Patchcad is now available in standard and pro versions. Plus, tips on building and fitting racks for your gear. Hosa patchbay patch points all have a white area above the jack for the purpose of labelling. Ill briefly touch on both applicationsa smaller patchbay setup for a virtual studio. A patchbay connects all of the inputs and outputs of your outboard gear into a. However, even if you only own unbalanced gear, you might want to consider purchasing a balanced patchbay, so that you make your studio fully optimized and futureproof. This allows the audio or video signal to passthrough the patchbay without using a patch cable. It allows you to quickly connect different pieces of gear together without having to crawl behind them and physically run cables from one unit to the other. This digitalanalog patchbay will give you all the flexibility of routing in your studio. Nearly everyone whos been around a studio has heard about patchbays, but not everyone knows what. The function of a patchbay in a system is to bring the input and output. Patchbays not only save time and headaches, they allow you to easily perform a number of mix tricks that would. The patch bay is often a great mystery for engineers just starting off and to any musician who comes into a recording studio for the first time. If you look at large recording consoles, they all have a lot of patch bays.
If all youre dealing with is a couple consumerlevel outboard pieces in a small project studio, a. And if i understand this correctly its ok to use a guitar preamp like the studio pre or avid 11r connected to the patchbay. Speaker level signals are almost never routed through any kind of patch bay. I created a simple microsoft word template that i use to print out neat labels for the behringer px3000 patchbay. Patch cables are generally short, and used to connect the ins and outs on a studio patchbay. Each jack on the toprow is connected to the jack under it on the bottomrow. If youre really ambitious, you could wire in a volume pot to every line, which would make your diy patch bay more functional than a lot of professional ones. Even in a smaller recording session, there is typically a mess of cables going from one. If you have enough equipment to warrant one, the patchbay is a true studio essential. Each patch point stays independent and isolated from other channels. Ideally, every connection point in your studio should run through the patchbay.
Not only will you become really familiar with the bay layout, but youll improve. Design beautiful and accurate patchbay systems within minutes using the new and improved patchcad 2. Put your folcrom outputs in the xlr patchbay along with the other mike lines, and you can patch them into whichever preamps you like. Cannon dl96r female the following is the standard audio configuration pinout for cannon dl 96pin connections. We used something similar to that at nbctv since we needed to plug microphones in from various locations in the studio and have them come up.
Youve got this patchbay setup on stage with you in your minirack so you. If 75% of your gear is on db25 connectors as is the case with a ton of contemporary multichannel gear then surprise surprise, a db25 bay with tt front is likely the path of least resistance. Some bays have dryerase strips you can write on across the front. The basic patchbay layout consists of two parallel horizontal rows of jacks. This way we can pick up any signal individually and we can send any signal in any input, by using some leads called bantom because of the connectors they are fixed onto which connect the sockets we need. With so many plugs and wires, it can be a little intimidating and you might ask yourself, where do all those patch points go.
We carry patchbays in both balanced and unbalanced configurations. B patch points use either long frame or ttbantam jacks with self cleaning, nickel plated surfaces and switches. The top row patch cord simply parallels the output and allows it to be fed into another piece of equipment. And yes, before you ask, this is probably the most fiddly and annoying things that i have ever done. And that, my friend, is a simple yet complete summary of the entire recording studio signal flow, start to finish. Our biggest brands are art, behringer, hosa, neutrik and signex. At first, knowing how to use a patchbay seems like it would require a. These will typically include various forms of video, digital audio and data. Found panasonic kx t7633 manual pdf on the front panel drawing below, arrange your labels so that they are legible, but do not.
The smallest patchbay youll use is likely a 48point panel, meaning you have that many jacks to try to remember. The patchbay is a grid of connectors on which there is a socket for each connection of the studio. We offer the a perfect range of patchbays in the uk. A single 1625 gives you eight pairs of tt patch points as well as db25 io. Jeff mac from techrep marketing gives a brief overview of the switchcraft studio patch 1625 smallformat patchbay. There is an analog patch bay on the rack, just below the motu. Each patch point on the toprow is connected to the patch point under it on the bottomrow. Blank parallel projection and perspective projection pdf bantam patchbay template. But the more gear you have, the bigger your patch bay needs to be. What is a patch bay and why do you need one vintage king audio.
A separate xlr patchbay just for mike lines is the smartest solution, and other than the moderate extra cost of the xlr patchbay and patch cables, theres really not a downside. Patch panels are commonly used in computer networking, recording studios, radio and television. This product contains chemicals, including dehp, known to the state of california to cause birth defects and other reproductive harm. So i have been trying to figure out if i can use trs jacks on the in and out of the gibson echoplex and mesa boogie studio preamp. Conversely, because the ring and tip of btype connectors are smaller than those of. While theres no right or wrong arrangement for connections, create a clear wiring diagram. Then use a small adaptive cable to go from xlr to trs. In my helix rack video i mentioned having my helix connections going through my patchbay. As the connection diagram above shows, the patch bay connects the motu outputs 18 to the volume8 inputs 18. Mogami bulk cable, patch cable, recording interface and fanout snake cables are used in the finest analogdigital studios, recording equipment, and patch bays. This is the same patch bay, only with notated routing. Im torn between the micro fourup patch bay and one like jnepo1 has above. Sans patchbay, youll be loosening your belt a notch or three to bend down.
