bowl of spaghetti wiring inside the stage box and back loaded panel jacks is to facilitate assembly. I suspect the jacks are soldered on the channel pairs before the jacks are installed in the stage box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted January 23, 2011 Members Share Posted January 23, 2011 hmmmm...i distinctly remember someone named ME saying that these cheep snakes are spaghetti inside, no spine, total crap. there is no way i would take that kind of snake even for parts, for free. toss it in the dumpster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted January 23, 2011 Members Share Posted January 23, 2011 I suspect the reason for the bowl of spaghetti wiring inside the stage box and back loaded panel jacks is to facilitate assembly. I suspect the jacks are soldered on the channel pairs before the jacks are installed in the stage box. That's what I thought when I saw it, too. Also it's likely that all the multipairs are cut to tha same lengths for ease of construction. THEN somebody has to stuff all the connectors in. Even still, the wires could have been much more neatly tie wrapped and routed. Personally, since it seems the box was easy to open up for the pics, I would have NO problem with the underside mounting of the panel jacks. One feature I actually like was that they used screws & nuts for jack intstall vs. pop rivets, likely because of the underside mounting. ONE advantage to the underside mounting of panel jacks is that IF & WHEN any plugs become stuck from non-standard sizing (that some have mentioned), the jack is better supported for pulling outward ;>) Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted January 23, 2011 Members Share Posted January 23, 2011 I suspect the reason for the bowl of spaghetti wiring inside the stage box and back loaded panel jacks is to facilitate assembly. I suspect the jacks are soldered on the channel pairs before the jacks are installed in the stage box. Good point. I suspect you are correct. I'd love to have bought a real snake (like you supply), but I just don't do enough business to justify it at this point. I figure it might get used 5 - 6 times this year, if that. I didn't feel comfortable doing it, but couldn't justify more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted January 23, 2011 Members Share Posted January 23, 2011 I haven't messed with a snake in about 30 years or more. I just measured the fan length. Typically the cable from the center of the strain relief (end of the snake cover) to the base of the connector is only 18". Is that normal or, as I assume, fairly short? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 24, 2011 Members Share Posted January 24, 2011 Typically, the fan length of 18" is good for 12-16 channels max. 24" is good for 24 channels and 32-36" is good for 32 channels. It depends on the format of the console I/O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Summertime27 Posted January 24, 2011 Members Share Posted January 24, 2011 I generally refer to OSP products as "OS-Piece" (of crap). I do have several of their shock mount road cases though and they have been great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted January 25, 2011 Members Share Posted January 25, 2011 hmmmm...i distinctly remember someone named ME saying that these cheep snakes are spaghetti inside, no spine, total crap.there is no way i would take that kind of snake even for parts, for free. toss it in the dumpster. I agree that I don't want to use cheap snakes either (it's like having a defective spinal cord - NOT GOOD!) But even turds can sometimes be polished (carefuly resoldering or replacing the ends & making sure everything is strain reliefed properly). The next time you get the urge to dumpsterize one, let me know, I'll pay shipping :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris K Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 www.audiopile.netEither that or buy from ONLY Rapco, Horizon, Whirlwind, CBI. What's the deal with CBI? I thought they were similar to Seismic or OSP in quality (or lack there-of). No? CBI is decent quality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 CBI is a more substantial product, at least the better models within the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 Everything tested out as working properly. I am, weather permitting, going to use it on Wed evening to do sound and record a band (Voodoo). Hopefully all will work well. I recorded the band previously back in November and some of the songs can be heard here: http://soundcloud.com/richard-king I'll probably use 16-18 of the 24 channels in the snake plus one or two of the returns. Weather is not permitting this evening. It's going to the low 40's tonight and for some reason the band wants to play inside, so the project is off for a week. I wonder how stiff the snake would get in cold weather, not that "cold" here compares to cold in Minnesnowta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 FWIW the latest OSP snakes are MUCH better built than the Seismic Audio: X7ubBLhErVQ SFqp0dxORYE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard King Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 I went with Seismic only because it is 22 ga. wire vs. 24 ga in the OSP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NUSound Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 Ningbo Neutrik. Now that's what I call quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted January 28, 2011 Members Share Posted January 28, 2011 Talking about the box "many people like to route the cable down the middle (of the box) and under the handle" wtf? Ninhbo Nuetrik? um. So basically this is the same {censored}ty cable found in the siesmic and American Cable co snakes with better XLR fan ends, same {censored}ty box ends and longer less annoying strain reliefs on the individual cable ends. The main gripe I have is the acutal wire is garbage, so really nothing makes this snake decent. I dunno, I like the american made snakes best, the way they feel, lay out/uncoil, there is just something about a quality piece of cable that works so muche better. But even with that I'd like it if all snakes had better marking on what channels they are, best is something around the XLR shell itself, but along the short strain relief similar to the EWI snakes is great. Printing it on the actual cable is hard to read and ink rubs off too. Anyway I'm opinionated. Don't buy anything other than Rapco, Whirlwind, Horizon, CBI or EWI. It's just common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted January 28, 2011 Members Share Posted January 28, 2011 Just FYI a dealer friend had CBI make me up a custom 20x0x100 stage snake w/CBI connectors and a stock 0x8x100 drive snake w/Neutrik for about the same price as OSP/Seismic . OTOH I still have an older model OSP 16x8x100 I bought super cheap on closeout which - aside from the rather large diameter due to the use of individually jacketed channels - is just fine. The newer OSP has better (metal mesh) strain reliefs than the one I have which only has a plastic on the box and none on the fan (I just use sash cord wrapped around itI . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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