Using a patchbay with a mixer good

At its most basic, a patchbay brings the connections from the rear panel of your gear be that outboard racks or your mixing console onto a panel where using what we now call patch cables or cords we can link all our units together without the need to fumble around the back of the racks to connect the gear, keeping it all nice and tidy. It allows you to easily patch the outputs of one piece to the inputs of another. The tips below will help you get started, but each piece of equipment is unique, so spend time learning how to best use it for any given application. The solopreneur hour podcast with michael oneal 144,198 views. Nearly all inserts are unbalanced connections using trs jacks with the send output connected to the jack tip contact and the return input connected to the jack ring contact. Configure the first n positions on the patchbay as halfnormal. Patchbay setup for micd inputs home recording forums. Getting started with analog outboard gear sweetwater. Fully balanced and extremely durable, our 48point patchbay makes all your connections easy.

I jst realized that my behringer x32 digital mixer with the new 4. You can split signals for advanced mixing techniques by using halfnormal mode explained below. Just be prepared to spend 1020% of your gear investment for all the cabling youll need. So, if you want to normally send something out of the mixer, then on to a piece of gear, then out from that to another piece of gear, then back to the mixer, you can do all of that with a patchbay, without having to hook up any wires in the front.

Multimedia audio course the recording studio patchbay. Article covering the key features and benefits of patchbays, from connection types to. Aug 05, 2009 how to connect external equipment to your mixer. Today i want to briefly explain the issues at hand and help. In terms of ports, you get four input hdmi devices and two output, which should be enough to handle consoles, streaming boxes, bluray players, and other devices. Feb 18, 2019 in that case, the patchbay will be much more elaborate. So get a reasonably very good laptop, so that you can enjoy years of solid use. Connect the rearpanel outputs of those positions of the patchbay to the track inputs on the multitrack recorder. If you use a summing mixer, the bottomrow below the pro tools or other daw outputs is a perfect place for summing inputs. It looks sleek and stylish, unlike the black plastic boxes that make up most other switchers. I want to feed three samplers through a patchbay out my interfaces subouts scarlett 18i20, then run those samplers outputs along with those of my synth collection into a patchbay, then run them all into my interface. In fact, with the mackie board, compared to a good quality audio interface youll actually gain quality not using a mixer but recording directly to your interface or preamps.

Usually its the digital signal processing that they get somewhat right. What is a patch bay and why do you need one vintage king audio. With good microphones and good cables the pres on this mixer are very quiet. The question is do you want a good sound, if the answer is yes then do not get this mixer feature.

Im wanting stereo so that i can give the keyboard a stereo mix into his two monitors just because its cool sounding for. You can have more recording equipment than inputs on your mixer or audio interface and still use it all by rerouting the signal on the fly. If youre set up for mixing, youll probably use inserts and outboard compressors. I read that insert cable can be used as a stereo cable. The sole purpose would be to make my mixer s inputs more easily accessible on my desk. What you need to accomplish this is a line level mixer that had pan pots and. At its most basic, a patchbay brings the connections from the rear panel of your gear be that outboard racks or your mixing console onto a panel where using what we now call patch cables or cords we can link all our units together without the need to fumble around the back of the racks to connect the gear. If youve ever had questions about patchbays, this article is for you. A typical patchbay layout for connecting between a mixer and a master dat recorder.

There is also a virtualizer pro in my setup with appearances on the patchbay for all its insouts. On our jackstrip, it is convenient to arrange the connectors as in figure 1. Kitchen aid mixer are using for blend anything like mas alas. Keyboard to mixer or patchbay is it required to use a di box or can i just use an adapter to get my 14 out keyboard into the patch bay. Its fully pc boardwired 24 vertical pc boards without nut fasteners so you can open the front panel without taking the unit out of the rack to flip cards for halfnormalled. Different types and how i use the ones i have for my synth setup. Opinion patchbays and how i use them what do you do. I have 4 preamps 2 compressors, 1 reverb unit and a few guitar and vocal effects, and my monitors. Ive been looking at getting a small patchbay to ease cable management. Feb 14, 2020 you can connect new outboard gear to the patchbay by sticking your hand through the empty rack spaces as you go.

