Expand on my ideas for Marching Band Front Ensemble

Goal - keep setup of all reinforcement under 3 minutes, likewise tear-down needs to be SWIFT. ( bands get a 15 min timeslot, and are docked points for exceeding time limits, but not filling time with music limits potential earned points )

Problem: Front ensemble elements ( see third photo, under "Instrumentation" for reference ) have on-instrument mics, and need to connect to the mixer cart in a simple and reliable way. Minimizing foot traffic due to tight quarters is imperative.

Band members can be sick and equipment failures can happen, so expect that only the sound cart itself will always exist, the other elements could be out of any one performance.

Options so far:

• Wireless ( PRO: no inter-element dependency, zero foot traffic CON: Cost, Frequency Coordination isn't going to happen )

• Classic multipair Sub-snakes ( Currently in use, some confusion when element is missing CON: foot traffic, tear-down speed, weight )

• Classic multipair Sub-snakes w/multi-pin ( PRO Foot traffic, flexible daisy-chaining CON: Price, weight, teenagers with multi-pins, must buy $$ spare cables )

• Category-cable multipair Sub-snakes ( PRO Foot traffic, Price, flexible daisy-chaining CON: weight, 4 channel limit, must order shielded cable for Phantom power )

The multi-pair options seem like the better approach, but the per element daisy-chain with single channel fan-out per element is an expensive solution. Category-cable solutions are less expensive ( and we could just tape over the other inputs per box ) but the 4 channel per chain limit is a bit limiting.

The sound cart is centrally located in the ensemble, so 4 Category daisy chains is my current thinking. Each element would need to only connect one cable upstream to limit foot traffic and setup time.