I need some patchbay help... anyone?

[AudioPhile777]

I'm thinking about getting a patchbay to make my life a little easier...

BUT!

I know that I cant get 48v to my mics via TRS... so... is there a way to use a patchbay without have to unhook everything every time I need to track vocals?

I mean... I suppose I could make my own patchbays with some xlr connectors, right? ...

hmm... actually... that doesnt sound half bad... Sounds like fun too.

 

[NickL]

hmmm usually when I think of patchbays I'm assuming it's for hooking up outboard gear, but you want to use it for mic pres?

 

[AudioPhile777]

hmmm usually when I think of patchbays I'm assuming it's for hooking up outboard gear, but you want to use it for mic pres?

Yeah, I have 16 ins that I want to utilize and be able to setup different pre's for different inputs for different applications, but I'm tired of having to crawl into my racks to change things around... I think it may just be easier/more beneficial to either make or buy XLR patchbays... might be a bit more expensive... but... yeah

The main reason I asked is because I'm going to be buying some RNC/RNP rack combos and would like to hook them all up and be able to leave them and just switch a couple cables from the front... just to make things easier...

 

[NickL]

hmmm well most patchbays are TT in the front but I think some have XLR connections on the back although i'd image they're MOSTLY quarter inch. But there's absolutely no reason it couldnt be done

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

any reason why you cant just have XLR leads to the preamp input and then have the outputs on the patch bay?

 

[discordless]

good idea but careful not to end up like this

 

[AudioPhile777]

Exactly... I'd like to have pretty much everything setup so I could choose which source is using which pre, comp, eq, channel etc... without having to play switchboard operator...

I'm just going to make my own XLR patchbay... should be pretty easy... only hard part I could imagine would be machining the enclosure/rack unit... and I only need 8 ins/outs... at least for now...

All I can find that is already made, are xlr patches that are straight through... not what I want...

damnit, now I'm all confused... I'll sort this out when I'm not so sleepy... probably just over-thinking it...

 

[NickL]

any reason why you cant just have XLR leads to the preamp input and then have the outputs on the patch bay?

yeah this sounds about right

 

[AudioPhile777]

yeah this sounds about right

I guess I could.. I'm just trying to eliminate a big portion of my snake sitting right next to me... I'd like it all to not be in the way...

btw... I have a 16-4, 25 foot snake that runs from my "live room" into my control room...

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

at the moment Ive got my desk feeding most of the inputs on my interface. (desk got a built in bantam by the way) and Ive got XLRS coming from the back of my rack straight into the dedicated preamps which are them hard wired to inputs on the interface.

Take it your talking about having an XLR patch bay to normalise the snake to the pre amp inputs but so you can break into the chain and just plug a mic into the pre and eliminate the snake?

I know with balanced patchbays such as the ones on large format consoles you can patch in and out with phantom powered singals. You can take the out put from a room tie and patch it into a pre amp and then put the out put of the pre into either the channel insert point or the 'tape' send.

Having said that an 8 way XLR patch bay will probably be cheaper than a balanced patch panel.

 

[AudioPhile777]

Take it your talking about having an XLR patch bay to normalise the snake to the pre amp inputs but so you can break into the chain and just plug a mic into the pre and eliminate the snake?

That is EXACTLY what I want to do... just haven't figured out how I want to do it...

any suggestions? which brands, etc?

I'd probably not want to spend more than $100 on it... don't know if that would mean I have to sacrifice signal quality or not...

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Being in the UK Id normally look to studios spares but you dont have them in the USA. You can do this with a balanced jack patch bay. The advantage being you dont need to get hold of a different type of patch bay with extra different patch connectors to match.

XLR and TRS jacks are both just different types of 3 pin connectors.

Id look at keeping it all on jacks just for future flexibility. Just make sure they are balanced.

 

[AudioPhile777]

Wait... the RNCs/RNPs dont have XLR connections on them, do they?

shit... checking...

The RNP has a XLR in but only a 1/4" out? wtf? Am I seeing this right?

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Wait... the RNCs/RNPs dont have XLR connections on them, do they?

shit... checking...

The RNP has a XLR in but only a 1/4" out? wtf? Am I seeing this right?

Your not wrong and its not even really a problem if you use a balances jack patch bay.

You would just you a jack to XLR lead to connect the input to the patch bay (if your not hard wiring)

Its just another type of 3 pin connector

 

[AudioPhile777]

ah... ok... makes a lot of sense...

AWESOME!

 

[Matt Crooks]

TRS patchbays will pass 48v. I do it all the time.