Patchbay wiring question

[jon.l.hunter]

I would like to wire my console up to some patch bays any suggestions on how am I should to do the inserts? send & return are on one TRS conector which means they will be unbalanced and it seems that as soon as a connector is inserted into the insert the signal is broken so the insert lead either needs to be terminated or go through something. There is no switch to bypass the inserts.

[Ausrock]

I run my inserts to a p/bay with "Insert Snakes".....TRS at the console end split to two TS at the other, the p/bay completes the circuit so there is no interuption unless I plug into the p/bay.

My compressors all terminate in an adjacent p/bay and I have a fistfull of patch leads to connect it all together when required.

[jon.l.hunter]

So you use the narmalling in the patchbay to complete the circuit when there is no compresion etc needed?
in other words looking at the patch bay the sends are on top and returns at the bottom

If thats what you've done thats is what im thinking of doing also the only thing is that I don't like the concept of an extra metre of unbalanced signal on every channel

which brings me to my next question the way I had planned to wire the outboard stuff was balanced as I use it in my tracking chain (eg. mic pre to compressor to line input on console - all balanced)

now if I'm going to use that compressor during mixing via the inserts there will be a level matching problem yes?

in this situation should I just put up with that
or should I avoid TRS inserts and patch from Tape/Daw to compressor into tape inputs on console whilst mixing?

I understand that higher quality consoles have seperate send & recieve balanced sockets unfortunatly mine doesn't

[chris p]

Hi Jon

You are right in saying that a TRS send/return is not a balanced signal, and so is more vulnerable to RF interference than a balanced signal. However, many studios run unbalanced patchbays - just keep the cable runs as short as possible and do not use fluorescent lights in your studio! Oh, and keep your fridge and power saw in another room somewhere.

Also remember that balanced/unbalanced is NOT the same as level matching. You can have unbalanced +4 and balanced -10. It is important to have the correct level matching (a +4 signal is like 4 times the voltage of a -10 signal), and this is probably more critical than a short run of unbalanced cable. I would be happy cabling an unbalanced insert cable from a console to a compressor over a meter or 2 provided both units are running at +4 level in an environment without excessive RFI.

I used to fret about this stuff too. I take my recording gear out to the client, and so have some very dodgy recording spaces with lots of fluoro lights. So in this context, balanced is good. When I bring it home for the mix, in a better environment, the odd unbalanced line here or there is not going to be the killer.

[mfdu]

one fun thing with inserts, bal or unbal.

if you also have unbal instrument inputs appearing on the patchbay as well as your inserts, it's easy to set up parallel compression

e.g. ch.1 insert send to compressor, compressor out to instrument in on ch.2

so - one dry signal with a compressed version appearing on the fader beside the dry.

lotsa fun. work them faders while tracking - thickens up the middle when you need it while keeping the dynamics - its all about light and shade.

chris.