The patch bay would need to connect the snake to two RNP/RNC combos, and also to 4 XLR inputs on my Digidesign002. My biggest concern is quality degredation, and I would really appreciate any suggestions.

1/4" TRS plugs, momentarily short when inserted or pulled out so in most cases, they are not used for mic patching ... XLRs do not short so that is why they are better for mic patch bays. Shorting is a major problem if the phantom on a channel is left on while patching mics ... loud noise through the monitors can fry a tweet and damage to the phantom power supply can result. If you're using a ribbon mic, you can fry the ribbon in a flash.

As far as quality degradation, I would be more concerned with the quality of the mic pre like the RNP and those in the 002, than the wire. Almost any decent quality cable like Belden or Cannare studio wire or one of the better stage snakes from Whirlwind or Pro Co will do fine ... I have never been that crazy about high end wire although I will not argue that it doesn't make a difference ... just how much difference it makes can be disputed. I think it makes some difference but not day or night and it is especially worthless with crap mics and mic pres .. (cart before the horse theory) ... There's a lot of ground to be covered before the wire really comes into play .. mics and pres are more crucial IMO. I'm not saying that really cheap wire like that you get from Radio Shack is good enough, instead that any good wire will perform fine.

If you were running an 8 pack of HV 3's or better, then I might understand your concerns but in your situation with the pres your speaking of, I think there's nothing to be concerned with.
Check Markertek at http://www.markertek.com , for snakes and XLR mic patch panels ... and good luck!

Thanks for the quick reply, Kurt. Do the Mogami snakes have a panel to connect all the XLR males into or is it just a bunch of XLR Female-Male cables bundled together? Superdupes

Those are all fan to fan or fan to multipin connectors. You want a snake commonly known as a snake and "stage box" ....

I do not believe that Mogami makes those ... but if they do, they will be very expensive. Again, your money would be better spent on better pre amps instead of the wire ... my 2 cents.

Yeah, like Kurt said, go with a Proco or equivalent and spend your money on mic pre's. That will be your best value for the $$ and give you the quickest rise in quality.

Chris

I actually just went on a spending splurge(got a Vox AC30, marshall 190ax, Neumann tlm103), so I'm going to save up some money for a while to get a couple nice pres and compressors. Hoping to get two Vintech X73's, a UA1176, and a Empirical Labs Distressor. Thanks for the quick and great help, guys :D