#7

That double row flow from interface out to gear to sum is clever. I’ve always just made interface half normal to sum and then put all the outboard on their own row de-normal. Your way uses less patch cables and makes sense for a developed and standard workflow (but same patchable flexibility when you shake things up). Really dig.

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#8

Well, when the patch cables cost ~$20 each one becomes highly motivated to use as few as possible :slight_smile:

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#9

Longframe was a bold choice! :slight_smile:

#10

I know… I had a little regret once I got them but I was able to buy all three patch bays for less than $200 so there is some savings there. TT bantam cables aren’t much better. I wanted something sturdier than the 1/4" I was using - the cables kept falling out. Long term, I think I made a good choice.

Really all I need to do is spend some time on eBay looking for deals on the cables - I should be able to pick up a bundle of a dozen or so for $10-15 each.

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#11

Cables are super easy to solder. You could probably get some nice jacks & cable and make as many as you want. :slight_smile:

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#12

That’s definitely plan B - the jacks are $7 each and not available everywhere.

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#13

i’ve got 3 samson patchbays, and i’m trying to motivate myself to rearrange them again - 3rd time. which totally justifies the many hours spent planning it - once it’s set up i know i won’t want to touch it again for quite some time.

semi-normalisation worked really well for what i had previously - one patchbay was various sound sources in the top row, mixer inputs in the bottom row, so everything routed to the mixer by default, and another patchbay had the mixer direct outs at the top and audio interface at the bottom. i’ve heard that with normalising patchbay you might get a bleed through issue, but never noticed anything.

patchbay
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i use openoffice calc for the reference (MW is A&H MixWizard, UFX and FF are RME interfaces, letters represent different snakes), but when i went through the last major reshuffle a few years ago i got tired of copy/pasting cells, so did this instead:

planning
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#14

How are you connecting the Behringer 8200 inputs to the patchbay? Those front panel input jacks are a hassle. I figured it was easier to just patch them to the patchbay front panel as needed.

edit… I see your note about it. Looks like you are planning on doing the same.

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#15

Can I ask a basic patchbay question here? Is there a reason that something like a basic Samson 1/4" patchbay would be a bad idea (for patching in a home studio with a decent # of synths and a little outboard gear). When I try and research patchbays I find a lot of people suggesting much more expensive ones that use TT or other cabling systems. I can’t figure out if that’s because their use-cases are really different from mine or if there’s something I don’t understand about how they work or quality? I am far from a professional operation.

2 Likes
#16

I used PB48 (the DBX 1/4" patchbay equiv to the Samson you’re looking at) for many years. No genuine big deal problem with that at all.

I recently (like as of this past week) upgraded to a customized TT patchbay. I upgraded mostly because I wanted to simplify the pile of cables coming out the back (I had three of these things) and because I needed a little more I/O (I run 16channels of AD/DA in a hybrid situation, a couple different 8 track cassette recorders, Nagra 2 ch, Nakamichi 2ch cassette, etc).

If you’ve never had or used a patchbay much I strongly strongly recommend getting a 1/4" setup first so you can learn what you’re doing–how to configure it best for your own creative practice, how to unmelt your brain figuring out how to get TS into/out of a TRS world, etc. It means you’ll be invested in a bunch of 1/4" cabling. But maybe you’ll stick with 1/4" patchbay forever. Lots of great reasons to be in it at 1/4".

As someone who just upgraded to TT I can tell you: most of the people talking about TT being better are blowing smoke. There are advantages, but there’s also an advantage in just getting up and running without breaking the bank.

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#17

I have two of the Samson patchbays in my studio, and they’re great in my experience. The normalling switches on the front is a feature I use regularly. Build quality is very good- they’re popular for a reason.

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#18

Ricky Tinez did a vid:

And also daydream sound:

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#19

From the tiny studio topic:

I approach this with patchbays. Though I’ve recently separated my mix/production spot from my electrosound spot, they both have patchpays and there’s effectively a snake so 8ch of sound can go from electrosound to the DAW and 2ch of sound can go from the DAW to electrosound. I’ve also used one of Pulp Logic’s 4u rack mount frames to install a row of Euro at the DAW so I can do euro processing.

Patchbays, though tedious to set up, can become a way to abstract and codify process (through arrangement and normalling) while allowing for quick flexibility (through patching).

3 Likes
#20

I recently bought a balanced patchbay and I’m having all kinds of trouble with my unbalanced gear. I didn’t think it would matter this much because I was previously sending the same gear directly into my audio interface with no issue. I have 3 tape machines and my modular synth. I hooked up all of the ins and outs to this patchbay. My audio interface is also patched into it. Work flow wise its amazing but I’m getting all kinds of distortion and noise that I didn’t previously have. I bought some balanced input and output modules for my eurorack system which is helping but I have no idea what to do about my tape machines. How do I properly interface my unbalanced gear with my current setup?

#21

I’ve got a large mix of balanced and unbalanced gear in my patchbay and haven’t had that as a source of noise issue (tape machine, old unbalanced console, balanced interface). I’m curious if it might be a ground loop somewhere? Do you have things in different outlets around the room by chance?

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#22

Actually, the first thing I noticed was a ground loop but I tracked that down and fixed it already. I’m having a bigger problem with levels and distortion now.

#23

It might help to know more about your setup. Are any of the connections normalled? What patchbay? In the spirit of troubleshooting, did any settings change on the interface during the setup process? Are you using TRS connections from the interface? Are you sure all cables are fully seated?

This might be better suited for the Questions category.

As another data point, I’m using a patchbay with multiple audio interfaces, a half-dozen synths, modular, and outboard and have never had level/distortion issues. All issues were usually traced to a cable coming loose or rarely, just a bad cable.

#24

check this doc:
https://www.ranecommercial.com/kb_article.php?article=2107
you’ll probably need cables of type #14 for going from unbalanced gear to the patchbay, and type #11 (maybe #9b depending on your mixer or audio interface) for the other way around. it’s what I use (balanced analogue mixer, two patchbays, unbalanced tape gear and old FX boxes, balanced audio interface).

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#25

maybe a D.I. can resolve your problems… like a Radial ones…

#26

Here’s a powerpoint walkthrough from a college class on patchbays:

8 Likes