Radial Catapult RX4L
Radial·Model Catapult RX4L·radial-catapult-rx4l
Photos
Manufacturer product photography — the drawn faceplate above stays true to panel layout; these show the hardware itself.
About the Radial Catapult RX4L
The Radial Catapult RX4L is the isolated receive end of the 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, with line-levelThe strong signal that runs between pieces of gear (about a volt) — hotter than mic level, far below speaker level. transformersA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed. on each of its 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 to break ground loopsHum from gear seeing two ground paths at slightly different voltage — the classic buzz when two racks share audio and power. between rack and stage power. Use it where the receiving rig is on a different circuit than the send end — amp racks, distributed playback zones, or a broadcast truck. Pairs with any Catapult transmit module over a single shielded Cat5 run.
The Catapult RX4L is the receive end of Radial's Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. analog 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 lives in your rack and hands you back four transformer-isolatedA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed., line-levelThe strong signal that runs between pieces of gear (about a volt) — hotter than mic level, far below speaker level. 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 from a single Cat5 cable run. It draws no power, racks without consuming a rack unitThe standard slice of rack height: 1U = 1.75″. A 3U box takes three slices; half-rack gear pairs two units side by side in one. in the traditional sense, and weighs under two kilograms, so it disappears into a rig almost without argument. Its job is simple and specific: take whatever the paired Catapult transmit module is sending down the Cat5 and deliver it cleanly, with galvanic isolation between the send end and the receive end. That isolation is the whole point.
In practice, the transformer isolationA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed. means that when your IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. rack is on house power and the stage source is on generator — or a broadcast truck is pulling feeds from your console — the ground loopHum from gear seeing two ground paths at slightly different voltage — the classic buzz when two racks share audio and power. that would otherwise inject hum into every channel gets broken before it reaches your mix. The 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. male outputs come out at line levelThe strong signal that runs between pieces of gear (about a volt) — hotter than mic level, far below speaker level., so they feed directly into the inputs of a personal monitor mixer, a playback interface, or a distribution amp without any level trimming. 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 can stretch a meaningful distance without signal degradation, which matters when the stage and rack are genuinely far apart. No power draw also means no entry on your power budget and no heat in the rack.
Pick the RX4L if you're running a Catapult transmit module at the other end and your rack lives on a different circuit — that describes most working IEMIn-Ear Monitor — earpieces that replace floor wedges, feeding each player their own mix. The reason this whole rack exists. rigs, amp racks, and any situation where a broadcast or recording feed is in the chain. If you only need two channels, Radial makes smaller Catapult variants worth considering. If you need more than four, you'll be stacking multiple units or looking at a larger analog 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 entirely. This is also not a digital snake and carries no clocking, redundancyA second copy of anything critical — supply, computer, network path — already running so one failure can’t stop the show., or network management — if your system has already moved to DanteThe most common audio-over-network standard: dozens of channels of uncompressed digital audio down one ordinary Ethernet cable between Dante boxes. or MADIA pro digital format carrying 64 channels on one coax or optical cable. Point-to-point — one sender, one receiver, no network required. for its main snake, the RX4L fills a different, more targeted role for isolated analog feeds rather than replacing that infrastructure.
In the rack
- Velcro or rack-panel mount the RX4L directly adjacent to whatever it's feeding — keeping the 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. jumpers short reduces the chance of reintroducing noise after the isolation transformerA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed. has already done its work.
- Label the Cat5Standard network cable grades. In an audio rig one cheap Cat5e run can replace a 48-channel copper snake; AES50 wants it shielded. input end and the rack end of your run with the same tag at load-in; Cat5 cables are indistinguishable from network cable at a glance, and the wrong patch in a hurry costs time.
- Because the unit draws zero power, it can share a rack shelf or be secured in a utility space without any concern for heat buildup or outlet placement — use that flexibility to position it closest to the gear it feeds.
- If you're getting hum through the outputs despite the isolation, check that 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 is shielded and that the shield is terminated correctly at the transmit end — the RX4L's transformersA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed. isolate ground, but a poorly shielded cable can still pick up interference along the run.
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 with line-levelThe strong signal that runs between pieces of gear (about a volt) — hotter than mic level, far below speaker level. transformer-isolatedA magnetic coupling that passes audio between two windings with no wire contact — isolates splits and kills ground-loop hum, no power needed. outputs.
I/O Ports (5)
| Port | Connector | Direction | Signal | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat5 In | RJ45 | input | analog audio | — |
| ISO Out 1 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| ISO Out 2 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| ISO Out 3 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
| ISO Out 4 | XLR MALE | output | analog audio | — |
Deciding between two?
Rack space, watts, weight and every connector, side by side.
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