Is there anything big with a patchbay?

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maddrummer

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Is there a big use of patchbays, or is it just a convienence thing?
 
24-32 tracks, 3 racks of effects, 8-buss console... yeah - I'd say patchbays are a pretty big convenience!!! ;)

4-track portastudio with a nanocomp and Behringer reverb... probably not even much of a convenience thing!


Bruce
 
Patchbays help you "patch" multiple effects in any order you want to mutliple sources (tracks/inputs...) without having to get behind the effects rack to re-route your cables.

Typically they have 20, 40, 48 or more channels with inputs and out puts on the back that route to the back of all your effects and to your mixing board and if you desire straight to you your recording device.

The front of your patchbay has inputs and outputs as well that let you put sa many effects in line and in any order you want by using easy to insert cable from the front of your rack.

The benifits: maximum flexibility with minimum effort. As Bruce indicated the more channels and effect combinations you have at your disposal the more this becomes a major time saver.

There are some tech tip archives at many websites listing the types (Normalled, 1/2 Normalled and Non-normalled) as well as types of cables they are designed for.

1/4 TS (Tips/Sleeve) non balanced cables.

1/8 TRS (Tip/Ring/Sleeve) balanced cables.

And some other more pro level balanced cables.

I'm pretty sure Musiciansfriend.com had a good Tech Tip about this in their archive.

I'm sure some one here has covered it in better detail also if you do a search on this forum.
 
thanks for the info... won't be needing one of those quite yet... until i win the lottery and buy more gear that is! this is an expensive hobby for someone with no money!
 
if you've got a big setup, once you have some, you'll never wanna do without them
 
TexRoadkill said:
Patch bays are so old school. Digital Matrix Mixer baby!
Click to expand...

Well that all depends on the rest of your equipment. Wanting a Digital Matrix Mixer with a four track cassette , a few effects and an annual budget of less than $100-$200 is like wanting to spend $5,000 on a paint job and blower for your Ford Pinto.

$50 patchbay will have to do for now and I can access everything from my 4-track inputs, aux sends/returns, effects, MD Deck and dubbing cassette decks entirerely from the front.

Even in a limited 4 track cassette land it is a time saver and simplifier.
 
Is there anything big with a patchbay?

Yeah, The cost of buying all those patch cords you gonna need:D
 
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