a good patchbay

[nu-tellar]

hey, guys i am in dough about this next move and, i wanted to hear from you wise vse members to help me decide if, this is a good idea.

i been thinking about getting a patch bay. i have to audio interfaces which give me 16 in and 16 out. i use all of them but, sometimes i have to disconnect some instruments to feed others in. the problem is i have to turn off my audio interface and instruments to do the connection.

i will like to ask you a few question those the patchbay introduce any noise to the signal pad? and i am no sure but, i think you can also connect instrument without having to turn my instruments off?

what would you guys recommend me for a good budget patch bay? my budget right now is $100.00 but i will say for a good patch bay.

thanks

[matia]

a patchbay should not introduce any noise. re-seating and cleaning the cards often helps. it also depends on what kind of a patchbay you run. i doubt you need tt's so it's probably 1/4 in. Also do you need a balanced or unbalanced patchbay. In my studio I run the unbalanced stuff into an unbalanced patchbay and balanced stuff (ie ins n outs of interface, outboard ...) into a balanced patchbay. Neutrik make a decent patchbay as does Furman (if you can find it as I don't know if it's still made). Stay away from behringer by all means. they sometimes make some 'decent' stuff but not patchbays. if you are buying used, it helps to know how often the patchbay has been used. patchbays often have a 'life span' that gets shorter and shorter the more times cables are plugged in and out. if i were you i'd buy new.

and yea ... i would be really lost without a patchbay.

-matia

[BlackGnosis]

I've heard bad things about NADY & behringer too when it comes to patch bays....................

Horrible...buzzy AC hum related things..

[schmidtc]

Actually, I think Berhinger makes a decent patchbay, but the design with the patch mode switches on top of the rack isn't brillant. I'm using two of the new Neutrik bays and they work fine, but I've also used Tascam and Furman. It's a really basic device, so they're isn't a whole lot of difference between them, but a lot of people hook them up wrong, and you can get noise that way. A balanced (trs) connection were you can flip the channels to normalled is the most flexible. This makes effects routing a snap.

Treat it exactly as if you were plugging into your interface. If for whatever reason you need to turn off the instruments, a patchbay won't change that. It's a passive device, so it's the same electrically. cheers from beantown.

[nu-tellar]

[quote="matia"]a patchbay should not introduce any noise. re-seating and cleaning the cards often helps. it also depends on what kind of a patchbay you run. i doubt you need tt's so it's probably 1/4 in. Also do you need a balanced or unbalanced patchbay. In my studio I run the unbalanced stuff into an unbalanced patchbay and balanced stuff (ie ins n outs of interface, outboard ...) into a balanced patchbay. Neutrik make a decent patchbay as does Furman (if you can find it as I don't know if it's still made). Stay away from behringer by all means. they sometimes make some 'decent' stuff but not patchbays. if you are buying used, it helps to know how often the patchbay has been used. patchbays often have a 'life span' that gets shorter and shorter the more times cables are plugged in and out. if i were you i'd buy new.

thanks matia for the quick replay, i just as here before going shopping for one cost i know you guys know a lot more than i do and just like i thought you real experiences with one. i don`t even know what`s out there in that department.
i am also going to need unbalanced 1/4 for the gears. i will like to have enough ins and outs or all my instrument. that will be like 40 to go from instruments out to interfaces and, like 10 to go from the interface back to the instrument in connector, 16 ins for the interfaces in and 16 outs for the interfaces.


that will be like a patch bay with 56 ins and 26 outs. that will probably cost me a ton. can i do something like that of good quality for $500.00.

i know that is ridiculous wanting many inputs and outputs in a patch bay for only 6 instruments but, i will just like to have everything within easy reach, just like on the computer. that i can make a different routing real quick.

[matia]

at that point you might want to go for a tt patchbay. you will need a different patch cable (tt) but you will be able to fit A LOT more connections in way less space.

-matia

[pflosi]

just buy 2 24 i/o patchbays and you're done. I use a b€hringer patchbay, and it's not that bad. I'd rather not buy any other b€hringer stuff than a patchbay.

why do you have to turn off the instruments when plugging? because of the clicks on your speakers? get a monitor controller.

[matia]

yea you can sort your patchbay issues out for under $500. i'm not saying under any circumstance don't buy used, but if you are buying used try to do it locally so you can see/hear for yourself and can get a good description about how often and how it's been used. i stumbled on deals where the patchbays were sold used but the studio had to shut down before anything was plugged into them and saved a lot of cash!

sometimes for these kinds of issues gearslutz.com is a good resource just watch out for some of the bourgeoisie audio elite and don't drop the 'B' word too much (j/k).

-matia

[nu-tellar]

hey, thanks for your kind suggestion. i will probably check for a patchbay later down the route for now i will just play with what i have and stop trying to make the perfect set up. i just got a monomachine and with that and, my machinedrum i am having lots of fun. i never have this fun with the comuter. i am going to try to finish a list ten songs before trying to buy anything else.

thanks

[code green]

just remember to factor in the cost of cabling....

[nu-tellar]

just remember to factor in the cost of cabling....

got it man thank you very much for your replay. like i said i am considering a patchbay but it will take a while before i get one i am broke right now.

i have to use my money now to live a little., and i got to stop the gas.