G
guitarfrk99
New member
all i hear is that patch bays are so neccesary and useful in any home studio....but i just dont understand them....maybe an example of when to use one would be might help...thanks a lot
regebro
Insane Genious!
A patch bay is a place where you plug all your connections. That way, instead of having to grope blind behind your syntesizer to find that oupt that goes behind that compressor rack which the goes in to the input at the back of the tape recorder, you have all the output and inputs nicely and neatly ordered in a patch bay.
Also, thanks to so called "normalizing" you can connect up the patch bay so that you have your standard set up connected without any cables at all. And for those times where you want to change your standard setup, you don't have to grop blind behind your synthesizer to plug out that cable and replace it with... well, you get the point.
The end result of all this is: You get rid of 90% of the cable mess, an half of the remaining 10% will be in your patchbay. And to fix that cable mess, all you need to do is remove all the patch cables from the patch bay.
The remaining 5% of cable mess is beween your guitars and microphones and amps and preamps.
Yup. You can't really live without patchbays as soon as you get above porta-studio level.
Also, thanks to so called "normalizing" you can connect up the patch bay so that you have your standard set up connected without any cables at all. And for those times where you want to change your standard setup, you don't have to grop blind behind your synthesizer to plug out that cable and replace it with... well, you get the point.
The end result of all this is: You get rid of 90% of the cable mess, an half of the remaining 10% will be in your patchbay. And to fix that cable mess, all you need to do is remove all the patch cables from the patch bay.
The remaining 5% of cable mess is beween your guitars and microphones and amps and preamps.
Yup. You can't really live without patchbays as soon as you get above porta-studio level.
Middleman
Professional Amateur
To expand on the excellent thread above, using the patchbay is a very fast way of creating vocal chains on the fly. I can try various compressors and preamps quickly by using the short jumper cables on the bay.
One note however, you will spend 2x the $ amount on cables as the patch bay itself generally costs. Once you are set up however its just convenient to patch things in and out of a mixer, soundcard, speakers etc. Leaves more time for making music and less patching peices of gear together.
MM
One note however, you will spend 2x the $ amount on cables as the patch bay itself generally costs. Once you are set up however its just convenient to patch things in and out of a mixer, soundcard, speakers etc. Leaves more time for making music and less patching peices of gear together.
MM
dwillis45
Número sesenta nueve
Think about it this way. Pretend you could take all your rack gear (in fact, anything with a 1/4 input), mount all the inputs and outputs on a single faceplate, reverse it, and pop it into your rack. You would have the equivalent of a patchbay.
Now for the tough questions: What patchbay should I buy (Berhringer, DBX, ADC, Switchcraft)? What patch cables? Will it degrade my signal chain? Do the contacts wear out? How often should I clean the contacts?............
Now for the tough questions: What patchbay should I buy (Berhringer, DBX, ADC, Switchcraft)? What patch cables? Will it degrade my signal chain? Do the contacts wear out? How often should I clean the contacts?............
regebro
Insane Genious!
What you want in a patchbay is:
1. Both normalized and non-normalized modes. A "parallell" mode that lets you split signals is a plus.
2. Easy switching of channel modes. Doing this without unscrewing the patchbay is a big plus. Doing it from a switch on the front is the best.
3. 1/4" jacks on both sides. Bantam jacks and soldering jacks are fine if you are doing a studio installation with fixed cabling in the walls. Otherwise you need 1/4" jacks on both sides. Really.
4. Balanced connections is another plus. Usually not necessary but when you do want balanced connections it's nice. Note that you should avoid running mics through standard patchbays, both because you don't want to put phantom power there, and both becuase the mic signals are so weak. But the day you do have a balanced signal, it will be annoying not to be able to run it through the patch bay.
This fits the bill:
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1656&brandID=2
This ones require you to flip cards to change the config, meaning you need to do some unscrewing and unplugging. But it's muh cheaper, and it IS Neutrik. Quality stuff.
http://www.neutrik.com/content/Products/products_group.asp?level2id=204_844827625
This Hosa patch bay is balanced sometimes:
http://www.hosatech.com/hosa/products/PHB-265.html
And this one is balanced, but like the Neutrik you get to flip cards in stead of switches:
http://www.hosatech.com/hosa/products/PHB-350.html
No, it won't degrade you signal chain, unless you use really crappy or extremely long cables (which you don't).
Yes, they will wear out. Nothing lasts for ever.
1. Both normalized and non-normalized modes. A "parallell" mode that lets you split signals is a plus.
2. Easy switching of channel modes. Doing this without unscrewing the patchbay is a big plus. Doing it from a switch on the front is the best.
3. 1/4" jacks on both sides. Bantam jacks and soldering jacks are fine if you are doing a studio installation with fixed cabling in the walls. Otherwise you need 1/4" jacks on both sides. Really.
4. Balanced connections is another plus. Usually not necessary but when you do want balanced connections it's nice. Note that you should avoid running mics through standard patchbays, both because you don't want to put phantom power there, and both becuase the mic signals are so weak. But the day you do have a balanced signal, it will be annoying not to be able to run it through the patch bay.
This fits the bill:
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1656&brandID=2
This ones require you to flip cards to change the config, meaning you need to do some unscrewing and unplugging. But it's muh cheaper, and it IS Neutrik. Quality stuff.
http://www.neutrik.com/content/Products/products_group.asp?level2id=204_844827625
This Hosa patch bay is balanced sometimes:
http://www.hosatech.com/hosa/products/PHB-265.html
And this one is balanced, but like the Neutrik you get to flip cards in stead of switches:
http://www.hosatech.com/hosa/products/PHB-350.html
No, it won't degrade you signal chain, unless you use really crappy or extremely long cables (which you don't).
Yes, they will wear out. Nothing lasts for ever.
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
Patchbays are good.
J
jbodner246
New member
ok lets throw a wrench in here. i use a furman PB-40 patch bay. If I have pretty easy access to the back of my rack gear ( obviously this is the case with one setup i have or i wouldnt be asking ) should i skip the patchbay all together. do ya think it will save any sound quality?
Track Rat
Just Your Average Sized Member
If you have a well cabled decent patchbay, I don't think you'd hear a difference with or without. I don't hear a difference on the few occassions when I've bypassed mine.
regebro
Insane Genious!
Man what an anticlimax this is. You'd expect post #3000 to be something cool and fantastic. Ah, well; here goes:
No.jbodner246 said: