A patch bay for my kingdom

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Since i saw Ricky Tinez video about patch bay, i understand how important android suitable would be is have all my gear connected.

Please can you share your experience, that would save me lot of reading time and research.

  1. Lot of gear to connect, with some of them having multiple outs.
  2. I would like the patch bay having no disturbing noise level
  3. The price must be under 200e (the best ratio quality/price). The less expensive possible for the best quality, if that exist.

Thanks for your help

Mod edit: cited video

1 Like
Patchbay advice
Xone 96 Mixer
Recommendations for line mixer and/or patch bay please!
One or many reverbs?
#2

Rean. Used them for years, zero problems.

2 Likes
#3

Samson S-Patch. I have 2 and they’re solid. Plus the settings for routing of each io pair is on the front with switches.

8 Likes
#4

Somebody please correct me if I’m wrong, but expecting something as simple and passive as a patchbay to add any noise whatsoever is as silly as expecting a cheap cable to add noise, isn’t it?

2 Likes
#5

The price is exactly what i dreamed of.
I read that it’s stereo, that mean each jack in/out must be stereo. If it’s the case, i must use Y cables for most of my gear (mainly stereo with two mono out), is that right ?
So that mean i cannot send the right in a specific direction, and the left else where ?
Sorry for such newbee questions.
Thanks for input

#6

Seems logical, thanks for input.

#7

All patch bays out there should be sporting TRS jacks, which means you could put a stereo signal through them, or balanced mono signals. Or unbalanced, for that matter. Most of my gear outputs separate unbalanced L and R jacks and I do not use a Y cable to combine them into one jack in my patch bay, I keep them separate. My advice is to keep every port mono for simplicity. Combining them to a single stereo jack seems like it would only be useful for saving on ports used, and if you need more it would almost be as inexpensive to just get a second patch bay instead of buying a bunch of Y cables/adapters. Certainly less messy. It can also make it easier to match the numbers on the patch bay inputs with the channel numbers on your mixer/interface.

On a related note, I found this software pretty useful for designing and printing labels. It has templates for what seems like every patch bay in existence. https://www.patchcad.com/

And on the topic of switching. I’ve never found a need to use anything but Normal. Plug in all your gear in a way that serves as a workable default routing. Top row is outputs, bottom row is inputs. Patch to override.

6 Likes
The julien's Multiple sound interfaces VS one big USB mixer post
#8

More expensive than Near, but the switch on the front would be interesting, saving screwing to change modes… is that justify the price difference ? I suppose yes, if changing modes is frequent. I have to see more videos to understand the use of modes i will have.
Thanks for input

1 Like
#9

That sounds like wisdom and experimented advice. Evidence that i will save money if not buying bunch of Y cables. Ok for the second patch bay too.

1 Like
#10

Thanks to you fellows for efficient answers.
Save me lot of time :smiley:

#11

Funnily enough, I too watched the video you cited not long ago, and was seriously toying with the idea of acquiring a patch bay for easy cable switching…

Thanks for asking the question, and others for the input.
:thup:

1 Like
#12

+3 for Samson S-Patch. Having those switches on the front vs having to reconfig any other way is worth it. And while Switchcrafts are alluring with TT cables and more patch points, I just use Hosa TRS 1/4 patch cables for everything and never had any issues. No noise and the price is right.

To be honest I used to view Samson on a similar level as Behringer, but after having 3 D-1500’s come through the years and these patch bays, they are a solid company with solid gear. Their stuff is built well and so far no issues to report.

image
image3024Ă—4032 3.03 MB
image
image3024Ă—4032 2.86 MB

4 Likes
#13

Do you use these switches often?
What’s the point? I was thinking half-normal was the most convenient way of using this… What did I overlooked?
Why does it cost twice as much as the Neutrik / Rean?

1 Like
#14

Whilst the switches are convenient I have had a few go bad, so that is why I stick with the Reans now (ironically I had those first, then decided to swap them out for switched, put them in the loft) When I had a couple of switches fail I got the old Reans back out and swapped back. Had 3 of them for over 20 years, good quality jack sockets because that is what they specialise in.

I found that once you know which you want split and which you want normalled you don’t need to change them very often. At least in my case.

A label printer is recommended too, makes it neater and easier.

2 Likes
#15

What’s your usage for split vs normalled?

1 Like
#16

I mostly use normalled for common connections, for example OT is my main sampler, so monitor mix is normalled to inputs AB, then if I want to sample from monitor mix to Deluge just plug from Deluge inputs to monitor mix. Also for mixer channels where I don’t always use the instrument connected to a channel I have those normalled, then I can simply borrow that channel. For other mixer channels where the same gear is used I don’t bring those to the patchbay, I have 3 mixers + a sub mixer, the sub mixer can route any instrument connected to any of the mixers to the monitor mix for sampling via the patchbay.

I use split/isolated signals for stuff I don’t always use, like extra outputs from Rytm etc, this means that anything is available on a socket for sampling, fx or whatever.

Finally I have 8 “link” sockets on each patchbay, these link the patchbays on each side of the room, so for example if I want to send a signal from 1 side of the room, to an effect on the other side then back again, comes in very handy!

5 Likes
#17

The switches are convenient cause you don’t have to pull the patch bay out to reconfig it. My studio is always in flux so I find it convenient. Normalled stuff is always connected so you don’t have to patch from the front. I set everything to thru for now since things are always changing, but I have enough cables to deal with it. If I needed more cables I could flip to normal and free up cables. I haven’t had a need for mults yet, but that will come in handy later with an interface and or a mixer with individual out etc.

As for cost IDK why it’s more, but the prices have gone up probably because of import duties. I paid $100 each for the first 2 years ago and $120 for the 3rd. Now they are $140.

Whichever way you go, I definitely recommend getting any patch bay if you have more than a few pieces in your studio. It’s a gamechanger.

3 Likes
#18

Yes I do need one: I have a big mixer / interface but it’s full and I frequently have people home for jamming. Plus some gear is not permanently affected. Totally need one.

I see now why I would definitely need the little switches :slight_smile:

Thank you!
:slight_smile:

2 Likes
#19

Thanks for asking further xplanation

1 Like
#20

I got some behringer patchbays secondhand as part of a job lot and am finding them fine, even though I wouldn’t usually go down that route. They have the switching on top, which isn’t as easy to access as the Samsons, but I have always thought that, realistically, once things are stable, I wouldn’t need the switching - as it turns out, I only have things normalled at the moment.

I’d always use separate L & R as mentioned above.
Cabling costs are increased but, for devices that have multi IO or are close together, cable snakes can be a lot neater than individual lines.
You probably won’t want a bantam patchbay in this context - just make sure you don’t order one by mistake.

As well as being able to more flexibly route things:
I prefer the peace of mind that they are more sacrificial that the ports they are replicating.
I like the fact they are forward-facing - I can easily and quickly patch a “guest” piece of kit to my interface without fumbling around at the back.

3 Likes