I don't "stealth" .. but I do "run and gun"... so "stealth" type gear
is
what I'm stuck with.

That's going to cost you. The Core-Sound Mic2496 and Nomad Jukebox 3
run
about $650 total and are a little big if you're getting patted down, but
otherwise a perky combo.

You're killing me. What part of "I don't stealth" are you not getting?

You're killing yourself. He said he wants stealth-type gear. If he's not
getting patted down, then the marginal bulk of what I suggested doesn't
matter.

If I understand what CJ does correctly: These bands hire him to videotape
them at gigs and then they can sell the videos at other gigs. They are
valid, legal, out-in-the-open tapings.

It's just, like me, CJ doesn't have the resources nor the man-power to lug
100 pounds of recording equipment to these things. He got to stay
versatile
and ready to case the band around.

Not stealth - just compact and versatile. If it were the size of a
lunchbox
I'd be fine - as long as I could sling it over my shoulder and chase the
bride and groom.

Tom P.

I have done exactly the same work as well, not much video, but a ****load of
audio, not to be sold, but work tapes, production demos, promotional demos,
and some were even formally released. One of my production demos-to-be
ended up selling over 10k copies with no radio support.

Video is a bitch because pro-sumer grade DV cams can't sync to outboard
audio gear, so you end up having to sync it in post every 15 minutes or so.
It's too much hassle for me since there's too much that can go wrong and
make it all a waste of time. Case in point, I learned to do FOH sound
myself because I was tired of other techs ****ing up my recordings. With
the NJB3 I can generally have a 2-hour show transfered, tweaked,
track-indexed, and burned to CD all in under one hour. Video takes another
6 hours minimum, and I'm not gonna learn to drive the lamps, though it would
certainly help...

If you don't need full portable (battery power) then give a DBX 386 a day in
court, under $300 used. It's got dual-servo Class A preamps, a good tube
circuit (not a starved plate token circuit), and a good A/D converter with
soft-clipping digital peak limiter, all in a 1RU chassis, not as clean as an
RNP, but not far behind. You've got to go through a coax-optical converter,
but the cheap "grey box" ones test fine with me, and the whole rig could be
put in a tidy custom case that fits in a backpack, just plug in mics and AC,
hit record.