Patchbay Settings Help...

[roblluke]

Could someone please explain to me the whole "Normalled, Half - Normalled, Parallel" thing on patchbays.
I just got one and am using everything open because its the only way i understand.
I've read up about it on the net but most of the explanations are fairly indepth and too technical...
Could some one give me a simple explanation and some possible common uses for each setting.
Thanks.

[Farview]

Parallel= what goes in the bottom back comes out the bottom front, same for the top.

Half normalled what goes in the bottom back comes out the bottom front and the top back. When you plug something into the top front, then that is what comes out the top back. This is what you would use for channel inserts, when you aren't using them, they default to a loop.

[sjjohnston]

As you probably already know:
Front tops are always connected to back tops
Front bottoms are always connected to back bottoms

The "normalling" choices have to do with how the tops are connected to bottoms:
Open, sometimes called parallel: tops are not connected to bottoms
Normalled: tops are connected to bottoms, unless there's a plug in either front jack
Half-normalled: tops are connected to bottom, unless there's a plug in the bottom front jack

For what it's worth, here it is in the context of how I set up my patchbay.

I connect outputs to the back top jacks.
Inputs to the back bottom jacks.

If it's a situation where I "normally" want an output to go to the input below it, I'd set it half-normalled, so:
- If I don't do anything, the output on top goes to the input below it
- If I put a plug in the top jack, I can split (or "mult") the output: it still goes to the input below it, but I can also connect it somewhere else. It's like a Y-cable.
- If I put a plug in the bottom jack, I'm sending something different to the input, and cutting off the output that's normally connected to it.

If it's a situation where I've just hooked some devices to the patchbay so I can get at them, and they're not normally connected together, I'd set it parallel, so:
- I can get at the output by plugging into the top jack
- I can get at the input by plugging into the bottom jack

[TheRockDoc]

I know- I have had the same problem with patchbays. Now I have a whole new set of problems with digital