Topic: What exactly are actives and are they worth it??

[Joe w.]

I bet there would be a lot more mg users

add me to the list

..... I would love some mini's / actives of some kind, for flying in front of acoustic and classical crowds!!

buy mine....I'll give you a moderators deal

[Rick]

bodyless is the way to go!

And running just the caps on a stand is nice aswell. Its nice to have a low-profile setup even on a stand. The poeple behind you don't complain as much

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

Nice for Stealth amd nice to balance your stand but needed for open taping no not really.

While I agree that you don't *need* actives for open taping, actives are always better when you are taping from your seat.  You throw a smaller shadow and the people behind you are less likely to complain.  This means that while guys running a Shure bar with shock mounts might get told to lower their stands to head height, the taper with actives can run higher without being noticed.  

Also, when you get into the show late and you are stuck in the worse part of the section because it's full, you will find that the guys who have the best spot are more likely to let you add one more clamp to their stand if you are running with actives.  

[Steve J]

bodyless is the way to go!

And running just the caps on a stand is nice aswell. Its nice to have a low-profile setup even on a stand. The poeple behind you don't complain as much

What he said! I've had people come up to me after a show and thank me for having such a small 'signature.' And not as much sway in the wind...or so it seems.

[creekfreak]

I love my actives, and use them all the time no matter what. They offer many things that I love.

1. no need to tote around bulky mic cables, the actives wrap up real small and take up little space in my bag
2. Smaller foot print on the stand which is nice if I am stealthing or open taping. Not to mention, in a busy taper section its much easier to clamp actives to someone stand than full mics.
3. much easier to use when doing stage tapes, clamping actives to a drum mic stand on the stage is hardly noticeable and takes up very little space.
4. nice config bars such as DIN and ORTF which always guaranatee you the perfect angle and cap seperation, I use to hate trying to get the right config using big ass shock mounts and mic bodies.