If you run the rx's into a pre w/phantom, you won't need a power source. If you have the cash, you might as well get a pre to start with since you will upgrade anyway. We all do it, it's a sickness and we need help.
There are a couple of issues which are holding me back from the 853 RX`s
1. Cable: namely shortening. Presumably as soon as you cut the cable then you would invalidate the guarantee and secondary looking at illustrations on the net I`m getting the impression these cables are a lot thicker than the average 3-5 mm cable you might find on an I-pod or mini-disc headphone cable. As one of the setups I am playing with includes attaching them to a set of glasses and running the wires along the frame and down into my top pocket a thicker wire running down my neck might attract too much attention in medium to large venues
However I do like windorabug`s suggestion of a set of Sennheiser MKE40s purly for their stealth qualities.
As for preamps the Sound Devices MixPre is a great piece of kit but getting something approxametly the size of two cassette tapes it past security of a venue with security might prove to be problematic(Those bouncers in Glasgow, Manchester and London can be very scary people)
The Church preamps look great but I`m looking for something with led indicators to warn me of clipping etc. I will continue following the small stealth preamp thread in the Pre`s, A/D and Processors forum. though any suggestions as usual would be appreciated over here. Would the fact that I`m going to be using a M Audio Micro Tracker 24/96 (which comes complete with phantom power) as my storage device have any bearing on the discussion?
Once again, thanks everybody for your time and imput
Schoff