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Rat Sound Selects Sommer For New SuperCAT Tour Cables

SuperCAT Lite cable features four twisted 26 AWG pairs with etherCON connector, while SuperCAT Sound offers premium shielded (U/FTP) CAT5e with individual shield and drain wires.

Live sound engineer and audio system designer Dave Rat has collaborated with Sommer Cable, the German manufacturer of innovative cable and connector products.

“After in-depth research of numerous cable manufacturers, we selected Sommer as the manufacturer of our SuperCAT Lite and SuperCAT Sound cables,” explains Rat. “Sommer’s diverse product line, quality manufacturing and responsive team made them the perfect partner.”

Rat is the founder of Rat Sound Systems and SoundTools, and has worked for many well-known artists, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers (with whom he toured from February 1991 to January 2017), Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, The Offspring, and Blink 182. His company is a provider of touring sound reinforcement equipment and services to the concert touring industry, based in Camarillo, California.

Rat’s SuperCAT Sound is a premium shielded (U/FTP) CAT5e cable comprised of four twisted conductor pairs, each having an individual shield and drain wire. The unique design allows the SuperCAT Sound cable to transmit analog and AES/EBU audio after being terminated directly to tails (4 XLR, 4 DMX, 4 1/4″TRS, 4 Mini Plug, etc.), or DANTE, MADI and all other network signals when fitted with standard RJ45/etherCON ends. Surrounded by a rugged polyurethane jacket, the cable will withstand extreme temperatures while remaining flexible.

“Although it’s only rated as CAT5e,” says Rat, “it’s got an exceptional specification set that actually exceeds most 6 and 7 characteristics. Not only that, we wanted it to be extremely durable. You have these big bundles of cables that are running hundreds of feet, getting buried in troughs with barricades going over them or with audiences trampling on them.”

Rat’s SuperCAT Lite cable features four twisted 26 AWG pairs and is fitted with etherCON connectors that are professionally assembled and individually tested for quality and reliability.

“These cables are in a high impact and usage environment,” adds Rat. “Typically, the process with data cables is to utilize cheaper cable and carry spares. Having redundancy is obviously important but, why not make a really high quality entertainment grade CAT data cable that will not only carry high speed data and have high speed specs, but also be optimized to carry analog and other formats.”

To assure that the highest quality standards were achieved, Rat stopped in at Sommer Cable headquarters in Germany while on tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. “We just make useful, really high quality products, and our new SuperCAT Sound cable fits right in. We look forward to future designs in collaboration with Sommer Cable.”

Free 1-foot cable samples are available on request.

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