It is perfect for tracking overdubs, mixing, and production meetings. Here we have an diagram of a typical patch bay set up. Even in a smaller recording session, there is typically a mess of cables going from one end to the other, all in different. In the heyday of the analog studio, the patchbay was the center of all. You wont be able to remember, so you need a labeling system. Find out more about what a patch bay does and how our configuration. No normals straight thru is when the toprow of patch points jacks is not connected to the bottomrow patch points. A tutorial on how halfnormalled connections in a patch bay work, and an example of how to change the normalling in one brand of patch bay. The following diagram shows a possible small studio setup with a 12channel console. Use a boxend snake to connect the studio area to the mixer. When we want to change the normal signal path we can use a patch cable to change the destination of the signal.
One is in a small enclosure and the other picture below is in an mxr sized enclosure. A patch panel, patch bay, patch field or jack field is a device or unit featuring a number of jacks, usually of the same or similar type, for the use of connecting and routing circuits for monitoring, interconnecting, and testing circuits in a convenient, flexible manner. The most common use of music studio patch bays in home recording studios is for inserting dynamic processors compressors, gates, expanders, etc. Multimedia audio course the recording studio patchbay. As mentioned on the home page, so many people start to get into this hobby only to become frustrated and overwhelmed with the process. Switchcraft studio patch 1625 small format patchbay. A patchbay is a central audio connection area for all the gear in a studio that allows any connection to or from equipment to be made in one location with a standardized cable and connector. It would also be good to have the line outs going to the patchbay as well as the inputs to your daw also at the patch bay. Some patchbays are specially created for routing digital electrical signals, optical signals, and midi signals. For instance, console channel outputs 18 connect to the patch bay using a single cable, instead of 8 separate trs cables.
When nothing is connected to the front of the patch bay then the motu goes into the volume8. The patchbay is simply a device to place all the equipment connections within easy. This is the simplified diagram used to represent either of the above types of mixers. The overarching concept that needs to guide all of your actions, whether youre setting up a small home recording studio or a big one, no matter what youre trying to accomplish with which instrument or piece of rack equipment. But no longer will i be covered in dust bunnies and spiders, thanks to the spatch plus. Id say a patch bay is an absolute necessity for any. The template will not fit the px2000 patchbay, the. The general practice for layout of your patchbay is to start with the. They let you easily change the way your recording studio is connected, and to easily restore your standard operating methods just by removing all of the plugs from the patchbay. Studio d is a versatile production room featuring a small isolation booth, spacious lounge, and private bathroom. Good studio design means having your normal setup routed through the back of the patchbay, and when you wish to change the signal flow or try something different, you simply. Setup diagrams the following setup diagrams are meant to show in detail the interaction between the various studio components for some typical home studio setups. Patchbays while not necessarily the heart of your studio, a good patchbay can certainly be the blood vessels, and you most definitely dont want them getting clogged. In my two previous studio installation articles sos september and.
A typical patchbay layout for connecting between a mixer and a master. On the patchbay, patch the submaster bus outputs used to the input. The video types and unbalanced digital audio will typically use musa or twistandpull bnc connectors. Finally we have a colour chart outline for those who are more visually inclined. Below is an example of a console set up for a modest or home recording studio. In this video i go a bit more in depth on what that. For years ive been crawling around behind the racks in my small studio wiring and rewiring gear every time i want to reconfigure my signal chains. That said, this is an excellent idea for anyone who cant, or doesnt want to, build their own. A patchbay can make your studio much quicker to use, but can also be a nightmare to set up, so heres advice on which to choose and how to connect it up for the best results. This is just an example of a wiring solution for the ssl aws 900 or 924 console. Proper wiring of your patch bay is a vital part of the home recording studio set up. Available balanced trs or unbalanced ts, these colorcoded cables makes it easy to keep track of your patchbay connections.
Patchbays are organized based on the needs of the studio, so none of them are laid out the same way. If you have a studio with analog equipment, youll benefit from a using a patchbay. Most modern patchbays use tiny telephone tt, or bantam. Audio accessories patchbay pinouts dont necessarily represent other manufacturers. If and when the analog signal reaches the monitor management system, it is then sent to the studio monitors, where it is heard by the sound engineer. They arrived in reasonable time and were well packed, but when i opened the box and poked around for some info on them nothing.