Am I barking up the wrong patchbay?

[hiddendriveways]

Like the poster Linus, I am "gearing up" (pun intended) to put together my first patchbay. My goal is to try to make it my last patchbay. I want to do it right.

After looking around at the various offerings out there, I am most curious about this one from TecNec:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1 ... _1_4_.html

I like how the inputs are spaced out, as opposed to being crammed together. Also, the XLR/TRS combos seem nice. Here are my questions:

1) Since this is my first patchbay, would buying an oddball unit like this be a bad idea? If so, why?

2) This unit has the combo inputs on the front panel, and the back panel has outputs that are soldering points. One of the things I want to do is to be able to send multiple outputs from my DAW into the patchbay (I'm going to have 14 outputs). I want to be able to easily send tracks out of the computer, through the patchbay, through a guitar pedal or whatever, then back into the DAW via the patchbay again (I also want to use the patchbay to easily route stuff through my outboard comps). Anyhow, could I get two of these units and use one for input and the other for output?

3) I am going to be using an RME OctaMic II. Its microphone inputs are on the back of the unit. Can I wire this patchbay so I can plug the mics into the pres on the front of the rack?

4) Many rack interfaces + preamps have their XLR mic inputs on the back of the device (Apogee Ensemble, etc.). How do people normally wire their gear so they don't have to reach around to the back of the rack everytime they want to set up some mics?

Thanks!

[Nick Sevilla]

Like the poster Linus, I am "gearing up" (pun intended) to put together my first patchbay. My goal is to try to make it my last patchbay. I want to do it right.

After looking around at the various offerings out there, I am most curious about this one from TecNec:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1 ... _1_4_.html

I like how the inputs are spaced out, as opposed to being crammed together. Also, the XLR/TRS combos seem nice. Here are my questions:

1) Since this is my first patchbay, would buying an oddball unit like this be a bad idea? If so, why?

2) This unit has the combo inputs on the front panel, and the back panel has outputs that are soldering points. One of the things I want to do is to be able to send multiple outputs from my DAW into the patchbay (I'm going to have 14 outputs). I want to be able to easily send tracks out of the computer, through the patchbay, through a guitar pedal or whatever, then back into the DAW via the patchbay again (I also want to use the patchbay to easily route stuff through my outboard comps). Anyhow, could I get two of these units and use one for input and the other for output?

3) I am going to be using an RME OctaMic II. Its microphone inputs are on the back of the unit. Can I wire this patchbay so I can plug the mics into the pres on the front of the rack?

4) Many rack interfaces + preamps have their XLR mic inputs on the back of the device (Apogee Ensemble, etc.). How do people normally wire their gear so they don't have to reach around to the back of the rack everytime they want to set up some mics?

Thanks!

Hi,

This "patchbay" you linked to is NOT THE RIGHT KIND!!!

THis one is an IO (Input / Output) rackmount connectors.

A True patchbay is a lot more complicated, and a lot more useful than this.

Try this one:

http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... &brandID=2

This allows you to connect inputs to outputs, have them "see" each other all the time, UNLESS you want to connect something else to that patch point.

You need : Half-Normall, Full Normall and Thru, which this patchbay does have.

This way you can connect all your outboard, mixer, mic pre outputs, etc,,, and have them all talk to each other. Also, try to have a little extra, for future expansion.

Cheers

[Jay Reynolds]

There's also this one:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--NTKNYSSPPL
Doesn't have the nice switching for normal/full/half. But you can rotate the modules to get the same results.

[hiddendriveways]

How do people normally wire their gear so they don't have to reach around to the back of the rack everytime they want to set up some mics?

[chris harris]

How do people normally wire their gear so they don't have to reach around to the back of the rack everytime they want to set up some mics?

snake cable with a breakout box or wall panels.

[analogcabin]

Just to put this out there.....
I have a ProCo PM148 48 point bay that I'm willing to sell.

Switchable between normaled, 1/2 normaled, patch thru or open.

email me for the .pdf manual.
erik@analogcabin.org

Great patchbay.
$45.00

[hiddendriveways]

Try this one:

http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... &brandID=2

This allows you to connect inputs to outputs, have them "see" each other all the time, UNLESS you want to connect something else to that patch point.

You need : Half-Normall, Full Normall and Thru, which this patchbay does have.

This way you can connect all your outboard, mixer, mic pre outputs, etc,,, and have them all talk to each other. Also, try to have a little extra, for future expansion.

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion. That looks like a well designed patchbay for ease of use. My only concern is sound quality. I own a Sampson 8 person headphone amp. It was inexpensive, and it works well for what I need it to do, but, when it comes to critical listening it's totally sub par. The noise floor is huge. It sounds colored.

I've spent a lot of money on my compressors, mic pres, and mics. I'm very hesitant to put it all through a box from a company whose first priority isn't sound quality.

I have three more questions:

1) Is the Samson patchbay mentioned in this thread worthy of patching the signal of expensive gear, or should I look elsewhere?

