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Can a patchbay be made with the Neutik combo XLR/TRS jacks, and both connections be normalized?

In other words: If I plugin a TRS jack, the defalt normalized connection is broke. If I plugin an XLR plug, the default connection is broke.

I woulike to have the versatility of using XLR or TRS, depending on the patch situation.

Comments

MadMax Sun, 12/13/2009 - 03:43

First, welcome to RO!

About your desire for a combo patchbay...

Can it be made as you want? Sure!

Are they a stock item? Not that I know of.

To have one custom made to your spec's is gonna be REAL expensive. I would say that you should be prepared to spend on the order of $1000 to $1200... minimum.

I think that you'd also quickly find that this type of patchbay is more of a PITA than a useful piece of kit.

Not to be too brutal, but if this kind patchbay was really a good system, you can be assured that folks in this industry would have adopted it as a standard somewhere along the last 50-60 years or so.

If you are dead set on having this kind of patchbay system, you can make your own from TRS and XLR patch panels, but getting a decent make/break system on the XLR insertion is either going to take some meticulous modification of the XLR connector on the patch panel, or you'll need to do a power supply w/current sense relay to switch from the XLR path to the TRS path... on each insertion point.

I can assure you that I wouldn't want to attempt it... and I've been in the electronics engineering field for over 30 years... not when I can buy a good TT patchbay for under $300 bucks, used.

Seriously, its a heck of a lot easier to just use a good quality TT or TRS patchbay and wire it like the majority of folks do.

Kapt.Krunch Sun, 12/13/2009 - 04:44

MadMax wrote:
getting a decent make/break system on the XLR insertion is either going to take some meticulous modification of the XLR connector on the patch panel, or you'll need to do a power supply w/current sense relay to switch from the XLR path to the TRS path... on each insertion point.

Yep. Look at a switching TRS jack. The reason it can switch is because it physically pushes open the contact that causes normalled, when a plug is inserted.

Look at an XLR jack. It just slips in, and the only moveable part is perhaps a locking tab. There is generally no method of breaking a contact point in an XLR, as far as I know.

You MAY be able to get SOME versatility out of the Neutrik combo jack...maybe. And that's only if you can find a combo jack with a switching TRS...which I don't know exists, or not?

If one exists, you could use the TRS as a breaking insert, and use the XLR as a mult point.

May be more inexpensive and easy to just get a regular old TRS patchbay, and some XLR-TRS cables and possibly some adapters.

Kapt.Krunch