patch panel question

[gullfo]

I was cruising through some computer site that had CAT5 patch panels for pretty cheap and thought why couldn't you use CAT5 patch panels instead of 1/4" patch panels for audio? CAT5 is twisted pair (or shielded even) designed for 100mhz signals.

just curious... if the back end was all soldered connection to 1/4" (or whatever type of connector the equipment used), could short 1-2' CAT5 connections be used? is it a case of tradition? impedence? noise? confusion between digital and analog? maybe normalized/open/half-normalled may be tricky? dunno...

[tourettes5139]

Some studios use bantam patchbays, which i believe are something like cat. 5, but don't quote me on it. They're mainly used because you can fit more jacks in the same space than you can with 1/4" jacks. To be honest, I don't know it cat. 5 would work, but its an interesting idea!

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by tourettes5139

Some studios use bantam patchbays, which i believe are something like cat. 5, but don't quote me on it. They're mainly used because you can fit more jacks in the same space than you can with 1/4" jacks. To be honest, I don't know it cat. 5 would work, but its an interesting idea!

You'd have to bus all the grounds together on the patch bay, unless you use a patch bay with shielded jacks and shielded patch cables (which wouldn't be a bad idea---they do sell such beasts for token ring and stuff).