2) What is the advantage of TT patchbays? Is it sound quality?

3) Who makes the best sounding, most trusted patchbays for sound quality?

Very much appreciated!
Sam

[Nick Sevilla]

Thanks for the suggestion. That looks like a well designed patchbay for ease of use. My only concern is sound quality. I own a Sampson 8 person headphone amp. It was inexpensive, and it works well for what I need it to do, but, when it comes to critical listening it's totally sub par. The noise floor is huge. It sounds colored.

I've spent a lot of money on my compressors, mic pres, and mics. I'm very hesitant to put it all through a box from a company whose first priority isn't sound quality.

I have three more questions:

1) Is the Samson patchbay mentioned in this thread worthy of patching the signal of expensive gear, or should I look elsewhere?

2) What is the advantage of TT patchbays? Is it sound quality?

3) Who makes the best sounding, most trusted patchbays for sound quality?

Very much appreciated!
Sam

Hi Sam,

Here's a few answers :

1.- Yes. I own six of them. they are great. Keep them clean, and they last forever. they are mechanical, with good PCB components. the best ones are wire to wire, but those are a lot more, and cause issues later on, with wires going bad, corrosion, etc...

2.- TT is a good size when you have a LOT of connections, and not a lot of space to put them in. The drawbacks are : Less s/n between the connectors (more crosstalk), and more maintenance than the 1/4" models.

3.- ADC. they are expensive, but are very well made. to me, they are too pricey for a home studio setup. Some are in excess of 300 bucks, and more can go to 1200 bucks, depending on the connections and application.

Cheers

[kittonian]

If you really want a patchbay that'll last you forever you should check out the AudioLot Mixbay. When I say forever I really mean it because we offer a lifetime warranty. There's a manual in PDF format and a few magazine reviews on the product page you can read through as well as a video.

Here's a link:
http://www.audiolot.com/proaudio/sales/products?id=175

[hiddendriveways]

So it's established that the Samson patchbay is decent quality.

But let me ask you this... this Hosa appears to be identical to the Samson:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PHB265/

Do you suppose this comes out of the same factory in China? Or is one of them perhaps slightly superior to the other? I must say, I like the blue face plate of the Samson better than the Hosa black, but if one sounds better then that's the one I'll get.

Thanks for everyone's valuable contribution!

[Mane1234]

I have three Neutrik 1/4 bays and have never had a problem with them. Plenty of room for labeling and like the ProCo they have the switchable modules. Once you get your patchbay up and running you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

[calaverasgrandes]

I have a Neutrik a proco balanced and an old noname unbalanced patchabay (for old crappy unbalanced stuff I dont want pissing all over the grounds of my balanced stuff!)
Neutrik makes connectors as their primary business model so you can expect they get it right. The Proco is really good too but kind of weird that they plaster their name in the middle of the unit!
If I was doin it all over I'd get one of them db25 terminated patchbays. They have TRS connectors on the front (TT or reg phone) and several DB25 dsub jacks on the back. This allows you to connect an 8 channel snake all at once. This is also handy since a lot of 8 channel preamps out there have the same pinout, even some digidesign and Tascam stuff IIRC.
Thats what I'm getting after I finish my mixer box and upgrade my monitors.
redco.com has some
and so does audio accesories at patchbays.com
audio accesories also makes this neat unit that allows you to config various premade panels into one 2ru that the snakes and other cables terminate to. They solder directly to the jack on the front patchpanel. There is no back connector. The nicer patchbays usually dont have rear connectors, yousolder directly to the connectors leads. This is what those guys that get the mic pres with the jacks in back often do, since it is going from the patch panel out to a wall box or snake on the studio floor. Also why older gear (think Urei or UA) was all terminal strip. It was gonna be racked and the cables would be terminated in house so why would you want another connector in the signal path? More connectors in signal path=more possible points of failure.

[second skin]

the panel that you were asking about in your first post is a pretty useful thing to have in the rack even though it's not what most people think of when they think patchbay. i have a similar piece that i built from parts that i ordered from redco however and even with the cabling and XLR connectors for the other end it ended up costing less than the one that you mentioned.

it's very nice to get the XLR inputs out front for easy access. especiallly in a home studio situation where you can't do things like wall panels or leave snakes out all of the time.

[stitch]

if you REALLY want a patchbay, look on ebay for 'neve' patchbays or a patchbay from a neve room, etc.
These are more than likely Moses and Mitchell patchbays which, when new, go for thousands and will last for decades.

I just wired one up for the studio I work at that was gotten for a little over 60 bucks...
and that was with a 10' tail of belden 24x4 channel harnesses.

cheers!

[hiddendriveways]

I was recently leafing through a 2 year old copy of Tape Op and I came across an advert for a Switchcraft patchbay called StudioPatch:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StuPatch6425/

It's $700, has easily switchable modes, and the DB25 connectors on the back. Anyone know if the pricetag has more to do with the TT's and the DB25's as opposed to a better overall sound quality?

Thanks