Patch Bay

This is a topic that has bothered me for a long time, and now I need to solve it as I have decided to finally get a patch bay rather than dig around in the back of my rack every time I need to make some changes!

What is the deal with normalled vs. half-normalled? Nady lists "normalled, half-normalled and isolated"...Behringer lists (I'm not getting a Behringer, but I saw it in the catalog) "parallel, half-normalized, normalized and open", and then dbx lists "normalled and non-normalled".

I am completely confused as to what these terms all mean and how they differ from one another. I talked to a buddy today that works at a music store, and he tried to explain it, and it made absolutely no sense.

Can anyone explain this to me in plain English...I know this has to be fairly simple, but I am somehow missing the basics here...

Thanks!

 

Well...here's a cut and pasty job for ya!

3. Normalling
Typically patch bays are wired so that with no patch cables inserted,
each jack in the top row is automatically connected to the jack
immediately below it in the bottom row. By planning your wiring
in advance, this arrangement will let you connect the outputs of
equipment (wired to the top row jacks) to the inputs of other
equipment (wired to the bottom row jacks) in the most often used
configuration. Then, when you need to do something special,
you can insert a patch cord and change the way signals are connected.
Normalling is the term used to describe this configuration
(you have pre-selected your "Normal" signal routing).There are
two common forms of normalling: HALF NORMAL and FULL
NORMAL. HALF NORMAL (HN) connects the top row (output)
jack to switching contacts on the (input) jack just below it. When
you plug a patch cord into the top (output) jack on an HN patch
bay, the output signal wired to that top jack stays connected to
the (input) jack below it and therefore continues to be connected
to the equipment wired to that input jack. At the same time, the
output signal from the top jack is now connected to your patch
cord and can be plugged into another input jack on the patch bay.
The result is one output going to two inputs. When you plug a p
atch cord into a bottom row (input) jack on an HN patch bay,
however, the "Normal" connection between that input jack and
the (output) jack just above it is disconnected. Using the patch
cord, you can route that input to a different output. FULL
NORMAL (FN) uses switching contacts in both rows of jacks.
Plugging a cord into either the top row (output) or the bottom
row (input) of a full normalled bay disconnects the "Normal" signal
flow from the top jack to bottom jack. Patch cords connected to
the top jack have access to the output signal of the device wired to that
jack. Patch cords connected to the bottom jack have access to the
input of the device wired to that jack.

How's that for service! lol
Opus

 

Very well said Opus (clapping)
Patch bays are our friends.

 

Yeah....only when their the 1/4 non soldered types....start getting into setting up wired TT bay systems and then their your worst nightmare sometimes!

P.S...I copied and pasted that from Whirlwind's site, no way I was going to try and describe it like they did! lol

 

Oh, I forgot about those monsters. I wouldn't touch a TT bay with a 10 foot patch cable. ha ha
a little cabling humor. :roll:

 

OK...that actually does help a lot!

Now I guess I should throw out to the group a request for suggestions as to the type (brand) of patch bay they would recommend.

Thanks again!

 

do not get the patchbays with the swappable cards....they suck big time..most of em end up going bad, they don't stay locked in and wiggle about! Not good...
Now, you want a cool patchbay....go with the Hosa ones! Perfect for the home studio or project studio. I set up 6 of these things at the community center here in South Central LA...solid design, switchable normalling modes(with a great definitions and examples in the manual!)and fairly cheap if I remember correctly....
Sweetwater Ad for Hosa

Anyways...that's my reccomendation for your situation. Normally for a serious set up one goes for TT since you can have twice as many points as a 1/4" bay! Mogami wire and Neutrik TT Bays!
Cheers
Opus :

 

I've got a couple brands of bays. One is a Tascam 32 point. It's cool, but converting to half normalled or straight through requires a soldering iron and a steady hand.
My dbx 48 point bay has the individual cards. Both seem to work very well. Opus, I'm going to take a look at the Hosa bay. I love their cables!