Lets take as an example the outputs of the groups that are permanently connected to the recorders inputs. To explain my current layout, i feel i really need to explain the layout i had before and the needs i had that led me towards a mixerless patchbay configuration. The hdmi switch comes in a durable metal box with goldplated hdmi ports. People say that mixing in the box will never sound as good as using analog summing. The sole purpose would be to make my mixers inputs more easily accessible on my desk. So you need to think about how you work most of the time because this will determine what you half normal into what. Suppose we have a mixer with 8 groups connected to an 8track recorder. Behringer ultrapatch pro px3000 multifunctional 48point 3.

In that case, the patchbay will be much more elaborate. They handle both input and output for each channel, which makes 48 points or connections. Channel inserts, one of the most common connections that youll want to patch, can be a bit of a headscratcher. Tascam mm200 is a combined mixer and midi 4in8out manual patchbay. The smallest patchbay youll use is likely a 48point panel, meaning you have that many jacks to try to remember. You can connect new outboard gear to the patchbay by sticking your hand through the empty rack spaces as you go.

The loop is only broken when you plug in a patch cable. Similarly, cabling isnt free and the good stuff definitely aint cheap. Theres a big debate looming in the recording world and it revolves around analog summing. Can i simply run an 8channel snake from the rear jacks to 8 channels on the mixer and have the front 8 jacks work as inputs. Crawling around under your desk searching for cables will become a thing of the past. For example, a preamplifier is used for boosting microphone or instrument signals during tracking. But seriously stay away from using their mixers, amplifiers, microphones, or speakers.

You are using the lowquality preamp of your mixer, you are transmitting the signal from the mixer and patchbay to your scarlett nonsymmetric which is bad when you use long cables or have interferences and should normally be avoided. In this guide, we will explain what a patchbay is, explain normalling, show examples of each, and also provide some tips to get up and running in no time. If i can generalize pretty heavily here and i will, you can budget 20% of your. Thinking about it, i think it would be a good idea to start a blogging feature for the website to explain and share such things and get feedback. The cable im using in the mixer return since its stereo is tr insert cable. Yes, great, this mixer has many features, not as much inputs as the older and better sl 2442fx. After that section on the patchbay s toprow to the right of your mic pre outputs can be the daw outputs. So it woudl be pointless to wire the insert into the patchbay. That way the channel insert, being full or half normal, completes a loop going out of the send from the channel insert to the toprow of the patchbay then it normals to the bottomrow and back out of the patchbay to the channel insert return.

You would normally send to the compressor using a y cable, so i would presume that the same would apply if you want to set up an insert point on a patchbay. Cheaply built, but its almost as good as a dbx driverack 260. If you have a studio with analog equipment, youll benefit from a using a patchbay. Once your outboard gear is set up, its time to start using it. Usually, youd want to connect from the mixer outputs to the dat inputs, and from the dat outputs to the mixer monitor returns. But really, once you know the fundamental rules and conventions the process is as easy as running cables from one piece of gear to the next.

Choosing a great laptop for running studio one presonus. You wont be able to remember, so you need a labeling system. So what is summing, and why is analog supposedly better. That makes it easy for you to get your patching jobs done right. Even a little mixer can take up every point in a 96 jack patchbay, tho whether youd use all those points is questionable.

I think the benefit of a summing mixer and good analog preamps is that you dont have to makekeep session sheets. I have a separate desktop, with several racks of equipment, mixer, synths, and midi patchbay, but i largely prefer to leave the laptop to be the work horse. The permanent connections inside a patchbay usually link the outputs to their corresponding inputs. Some lesser models than the xenyx2442fx have different features such as surround sound enhancement and voice removal as well as a graphic eq, i like the parametric eq on the individual channels. Most commercial studios use a patchbay especially those with a console. Setting up a patchbay in your home studio by tweakheadz lab. Neutriks nyssppl is a professional 48point 14 trs patchbay with 24 front pairs and 24 rear pairs.

