Patchbay

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:53 am

I'm thinking of getting one to link to my A16 so that I will never have to reach behind it to reconfigure once it is mounted.

Looking at something like this: http://origin.behringer.com/EN/Products/PX2000.aspx

The only thing i'm concerned with is will it degrade the quality of the sound?

Any suggestions?

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:02 am

Well,

In most cases, a wire is a wire. Unless they're using improper shielding or something.

I have my record player hooked up to my Scope using a 10$ RCA cable and it sounds just great. I compared the frequency response at 44.1 and 96k and didn't see any difference.

I wouldn't shell out a lot of money for a fancy patch bay. I've read someone on the web that A16 U is not that great compared to other units (but they forgot to mention that the other units are 5 times the price!).

-Tom

Post by **garyb** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:06 am

yayajohn wrote:I'm thinking of getting one to link to my A16 so that I will never have to reach behind it to reconfigure once it is mounted.

Looking at something like this: http://origin.behringer.com/EN/Products/PX2000.aspx

The only thing i'm concerned with is will it degrade the quality of the sound?

Any suggestions?

well, yes, but not enough to hear, if you use good cabling and a good bay. imho the extra convenience makes up for any slight signal degradation. it's not a problem at all.

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:12 am

Yes, it will add a bit of noise maybe. Just use balanced cables. The problem is that most of the equipment out there is not balanced. It doesn't make any sense than 3 of my keyboards have regular outputs, but Scope accepts and outputs balanced (A16 U and Pro Plate).

So it kind of defects the purpose

-Tom

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:21 am

cool. I may do that.
What do you think of the Behringer's line of patchbays? The prices are good on ebay.
I've always had good results with their equipment for the price.

Thanks guys

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:28 am

I think Behringer has improved a lot over the years.

I don't really use their stuff anymore. But I do have their cheap headphone preamp and the BCR2000. They're always powered on and still working as far as I know. The BCR seems pretty solid. Where else can you get 30-something high resolution encoders in a 200 CAD box?

Even if it breaks down after a year or two, how much does that patchbay cost? 50 bucks?

-Tom

Post by **garyb** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:55 am

a patchbay is just some jacks. the Behringer bay is perfectly fine. a soldered TT or 1/4" Bantam bay would be best because there aren't any jacks in the back to need cleaning or wear out, but really, it's not a huge issue. i have a couple of dBx bays that are even cheaper quality than the Behringer and i've never had a problem. just use good quality cabling to hook them up.

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:07 am

Ahhh, OT again.

I got those TRS to XLR cables a while ago, so gonna check out A16 U outputs instead of Pro Plate. There's a little bit of hum that's probably coming out of the computer. :/

-Tom

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:42 am

great thanks for the info Gary

I really won't be fiddling with the cabling a whole lot but having such a cramped space these days it's excruciating trying to re-route stuff.

Hey Tom if you have a BCR2000 have you checked this out?

https://zaqaudio.com/

I don't really use mine all that much and have been tempted to take the plunge, maybe.....or not

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 6:04 am

Well I won a Behringer Ultrapatch Pro PX2000 for $25 on ebay but then realized that it's unbalanced TS only.
The newer PX3000 model is TRS balanced so after some research and internal debate I decided just to buy a brand new one ($79) and start with a clean rack.
I did not think of the $$$$ for 32 quality cables though.......whew!

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 6:05 am

You can make your own quality cables for a lot cheaper... I am pretty sure mouser has all the parts.

-Tom

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 6:23 am

Hmmm. never tried that but now you got me thinking. Does it required soldering? That is something I suck at.

Post by **garyb** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:25 am

yes, soldering is required for almost all quality cable solutions.
you should buy good cables, really. cabling is the most crucial part of the equation, but if the budget is really destroyed, then use balanced Hosa cables. don't forget that you'll need cables for front and back of the bay, although you can set up normalled connections(see http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec99/a ... tchbay.htm ).

http://hosatech.com/product-category/an ... ch-cables/

http://hosatech.com/product-category/an ... io/snakes/

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:33 am

Yes, basic soldering skills are needed. But it's a lot of work if you're making a lot of cables.

I thought Hosa was the budget stuff?

Let me look at what I'm using now, it's the cheapest I could find...

It says Digiflex on them. I have no idea, the work fine. But then again, I don't have 2000$ monitors and cannot run at 96k because it would eat up all my Sharcs.

-Tom

sunmachine · Post by **sunmachine** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:37 am

Here's a nice introductory video about Patchbays that I just found.
They also have a bunch of other useful tutorials (IMO).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPg14sV ... g&index=17

And that's their web site: http://www.projectstudiohandbook.com

Post by **garyb** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:14 am

96k doesn't matter.

yes, Hosa is cheap, but it's ok. that's why i suggested it. better cable is better, but for a hobbyist, Hosa is great.

tlaskows · Post by **tlaskows** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:26 am

Cool cool,

Yes, I've used Hosa cables before. But I think mostly only their MIDI cables.

I just checked on Amazon.com and they don't even sell Digiflex patch cables on there (they're made in Canada). But lots of Hosa cables.

I have some really old 1/4" to 1/4" cables that I have no idea who made and they work just fine. I probably paid too much money for them at a local music shop. For cheap cables, I think Amazon is the place to look (depending on the country).

-Tom

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 5:41 pm

thnks Gary, I ordered a few Hosa snakes since it's really a budget (home)studio anyhow and i've limited time to make my own. I'm sure they'll be fine.

sunmachine - thank you for the links, that was an excellent video. Very informative and his pace was perfect. I am now subscribed to that site.

muchos gracias amigos!

Post by **garyb** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:08 pm

how about patch cables for the front?

yayajohn · Post by **yayajohn** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:47 am

garyb wrote:how about patch cables for the front?

weelllll....I haven't got that all quite figured out yet. Right now i'm focusing on the back 32 for the A16 Ultra Z-Link.
I'm going to have to study this for a while and see how this will integrate with my other equipment. At first I imagined it would pretty much be a convenient fixed in/out setup, but I've recently been educated that a patchbay can be much more.
I think I might do what the video suggested and map it all out on paper. Sheesh, I did not think I was going to be reworking my entire setup after only a year. Guess it will be an annual thing.
I'll post back here with some ideas to bounce off of you if you don't mind.

Thanks Gary

Have a Merry Christmas
Dan

PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

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