Details Matter

When we build mic cables at Kitzy Sound, we use cables with braided shields. They cost more, and they take longer to terminate. But over the course of a tour, packed into a trunk every night and unpacked every day, braided shields maintain their coverage over the internal conductors. Twisted shields develop gaps over time. That gap becomes a problem.

We also use genuine Neutrik connectors, even though there are cheaper options. They hold up better over hundreds of connections and disconnections. They're more reliable. And they're smoother to plug and unplug than other brands.

That last part might sound like a small thing. It isn't.

Details save time

Time is the most valuable resource in touring production. Timelines are tight and labor is expensive. It might seem silly to think about how long it takes to connect an XLR cable, but as your production scales, so does that time. Seconds turn into minutes. Minutes turn into hours.

All of our Ethercon cables are SoundTools SuperCAT. They cost more than other options, but they hold up better on the road and they're easier to work with. They lie flat. They coil like an XLR. When you're running a cable to FOH every night, that matters.

We use velcro cable ties instead of tie line. Tie line is cheaper. Velcro ties are faster. On a touring production, faster wins.

Details reduce friction

We invest in high quality road cases. Would cheaper cases protect the gear just as well? Probably. But lids that don't line up, latches that are fiddly, wheels that aren't smooth, wheel locks that are hard to operate, these things add friction to every load-in and load-out. That friction adds up. We don't cheap out on cases, even though we don't charge for them.

The goal is invisibility

Nobody renting from us will ever know we use braided shields. They won't know what brand of connectors we use, or why we chose them. If we've done our job right, none of that ever comes up.

That's exactly the point.

The alternative isn't that the client notices the cheaper cable. It's that they notice a noise problem on channel 12 and spend 20 minutes at sound check figuring out why. They might fix it by swapping the cable. They might not. Either way, we've added friction to their day, and they'll never know we caused it.

We make these choices because we'd rather a problem never happen than handle it gracefully after the fact. Touring is already full of problems you can't anticipate. The ones you can prevent, you should prevent, even if no one would ever know you didn't.

We could use cheaper alternatives across the board and still charge the same rates. We don't, because we want our clients to have the smoothest touring experience possible. Touring is already hard enough. Your rental gear shouldn't make it harder.