Outputs and inputs are connected to each other inside the patchbay output 1 is matched with input 1, etc. At first, knowing how to use a patchbay seems like it would require a. The multifunctional px3000 is the ideal way to gain control over the cable runs in your studio. I guess if i combine it with a bay, i can plug everything on the bay, route all the inputs in the mixer and the master bus back into the soundcard ins via the patchbay. Choosing a great laptop for running studio one presonus forums.

If you were to connect all of your daw outputs to the top row of a patchbay and all the line inputs of your mixing desk to the bottom row with the patchbay in half normal mode your daw outputs will be connected to the mixer automatically without plugging anything into the patchbay. These things are not free, and the good ones arent cheap. Oh, if the channel input is in the patchbay then you can just use the patchbay instead of the insert socket. Connect each submaster bus output on the mixer to a rearpanel input on a patchbay position. Some bays have dryerase strips you can write on across the front. And i am using it for the the 4 aux return channels. I want to run stereo and would rather not tie up two di boxes. Hi everyone, i come from a dj background but over the last year and a half have been steadily amassing some hardware synth equipment. I also have a mackie sr324 bus mixer but i was told, seeing i track and mix in the box it would be easyer to bypass the mixer and set the patchbay up this way. The connections are permanent and pass through the patchbay. The problem is that you cant be sure if the mixer still works tomorrow.

Hi all, im picking up a patchbay this week, and im looking to accomplish something that might be a bit on the unconventional side. Half normal refers to a patchbay mode in which when nothing is connected on the front of the patchbay the top rear connector is automatically connected to the bottom rear. Kitchen aid mixer are basically made for cooking thats why its very good at. The important part is that when using a patchbay this way, you have to keep the in and out patchbay points normaled to mimik the closed loop that exists within the actual insert point on the mixer. To explain my current layout, i feel i really need to explain the layout i had before and the needs i had that led me towards a mixer less patchbay configuration. After that section on the patchbays toprow to the right of your mic pre outputs can be the daw outputs. At first, knowing how to use a patchbay seems like it would require a textbook, a doctorate in electrical engineering, an iq of 300, and some magical incantations. Analog summing and why you shouldnt care recording.

Patchbays not only save time and headaches, they allow you to easily perform a number of mix tricks that would take serious headscratching otherwise. If your dont need the signal where ever your consoles insert point is then just use the inputs and outputs. A patchbay is a decidedly nonglamorous investment, but its an investment in efficiency, mental health and stability. I have a behringer ultrapatch pro 24port patchbay and have been thinking about using it to patch signals to 002r. If you wanted to create a channel strip without the use of a patch bay, you would. 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, the 2 could be halfnormalled behind the scenes which would allow you to cross patch any line out of console to any line in of daw. This would be an appropriate set up if you were doing mostly. For example, a preamplifier is used for boosting microphone or. The patch bay is often a great mystery for engineers just starting off and to any. If a mixer is recommended, is it possible to still use my mackie 1202 original from.

Connect the rearpanel outputs of the first n positions of the patchbay to the n track inputs on the multitrack recorder. I only use this for recording, so i like to keep cables only as long as they need to be so i make my own. A patchbay is a hardware device that features ins and outs for analog audio gear. I guess if i combine it with a bay, i can plug everything on the bay, route all the inputs in the mixer and the master bus. Configure those positions on the patchbay as halfnormal. How to set up a mixer for a podcast mix minus mixer setup duration. Most proquality sound cards include a software control panel to set sample rates, operating levels, internal patchbay routing, and so forth. Ive been having fun jamming away on it all with only a couple of things talking to each other no midi patchbay yet and every now and again swapping audio cables around.