Balanced patchbays or unbalanced patchbay?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Reg3n
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Reg3n

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hmm guys sorry, i;m kinda confused about the balanced and unbalanced thing.

I understand that TRS can be balanced or unbalanced depending whether the hardware uses it as a stereo TRS or a balanced signal. For a mixer insert that uses a single TRS jack would mean it is unbalanced.

For patchbays, if im not wrong there are such things as balanced and unbalanced patchbays right? how do I determine which should i use and does it matter to differentiate? If I just use balanced patchbays and i patch in an unbalanced line, does it matter? :confused:
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I can't see that an unbalanced line in a balanced patchbay would cause you problems. I think you'd want to have a balanced one no matter what, because an unbalanced one anywhere in the chain would pretty much nix any benefit you'd get from using balanced lines in the first place
 
Does the bulk of your gear have balanced ins and outs? If so, then go TRS.
 
In a majority of cases a balanced patch bay will handle balanced and unbalanced patches with no problems... The cost of a balanced and unbalanced bay is negligible. For special considerations patching between a balanced and unbalanced source and destination you'll have to consult the documentation of both units

Get the balanced...
 
Neutrik is what you probably want to go with. Don't get the Behringers.
 
I had this same question a couple months ago. 80% of my gear is balance (TRS), so I went with a DBX PB48 $129 from Sweetwater. I love it. It is easy to set it up as either normalized or de-normalized. Un-balance lines work just fine are mixing is not a issue.

Dan
 
I have a balanced Nuetrix patch bay, and the only difference I can tell when putting in a unbalanced line is the volume of the channel that is patched in to seems to be a "little" less with the unbalanced line. I really can't tell if the balanced line is cleaner. All my gear is balanced, so I keep it balanced. btw the Nuetrix is a killer patchbay, and only around $50.
 
Reg3n said:
For patchbays, if im not wrong there are such things as balanced and unbalanced patchbays right? how do I determine which should i use and does it matter to differentiate? If I just use balanced patchbays and i patch in an unbalanced line, does it matter? :confused:
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Get the balanced bay. You can use unbalanced gear through it no problem.

You can also unbalance balanced gear through the bay when you need to: if a transformer balanced output comes to the back of the bay, you can unbalance it by inserting a TS plug cable (tying the minus leg to ground) and running that to an unbalanced device. But you can always run it balanced into a balanced input using TRS plugs on a balanced line.

You can unbalance a typical active balanced output by inserting into the bay a special cable with a TRS plug on one end with the R floating (leaves the minus leg of the output floating) and a TS plug on the other end to connect to unbalanced gear. And again, you can always run it balanced into a balanced input using TRS plugs on a balanced line. Very handy!

Cheers,

Otto
 
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