I'm getting to the point were my studio space could really benefit from the installation of a patch bay.

Can we talk about this a bit. What is your experience with installing them? Wire my own looms? DB25 connectors?

Also - why are TT cables so fucking expensive?

For me just connecting everything up at the back is a big enough PITA without wiring my own looms.

A decent, reasonably priced balanced jack patchbay with normalling that can be switched in or out is the Samson S-patch Plus.

When I started a home recording setup in ‘05 or so I went with TT patch bays because it seemed more “pro” but in reality it was expensive and difficult to maintain. A couple years ago I scrapped the whole thing and got the Samson that FM Curry P mentioned above. It’s way more flexible and it’s only like $120.

It’s also cheaply made, has half the patch points per unit, and requires all your patched in gear terminate to 1/4” TRS. For a small amateur setup like mine, where 90% of my signal flow is set-it-and-forget-it, these negatives are acceptable and I get to spend more time making music than thinking about whether my hard-wired TT bay should be reworked yet again.

Yeah, go 1/4". Easy and cheaper. We use TT at work and I've never seen any real advantage to using it other than how many points you can put in a single rack space. They still need to be worked and cleaned as much as any bay. 1/4" trs will work with Longframe Bantam bays as well, though I've heard the tip of a traditional trs plug can short the normal on a bantam bay, but it has never happened to me. Seems to work fine.

I've wired a couple TT patchbays over the years. It's a hell of a lot of work but it can save you a lot of money.

You can split a 96 point bay in half if you only need 24 channel of I/O which is handy. This way you only need four TT bays rather than eight, 1/4'' bays.

Your local audio PA hire company might have some multicore offcuts you can get for cheap or even free. Just test them thoroughly for continuity.

This is how I would wire mine up.

Sorry, the resolution on those images is terrible but basically.

Bay 1
1-24 Tie Lines 25-48 Tape Out (console)
1-24 Mic Inputs 25-48 MultiTrack Sends (to Daw)

Bay 2
1-24 Line Inputs 25-48 MultiTrack Returns (From Daw)
1-24 Main O/P's 25-48 Tape In (console)

Bay 3
1-24 Insert Sends 25-48 Outboard Send
1-24 Insert Returns 25-48 Outboard Return

Bay 4
Aux sends, mults, more outboard, whatev's

AstroRoadie wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 9:46 am Sorry, the resolution on those images is terrible but basically.

Bay 1
1-24 Tie Lines 25-48 Tape Out (console)
1-24 Mic Inputs 25-48 MultiTrack Sends (to Daw)

Bay 2
1-24 Line Inputs 25-48 MultiTrack Returns (From Daw)
1-24 Main O/P's 25-48 Tape In (console)

Bay 3
1-24 Insert Sends 25-48 Outboard Send
1-24 Insert Returns 25-48 Outboard Return

Bay 4
Aux sends, mults, more outboard, whatev's

Okay - This is helpful too for sure.

But I'm kind of missing what Outboard Send/Returns are? I mean, I get the send and return part...

Your Insert Send/Returns are your console channel inserts right?

Send to outboard inputs
Return from outboard outputs

Throw a few mults on your patchbay as well.

You can get used 1/4" long frame patchbays pretty cheap.

Something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/391858281000?h ... SwjTlZiJWA

I have a couple that probably date from the 1960s, but work great and are going to be more reliable, long term, than standard 1/4" due to the jack design. Just needed to do a bit of soldering on the back to connect the harnesses.

but does a standard 1/4" guitar cable work in a long-frame jack field?