Behringer Patchbays:

  • Thread starter Thread starter Creamyapples1
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The cheap one only offers 3 different modes. Those modes are: Normal, Thru, and Half Normal.

The more expensive one offers 5 modes. Those are:parallel, input break, output break, front u-turn, and rear u-turn.
 
I guess maybe I didn't know as much about Patch Bays as I thought. I guess I've got some reading to do. Thanks so much!
 
fritzmusic said:
The cheap one only offers 3 different modes. Those modes are: Normal, Thru, and Half Normal.

The more expensive one offers 5 modes. Those are:parallel, input break, output break, front u-turn, and rear u-turn.
Click to expand...
You made a mistake the cheap has 5 and the dear has 3
 
Can anyone give an explaination of these modes that a 6year old could understand? lol
 
Pandamonk:

You're right. Thanks for catching that. That's interesting now..the cheaper one appears to have more flexibility.
 
Except that you apparently have to cut traces to change the configuration. And please tell me when you would use some of those other configurations. I've *never* needed anything other than normalled, half-normalled or de-normalled.

I'd much rather have the $50 patchbay with three modes that I would actually use, and that are easily changeable by a switch. $50 is still extremely cheap for a new balanced/unbalanced patchbay.
 
I'm extremely interested in this topic as well, as I have two unbalanced patchbays to replace...It appears to me at first glance that the difference is actually $20 worth of switches, some of that value determined by the convenience of switching over manual modding...

What's most important to me is the quality of the jacks themselves and how solid the contact is...

Eric
 
stetto said:
What's most important to me is the quality of the jacks themselves and how solid the contact is...
Click to expand...

Exactly true, and very important. For this reason I now use DBX and RE'AN patchbays. They hold the connectors tight, and you can hear and feel the clicks when you insert the jacks.

I should say that in my opinion it would be a real drag to have to cut traces to change configurations on a patchbay. Time consuming, you could make mistakes, and then what happens if you want to change it back? You'd have to solder traces back onto the unit. That's not worth saving a few bucks in my opinion.
 
SonicAlbert said:
They hold the connectors tight, and you can hear and feel the clicks when you insert the jacks.
Click to expand...

I have two unbalanced bays right now, a 20 year-old Tascam PB32 (rca-rear) and a Behringer PX2000 (unbalanced). Neither hold a connector tight, the Tascam has had corrective surgery twice and still isn't reliable. The Behringer, only a couple years old, hasn't given me cause for fits but it IS unbalanced and the plugs move in and out without resistance...

I recently bought into a stand-alone DAW and would like to optimize my signal path, as I'm using outboard pres and processors...

...Haven't found an outlet for dbx patchbays, I assume they've been discontinued, the Neutriks look good, but exactly how are they different from the Behri (neither list component manufacturers)...The Neutrik really needs to merit the extra forty bones when I could use that do-re-mi for TRS patch cables... :confused:

Eric
 
As far as I know the DBX patchbays are still available. They are model number DBX PB-48. They are rather expensive though. The RE'AN's are very similar but less expensive. I've not used the Neutrik's, but a lot of people seem to like them.

I had a number of Furman PB-48 patchbays that were very annoying because they did not hold the jacks tight and I was always losing connection. If the Behringer's are that way too, I'd avoid them, that's just my opinion. I've been gradually replacing my Furman's with DBX and RE'AN.
 
You can get the DBX patchbays for less than that, but yeah you are basically spending over a hundred per patchbay. The RE'AN's are a little less, but kind of in the same ballpark.

Believe me, I've tried to avoid spending that kind of money on patchbays. But all the $50 patchbays with loose fitting connections that I've purchased have had fairly short lifespans. In actual fact, I'd have saved money by spending more upfront.

Ultimately, *all* these plastic 1/4" patchbays are junk. The ideal kind to have are TT patchbays where you solder the wires into the back. Next to those are the 1/4" patchbays with metal connectors and solder style connectors in the rear.

The kind of 1/4" patchbays we are talking about in this thread are really lightweight and will have a limited lifespan. They will need to be replaced after a while. That's been my experience. Some will last longer than others, and of course it depends on how heavily they are used.
 
I use the PX3000 and am pretty happy with it. Definetley worth $50

Its all metal and the connections are tight (no problems with connections yet)
 
In the early '90s I had the pleasure of spending a goodly amount of time in a studio in Phoenix, Aztec I believe was the name...They had a voice-over and main studio...The patchbay rack took up a huge portion of the control room, and it was all TTL, almost all Mult and track assign...I gained a lot of respect for the tiny patch plugs and the space they accomodated....I don't remember if they were hard-wired or plugged in the back, but I'll go ahead and assume they were soldered in...

Eric
 
stetto said:
Funny, I went there and a host of other sites and couldn't find any dbx bays...You made it look easy :eek: .

Eric
Click to expand...


Their site is goofy from time to time. If you click on the "recording" tab, then scroll down the page, on the left side towards the bottom it will say "patch bays" It's in the Stands & Accessories section which is what threw me off, I figured it would be lumped in with the Signal processing stuff.
 
altitude909 said:
Its all metal and the connections are tight (no problems with connections yet)
Click to expand...

Can you feel the clicks when you insert a jack?
 
Ok, so how easy is it to switch the mode of a patch bay?




EDIT - And where can I get the dbx bay cheaper than MF has it?
 
Try calling Music Center Inc., I think they are selling them for $109. 800.697.9393

Different patchbays have different ways of switching modes. Probably the easiest I've seen is the Samson S-Patch Plus, which has a front panel switch for each of the 24 cards. That's about as easy as it gets.

Most patchbays of this type require flipping the cards to switch the normal. there are two basic designs for that, one in which the case is open on the bottom and the cards are held in by nuts in the rear, and the other where you take off the front panel and flip the cards that way. The DBX and REAN patchbays are the former, and the Furman and Neutrik are the latter.

The Behringer 3000 under discussion here also has switches for changing the normal, which is convenient. But since the switches are on the top of the unit they require removing whatever is above the patchbay to change the normals. That's less convenient than the Samson system, obviously.

Patchbays that require cutting jumpers would of course be less convenient to set up, in my opinion.

However, if your studio isn't going to change much, you may need to set up the patchbay only once. So if that is the case it doesn't really matter as much what system they use for switching normals, since you'd only be doing it once.
 
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