What exactly are actives and are they worth it??

[jb3newbie]

I did a search...and I didnt really understand what the guy was talking about...some thing balanced and unbalanced.....but what are they???  Cables? Caps?  Do they make a noticeable difference??

[geoff piper]

actives are just a way to make mics smaller. The caps hook to the active cables and the active cables hook to the mic body. Making the cap the only thing you need to hang off the stand. Nice for Stealth amd nice to balance your stand but needed for open taping no not really.

[jb3newbie]

So they would only be needed for stealthing???

[geoff piper]

So they would only be needed for stealthing???

no they are great for open taping because they arent as heavy as full body mics.  Meaning you stand wont bend as much(which happens alot if you are running a high stand)

[geoff piper]

After reading what I wrote I dont think I gave too good of an explination about what exactly they are.

The caps are powered by the bodies and the actives cables are the way to  keep the power going to the caps without acctually having the cap and bodies seperated.

If I'm repeating my self I'm sorry ive been out of my room since 8:30 this morning and I've only been back like 2, my brain is still fried from day 2 of the semster.

[geoff piper]

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

me too... But I'm afraid Actives are going to be way to much for me to pay when I rebuild this summer.

[nickgregory]

there are some active sets where the bodies are not necessary though...

schoeps-caps>NBOX
schoeps caps->VMS(I believe
AKG/Gefell/MBHO caps->JK Labs device

[Tim]

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

me too... But I'm afraid Actives are going to be way to much for me to pay when I rebuild this summer.

neumann's aren't too terrible if you buy used. mbho too

[geoff piper]

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

me too... But I'm afraid Actives are going to be way to much for me to pay when I rebuild this summer.

neumann's aren't too terrible if you buy used. mbho too

Well considering I have tickets for shows   and my friends wedding(tux,golf,atlantic city,booze, hotel) I'm going to have to pray that all my shows are at the end of summer to afford anything with actives.

[geoff piper]

there are some active sets where the bodies are not necessary though...

schoeps-caps>NBOX
schoeps caps->VMS(I believe
AKG/Gefell/MBHO caps->JK Labs device

forgot about those

[nickgregory]

the rumor is that gefell will be introducing a gefell branded set of actives...now that would make my day

[Tim]

the rumor is that gefell will be introducing a gefell branded set of actives...now that would make my day

I bet there would be a lot more mg users

[geoff piper]

the rumor is that gefell will be introducing a gefell branded set of actives...now that would make my day

I love teh MG sound.  I wish I could get me hands on a set of them.

[nickgregory]

I bet there would be a lot more mg users

I would agree....most people that I know that had MGs and got rid of them did it strictly for an active setup.

Regardless, if they dont come out with a system, my plan all along has been to go to the Gefell->JK labs setup mid year....

[BC]

FWIW

I am very happy with my actives, much more low-profile for taping, easy to set up and take down, allow me to stealth if it's required.

Ben