Do you need a Patchbay? The answer to this question depends on how you route your audio. A patch bay is an extension of your device’s audio ins and outs, whether keyboards, audio interfaces, or other outboard gear. The patch bay essentially puts all your gear’s audio ins and outs in one central location, allowing you to connect any audio output with any input in the patch bay. If you’re frequently connecting and disconnecting devices, using a patch bay can save on the wear and tear of your equipment since all the connections are being made in the patch bay and not using your equipment’s audio inputs and outputs.
The general idea is that your gear’s audio outputs are connected to the top row of audio inputs in the back of the patch bay. The audio signal flows from the top inputs to the bottom outputs on the back of the patch bay. So, when no cables are connected to the front of the patch bay, the signal flows uninterrupted from the top audio jacks and out through the bottom audio jacks.
The front of the patch bay is where the magic happens. Small cables, known as patch cables, connect any top audio jack in the front of the bay to any bottom audio jack in the front of the bay. So basically, the audio output signal from any device can be sent to the audio input of any device connected to the bay.
For example, my studio has three 24 1/4-inch audio patch bays. All of my synths are connected to the patch bay. In my case, I have a Zoom L20 mixer with all its 20 inputs connected to the patch bay. I have more audio outputs from my synths than the number of inputs on the mixer. The patch bay allows me to take any of my synthesizer’s audio outputs and assign them to any of my mixer’s 20 inputs simply by connecting the synth output found on the top row of the bay with any mixer input found on the bottom of the bay using a patch cable.
The patch bay also allows me to take any audio output signal, route the audio to external gear like a preamp, compressor or effects rack, and then route the processed audio back to an audio input of a mixer or audio interface for recording.
When I first set up my studio, I had very few synths and no outboard gear, but as time went on, I purchased more synthesizers, a few preamps and compressors, and that’s when the patch bay became an essential part of my studio.
More articles like this can be found in the Bach To Basics Music home studio category. I hope you have fun designing your studio and keep creating.
Here is a small list of Audio Patch Bays. Check around for more options and manufacturers.
