true dat. i have some c1000 shows, but they sounded like ass cause they didnt' have line transformers on them. strait to MD. but i've heard many other people have good results from them. I think get started like that, get some c1000's power them by batteries, and then run line transformers, no need for the mixpad. then in the future look into upgrading away from MD. i noticed one huge hell of a difference, but keep it around, its really really handy to have. i still have mine, and use it the same or even more than my dat, but not for shows, cause i like my dat. but good luck, +T man get something started and get something recorded.
matt