What is a patchbay?

[mbandgeek]

I think i just gained a better understanding of this thing.

So if i want to send a channel to the tape deck to record something i just use a cable and connect one of the bottom holes to the top?

is that how it works?

 

[bryanr74]

I think i just gained a better understanding of this thing.

So if i want to send a channel to the tape deck to record something i just use a cable and connect one of the bottom holes to the top?

is that how it works?

That is correct - assuming the following....

The channel on the patchbay is tied to the tape deck inputs. Then you would be able to take a channel - again assuming they are connected to the patchbay and tie it direct into the tape deck.

This is possible with a patchbay - but not necessarily the best way to record a channel. By far the best way would be to take the direct output of the channel - assuming it has one - to record - or connect the tape deck to an aux - and turn up the channel you want recorded on that aux.

 

[mbandgeek]

The tape deck inputs are on the patchbay. because there is some sends to the amps, and some leading somewhere else. i'll look at it tomorrow to see if i can get it to work.

 

[AVGuyAndy]

First off, I don't care who you are talking to. Second, I could care less where you work.

And you are also acting as if you are the world's gift to engineering. "I only use meyer, I hate jbl" blah blah... Oh how I hate gear snobs...

 

[bryanr74]

First off, I don't care who you are talking to. Second, I could care less where you work.

And you are also acting as if you are the world's gift to engineering. "I only use meyer, I hate jbl" blah blah... Oh how I hate gear snobs...

Uh - no - I am not the world's gift to engineering. I do know what I am doing. But that doesn't make me the worlds gift. Secondly - JBL does suck and that is all I was saying.

Third - I don't ONLY use Meyer - I also use KV2 audio at times and some EAW and Nexo Geo too. But I mostly use Meyer.

I don't care if you care where I work - I never told you - I will never tell where I work... cause for one - it is none of your business.

 

[AVGuyAndy]

it is none of your business.

I never said it was.

 

[mbandgeek]

Can you guys please this argument somewhere else.

 

[Chris15]

In terms off the patchbay, maybe you could tell us a little more about what equipment it is connected to. How many mixer channels? Do you have amps backstage? How many? The idea behind this being to work out what is going through your patchbay and so enable us to provide better guidance. Do you have cables coming out to your mixer? Are they the same colour as the ones on the back of the patchbay?

 

[mbandgeek]

lets see, we have about 9 amps, a tape recorder, a couple sends that go back to the mixing board, an EQ, cd player and a minidisk player. they are all the same gray color.

 

[Eboy87]

I've got results from my tieline test. In the interest of being scientific, I'll post my method.

I took a mic, plugged it into the jack in the lightbooth next door (don't know why we have an input in there.) Patched it into a chennel on the board by itself. Then, tested a wireless HH mic to make sure it was working on a different channel.

Knowing I had individual control of the mics, I unpatched them from their seperate channels, and into one of the tielines. When I tested the mics, one fader controlled the volume out of both mics. I also had one of the other techies run down to the stage with the HH to the stage to make sure I wasn't just picking up from the mics being in the same location.

So, I can say that at least in our theater, the tielines in the patchbay do infact allow you to patch more than one mic into a single channel. 'Course, then you run into other issues, but, oh well, I didn't design the place.

 

[Chris15]

I took a mic, plugged it into the jack in the lightbooth next door (don't know why we have an input in there.)

You don't use a 3 pin comms system? Otherwise, someone thought it was a good idea.

With regards to plugging 2 mics into the same channel, the problems are not being able to control the mics individually, as well as the potential to run into funky impedance issues. The general rule is that you can split an output into 2, but to combine 2, you need a mixer. Though if you have two inputs connected together but you only ever use one at a time, then you should be fine.

 

[Eboy87]

With regards to plugging 2 mics into the same channel, the problems are not being able to control the mics individually, as well as the potential to run into funky impedance issues. The general rule is that you can split an output into 2, but to combine 2, you need a mixer. Though if you have two inputs connected together but you only ever use one at a time, then you should be fine.

That's exactly what I was told, but it was late for me last night posting, and I had just gotten back from a rehersal, and couldn't think very well.

With regards to the mic input in the light booth, yes, we use the 3-pin xlr Clear-Com system, but those have their own dedicated inputs, marked (surprisingly) I/C #(insert number here) for intercom. The mic inputs say Mic # or the like. The light booth has both. Oh well, in hindsight, it's not that important.

 

[Chris15]

The important thing is that you now know what things do. May I recommend that you write this down for future techs.

 

[Eboy87]

May I recommend that you write this down for future techs.

One step ahead of you and one hop to the right. I've got a book of notes and observations and suggestions that I've been working on, as after I finish this show, the crew is on their own, I'm headed off to college. I've also been trying to train the new guys as well as I can.