Looking for the best way to run rack effects with a patchbay

I need a little help; I reorganized my basement studio 'live' room and I'm running into confusion when it comes to patchbay usage...

I bought an old rolling rack case from a buddy of mine a while back and just got around to using it.


In the rack I have my Yamaha P2100, Yamaha SPX900, Lexicon MPX-1, a DBX 164 stereo compressor, MXR 1500 delay, Aural Exciter and a Furman power conditioner.

The mixer itself is a Soundcraft EPM12:


And a Tascam PB32R patchbay I happened to have lying around. But I also have this:


which, I cannot find a thing about online, and I'm not too sure how good the quality is, but it's 1/4" and it was free so....

I hate dumping a "here's my stuff, whaddo I do" question on here with so many ways to research it myself, but I think my biggest problem is I may not have the right equipment to do what I'm asking, which is this:

Consider this setup solely live playing; no recording happening at the moment. I will be hooking up keyboards and drum machines to the mixer, and previously I was only using 1 rack effect (the SPX900) just because I only had the one stereo-in/AUX send available at the time. So since I put all this other nonsense in the rack I wanted to be able to use it for live playing.

I'm comfortable enough understanding the patchbay route for getting everything out front at least, and maybe for the instruments to be in a normalled setup and then to the mixer so I can have patch points if I want to use a pedal effect or something.. but with the rack effects I want to be able to insert one or all into each channel. The EPM12 has insert points on each channel and you have to use actual insert cables (first time I've ever encountered this). I could get use of the 2 AUX send/return points which I presume could have effects daisy-chained in the patchbay. But then there are certain effects that don't work right in the AUX setup, like the compressor.

Could anyone just take a quick look at my setup and tell me if I have the right equipment to do what I'm looking for? Do I need more channels? Are my patchbays shite?
 
I usually use a patchbay when I want to be able to insert compressors on different channels and the back of the console isn't easily accessible. Your inserts are on the top of the mixer so the benefit is limited.
 
You say "normalled" but I think most folks use patch fields "half normalled"? In case you don't know This means you can 'pinch' an output from the top row without affecting anything* but jacking into the bottom row disconnects the top jack above and accepts the new source.

If that Tascam bay has been sitting around for some time unused then my first task would be to remove the case, take it outside and put best part of a can of WD-40 through all the jacks and their switches, then use a plug and give each jack a good "Rogering"! You could use De-Oxit but expensive.

But, FIRST job, sheet of A4 and work out all the ins and outs you need. You will be surprised at how many 'ways' it comes to! Also, very good labeling and planning is vital if you are to retain hair and a relationship.

Balanced and unbalanced sources and sinks can be a problem if you mix them. Ideally you want one or the other, not both. You can 'Impedance' balance outputs.

*Depends on the output impedance of the various pieces of gear and input loads which can cause a slight loss of level.

Ooops! Had thought the jack bay was Tascam (can't read it well). Going to see what I can find...

Dave.
 
AP Audio 24 Input Patch Bay - Evolution Music

Best I can find so far. Looks as though you have to live with the normalling as is unless there are solder link we can't see? In any case you would have to take each jack PCB out to do it...STILL, what are wet Saturday afternoons for anyway!

You are going to need a LOT of jack cables!
Dave.
 
I'm pretty sure you can flip the cards in the Re'an patchbay to make it normalled or not. It will also depend on how you connect things.
 
I know people disagree, but the very last thing I put on electrical contacts is WD-40 because it is NOT, and never has been switch cleaner. It leaves behind a sticky residue - so initially you find it's wonderful, but after a few months dust settles on the residue and sticks, so you need to do it again and again, and it builds up.

In the BBC, Colclene was the favourite - great for video heads too, and it's essentially a solvent under pressure and not much more. Servisol was second best to Colclene, but anyone using WD-40 would be in serious trouble.

To add confusion = WD-40 make contact cleaner too - and this stuff is like the others essentially a solvent and no lubrication. In my humble view - having two products with the same name is really dumb. I guess Dave uses the non-oily WD-40, but for many people, WD-40 is penetrating oil, but they have other products and they look very, very similar.

Lots of patch bays use the small 4 socket card system where you reverse the card to change the normalising function. The real secret is planning your connections so everyday connections need no patch cables in whatsoever. You add them to change things.

I've had some of the Behringer ones that have the normalising switches on top - they've been pretty decent.
 
Yes Rob, I have heard all the horror stories about WD before but have used the original on pots and switches for 40 years and its predecessor CRC before that.

Yes, it leaves a film but those solvent that wash out all the lubricant from pots do them no good IMO. WD-40 also inhibits oxidation...DON'T use it on your Purdys, it will strip off the blueing!

Ok, yes there may be better product but at the end of the day IF you have to clean a pot or switch it is an indication it will soon need replacement anyway.

Dave.
 
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