Radial Engineering

Radial Engineering R800 8029 Catapult MINI RX Audio Snake

4.8 (34 reviews)

Convert a single Cat 5 cable into a 4-channel balanced audio snake with no digital conversion or signal degradation.

$124.99*
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*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated:Jun 28, 2026.Price and availability are subject to change.

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Overview

The Radial Catapult MINI RX is the receiver end of Radial Engineering's Cat 5 analog audio snake system. It takes four channels of balanced audio that have been sent from a Catapult MINI TX over a standard Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable and breaks them out to individual XLR connectors. The entire signal path remains analog — each audio channel rides on one of the twisted pairs inside the Ethernet cable — so there is no analog-to-digital conversion, no latency, and no sampling artifacts. The result is a cable solution that sounds identical to a traditional copper snake but weighs a fraction as much and costs far less to run over long distances.

Built in Radial's trademark steel chassis, the MINI RX is a passive device that requires no power supply, making it simple to deploy at the stage end, FOH position, or anywhere a permanent or semi-permanent audio tie line is needed. It is particularly popular for houses of worship, corporate AV installs, and small-to-mid-size live sound rigs where reducing cable clutter and setup time matters. For productions needing more than four channels, multiple Catapult MINI TX/RX pairs can be deployed side by side, each on its own Cat 5 home run.

Key Features

4-channel Cat 5 Analog Audio Snake Receiver

Specifications

Brand
Radial Engineering
Model
R800 8029
Type
4-Channel Cat 5 Analog Audio Snake Receiver
Channels
4
Input Connector
RJ45
Output Connectors
XLR
Cable Compatibility
Cat 5 / Cat 6
Signal Path
Analog (no digital conversion)

Pros & Cons

👍 Pros

  • Eliminates the bulk and weight of a traditional multi-channel audio snake
  • Uses inexpensive, readily available Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable for audio runs
  • Fully analog signal path avoids digital conversion latency and artifacts
  • Compact passive design requires no external power supply

👎 Cons

  • Requires purchasing the Catapult MINI TX separately to complete the system
  • Limited to four channels, so larger stage setups may need multiple units
  • RJ45-to-XLR format means you cannot use it as a standard Ethernet device
  • Passive design offers no signal boosting for extremely long cable runs

Frequently Asked Questions

The MINI RX is the receiver half of a two-unit system. You need the Catapult MINI TX (transmitter) at the other end of the Cat 5 run to send audio into the cable.
No. The Catapult MINI RX passes analog audio over the Cat 5 cable's twisted pairs without any digital conversion, so there is no added latency or conversion artifacts.
It works with standard Cat 5 or Cat 6 Ethernet cable. Shielded cable (STP) is recommended for longer runs or electrically noisy environments.
The unit has an RJ45 input for the Cat 5 cable and four XLR outputs for the received audio channels.
Radial rates the Catapult system for cable runs typical of Cat 5 infrastructure. Performance on very long runs depends on cable quality, but standard Cat 5 can reliably carry balanced audio over several hundred feet.