Patchbays 101 — Layout, Signal Flow, Normalling & More
Patchbays can be intimidating. It almost feels like you’re Jack Bauer disarming a bomb. There are dozens of different cables. Everything is color coded in some cryptic language. And one wrong move can bring things to a screeching halt. It’s a lot of pressure.
Patchbays are actually pretty simple. They’re used to connect one piece of equipment to another. As long as you understand how they work, there’s nothing to panic about.
Most commercial studios use a patchbay — especially those with a console. It’s the central nervous system of the studio. Everything is connected to the patchbay. 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. But the more gear you have, the bigger your patch bay needs to be.
You know those old movies where people would make phone calls and speak to an operator? There were usually a bunch of women sitting in front of a wall of cables, smoking cigarettes and patching calls to Albuquerque. It’s kind of like that sometimes, but instead of routing phone calls to New Mexico, you’re routing a kick drum to a compressor.
Even hybrid studios with only a few pieces of outboard gear can benefit from a patchbay. It’s all about reducing the amount of time you spend setting up, and increasing the amount of time you spend making music. If you have a studio with analog equipment, you’ll benefit from a using a patchbay. Just be prepared to spend 10-20% of your gear investment for all the cabling you’ll need.
This is an excerpt from Patchbays 101 — Layout, Signal Flow, Normalling & More, originally published by The Pro Audio Files. Read the full version here.
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