When does a patchbay make sense?

There is a specific kind of groan that escapes my throat when I stand up from wiring the back of a desk or rack. It does not matter how cool a control room is, it is a sweaty, dusty affair every time.

The short version is this. A patchbay brings every input, output and piece of outboard to one labelled row at the front of your rack, so instead of crawling behind gear to repatch, you reroute the whole studio by hand in seconds. It keeps you in the creative flow, and once you understand normalling, it handles most of your everyday routing on its own.

What is a patchbay, and what does it do?

A patchbay gathers all your studio's ins and outs into one place, so every connection is reachable from the front of the rack instead of buried behind it.

In their most basic form, patchbays bring all the connections in your studio into one convenient location, so you don't have to reach behind your racks and move cables around by hand.

When I first started in my own production space, it was never an issue. I had a simple 8-input interface and a couple of pieces of outboard that were always patched in. As the setup grew beyond the ins and outs of the interface, the reality of a patchbay started to dawn on me. I was no longer just recording drums or vocals, and different sources suited different mic pres. Different mixes needed different outboard patched in to print the sound I was after. When I got my first interface with more inputs, the problem only magnified. I had a variety of instruments in the room that I wanted plugged into XLR patch points, so I could quickly add processing or change tone.

What is normalling on a patchbay?

Normalling is the patchbay's default wiring, what is connected when no cables are plugged in. Patchbays usually flow with outputs on the top row and the inputs they feed on the bottom, so depending on how the bay is normalled, a signal can either pass straight through on its own or wait for you to patch it. There are three flavours.

Non-normalled

The signal only flows where you patch it. Nothing passes from the output on top to the input below unless you connect the two yourself.

Half-normalled

This is the usual suspect in the studio. The signal flows from the top output into the input below without a patch cable, so your everyday routing happens on its own. Where the half gets its name is that you can plug into the top row to tap the signal without breaking that connection. The output still reaches the input below, but you now have a duplicate to play with, for parallel processing or wet and dry recording. As an example, take the half-normalled output of a vocal up to a compressor, then bring the compressor back into another interface input. Now you have two versions of the vocal in your DAW, the dry and the compressed, to blend as you see fit. Patch into the input on the bottom instead and you break the normal, so the original signal no longer reaches that input.

Fully normalled

Here, plugging into either the top or the bottom row breaks the connection. Leave it alone and the signal flows from top to bottom. The moment you patch either side, that internal link drops and you are routing by hand.

Which patchbay should you choose?

For pro audio, a 96-point bantam patchbay with D-Sub connections on the rear is the safe bet. It is compact, reliable, and quick to rewire as your setup changes.

They come in various forms and connections. For connecting pro audio gear, we always recommend a 96-point bantam patchbay with D-Sub (DB25) connections on the rear. Some patchbays let you solder the cables directly into them, but that limits mobility and makes reorganising your patch incredibly difficult. The big win with bantam is density. Because the connections are small, you can fit far more into a 1U space.

A quick word on phantom power, since it comes up a lot. It is best kept off your main bay. Most engineers run their mic lines and phantom on a separate XLR panel, because a bantam or TRS plug momentarily shorts the connection both as it goes in and as it comes out, which risks pops and, over time, your gear. The one habit to drill into yourself is to switch phantom power off before you patch and before you unpatch, never with it live. Keep your mics and phantom on their own XLR points and follow that rule, and you sidestep the whole issue.

If you want your synths on a patch, the bays above will handle it, but you can also use a simple jack to jack patchbay. They are more affordable and let you move your synths around easily. The same goes for putting your guitar pedals on a patchbay for re-amping.

It is worth noting that when you wire a DB25 patchbay, you can go with an 8-core cable (8 XLRs per multicore) or a 16-core cable (16 XLRs across two DB25s). With the 16-core, you can keep your male input tails on 1 to 8 and your female output tails on 9 to 16. That means fewer physical cables running to your patchbay, and a tidier rear that is far easier to trace. Just make sure the tails on each end are long enough to reach across your rack and patchbay.

Is a patchbay worth the hassle?

Yes. It takes an afternoon to set up, but it pays you back every session in speed, tidiness and creative options, and it becomes almost essential once you have a console.

While it takes a while to set a patchbay up, the truth is it makes your recording life a lot easier. In some cases it boosts your creativity, whether through parallel effects or simply by knowing where everything is at all times.

Some facilities have all their synths and the line-level outputs from guitar pedalboards on the patch too, so adding compression, EQ or reverb is a breeze rather than a hassle to sort out later.

Good labelling goes a long way. When guests come and hire your space, they won't need to think too hard about how it all works.

Needless to say, if you have a console, a patchbay is almost a default requirement to get the most out of your desk. Have a read of our post on why a console makes sense if you are curious about the console workflow.

Frequently asked questions

What does normalled mean on a patchbay?

Normalling is the connection a patchbay makes by default when nothing is plugged in. Half-normalled, the most common, passes the signal straight through but lets you tap it from the top row without breaking the path.

Is a balanced or unbalanced patchbay better?

Balanced is better for almost everything in a pro setup, since it keeps noise down over longer runs. Unbalanced jack to jack bays are fine and cheaper for synths and pedals you move around a lot.

TRS, bantam or D-Sub, which should you choose?

Bantam on the front with D-Sub on the rear is the pro standard, because it fits more points into less space and is quick to rewire. Larger TRS bays work too, but take up more room.

Do you need a patchbay in a small home studio?

Not at first. With a handful of ins and outs you can patch by hand. Once you outgrow your interface and start swapping outboard in and out, a patchbay quickly earns its place.

Can you run phantom power through a patchbay?

It is safer to keep mic lines and phantom on a separate XLR panel, and to switch phantom off before patching or unpatching, because a TRS or bantam plug can momentarily short the connection and risk pops or damage.

Thanks for reading! If you ever need advice or guidance on patchbays, cabling, recording or production, feel free to get in touch.

Alec Brits
alec@studiocare.com