Bantam Patchbay for Mic signal

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mrb
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Bantam Patchbay for Mic signal

Post by mrb » Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:05 pm

Hi,

i'm designing my patchbay to improve the workflow in my studio. Yes, I'm not getting new outboard this Christmas, just cables... :roll:
I've been advised against using bantam patchbays for the mic signal (mics outs and pres ins ). It seems like XLR patch bays are the safest option.

Considering I've already got 4 bantam patch bays (Rean and Switchcraft) that came with the tape deck and that XLR patch bays are bigger and more expensive I wonder if it's really so so bad using just TT for all the connections.
I guess I just need to be careful with Phantom and delicate mics ?
Max RB

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Sat Dec 26, 2015 6:25 pm

My studio is running live room snakes on a bantam bay. Many others I've worked at have done the same. In our case it's because the patchbay is part of the console and wiring in XLR bays would be a massive pain in the ass.
You need to be extremely careful not to patch with phantom engaged. You also need to be extra careful not to patch mic ins to anything other than mic lines and engage phantom (nothing worse then sending voltage to a compressor or whatever).

Beyond that it's fine and everything works as it should. We have yet to blow anything up.

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Sun Dec 27, 2015 10:50 am

I second David's post.

I've worked for years in pro studios that have their entire mic lines coming up on bantam TT patchlines, with no issues at all.

They are just mechanical connections.

And yes, you do have to ensure you do NOT engage phantom power until you have everything patched up properly.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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Scodiddly
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Post by Scodiddly » Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:09 pm

Third on being careful and *not* having phantom power on while patching.

Even Yamaha gear can be damaged that way.

mrb
ass engineer
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Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 7:59 am
Location: Spain

Post by mrb » Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:25 pm

Thanks!

That's good news, I'm saving some money. And It makes more sense to have only one kind of connection.

If you don't mind , I've got another question about this.

My mixer , a Studer 963, has a TT patchbay (semi- normalized) with the sends and returns for all the channels.
Those sends and returns are not at the back of the mixer . They are just accessible via that patch bay.
My question is can I connect those send/returns to the main patchbay ?
Maybe is not a good idea to patchbay an already patchbayed connection?
Max RB

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