Patchbay setup help

[mcmd]

Hi,

I have 2 mic pres that I want to wire into my patchbay – Joemeek VC3Q and an M-audio DMP3. The problem with either is that if I connect the ¼ input and the XLR input, then the XLR input is disconnected. So I would have to directly connect and disconnect to the inputs at the back of the units – seems like these units are not made to be patched? Anybody have a solution?

Thanks,
mcmd

 

[Ford Van]

There really isn't anything you can do about it, except to possibly modify the preamp 1/4 input jacks themselves.

The jacks in there right now in a sense is "sensing" the presence of the cable being plugged into it and causing the XLR input to not work. How it "senses" the cable being plugged in is by the physical configuration of the 1/4" jack. It is designed a bit different than a standard 1/4" jack that you would find on say your guitar. Usually, by plugging the 1/4" jack in, two pieces of metal on the jack stop a connection from being made, and thus, the XLR jack is disabled. It is a clever way of doing things.

Anyway, there really isn't any way you can stop this from happening. If you want to wire the XLR jacks to the patchbay, you of course could! But if you wire the 1/4" jacks, you will ALWAYS disable the XLR jacks. So, don't wire the 1/4" input jacks to the patchbay.

Hope This helps.