Radial Catapult RX4
Radial·Model Catapult RX4·radial-catapult-rx4
Photos
Manufacturer product photography — the drawn faceplate above stays true to panel layout; these show the hardware itself.
About the Radial Catapult RX4
The Radial Catapult RX4 is the receive end of Radial's modular Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. snakeA multicore cable bundling many channels into one stage-to-console run. A sub-snake collects one corner of the stage into a drop box. system, breaking one shielded Cat5 run back out to four XLRThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair. outputs in a rugged floor-box format. Male and female XLRs on every channel let it feed a console while passing signal through to a second destination, and it pairs with any Catapult transmit module. It is the standard stage-side drop for IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. sends and playback feeds without hauling copper multicore.
The Catapult RX4 is the stage-side half of Radial's modular Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. snakeA multicore cable bundling many channels into one stage-to-console run. A sub-snake collects one corner of the stage into a drop box. system — the box that takes one shielded Cat5 run from your rack and hands you back four analog XLRThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair. channels wherever you need them. In an IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. or playback rig, that typically means running a single Cat5 from the rack to a floor drop near the band, then patching IEM transmitter inputs or click feeds straight off the RX4's male XLR outputs. It's a passive, zero-power device, so there's nothing to switch on, nothing to fail electrically, and no rack space consumed — it parks on the floor or clips to a stand.
Four male XLRThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair. outputs carry the broken-out analog signals, and each channel also has a female XLR thru, so you can simultaneously feed a second destination — a wedgeA floor monitor speaker angled up at the performer — the thing IEMs replace, and the thing you fall back on when they die. amp, a recording split, or a second IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. transmitter — without a Y-cable or an active splitter. The Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. run itself handles the grunt work of getting signal across stage, replacing a bulky copper multicore for four channels. The RX4 weighs 1.6 kg and is built in Radial's typical steel enclosure, meaning it can take a kick from a monitor wedge or a cable cart without drama. Passive transformerA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed.-based designs like this are inherently resistant to ground loopsHum from gear seeing two ground paths at slightly different voltage — the classic buzz when two racks share audio and power. introduced by long cable runs, which matters when your rack is sitting 30 meters from the stage.
This box earns its place in a compact IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. or playback rig where you're already running Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. infrastructure and need a clean, reliable stage drop without adding active gear or extra power runs. If you only need two channels, Radial makes smaller Catapult variants. If you're running more than four channels or need mic-levelThe tiny signal straight out of a microphone — roughly a thousandth of line level. It needs a preamp before anything else touches it. signals traveling the other direction, you'll want the appropriate transmit module on the rack end and potentially additional RX units. Anyone expecting digital audio or AES routing should look elsewhere entirely — this is strictly analog, strictly passive, and strictly one-way.
In the rack
- Use the thru XLRsThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair. to daisy-chain a personal monitor amp or a second IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. transmitter for dual-band or backup setups — no splitter box needed, and you keep the signal path passive.
- Label both ends of your Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. run with channel numbers before load-in; the RX4 has no onboard labeling, and swapping a Cat5 at the rack end is much faster than tracing which output is which on a dark stage.
- Secure the RX4 to a monitor stand base or tape it to the floor with a cable anchor — it's light enough that a single tug on a connected XLRThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair. can flip it, and four disconnected IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. feeds mid-set is a bad night.
- Test the full Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. run with your transmit module before doors, not during line checkThe quick pre-show pass confirming every input reaches the console, one line at a time. Not a soundcheck — just does it work.; passive systems don't announce faults the way networked gear does, and a pinched cable reads as silence with no error light to warn you.
4-channel Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. receive module — one Cat5 back to 4x XLRThe standard 3-pin locking connector for mics and balanced line signals — pin 1 is the shield, pins 2 and 3 carry the balanced pair., with XLR thru.
I/O Ports (9)
| Port | Connector | Direction | Signal | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat5 In | RJ45 | input | analog audio | — |
| XLR Out 1 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Out 2 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Out 3 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Out 4 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Thru 1 | XLR FEMALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Thru 2 | XLR FEMALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Thru 3 | XLR FEMALE | output | analog audio | — |
| XLR Thru 4 | XLR FEMALE | output | analog audio | — |
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Rack space, watts, weight and every connector, side by side.
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