Why & How to use a Patch Bay (And why the Minibay is a great one) 

I have a Minibay as well. It's great! One thing you can do with synths that have a mono output is use the headphone out instead which will give you dual mono out.

This device for cv signals can be awesome ...

Guy who made this was staying in my hotel and we took an Uber to the show each day. Really nice guy. As he described this I continually got more and more interested. Really wonderful idea and layout.

I saw this on DF's youtube and at the end I started to replay the video because "wait there's something I dont understand" when your video pops up as next. And I just said out loud "... There he is, the exact person I'd want to ask" lol.

I love the fact it has an fx inserts to patch out board gear in. Very cool

I was wondering what patch bays were. I'm glad you were able to explain in 15 seconds compared to some of the other videos I tried watching about it xD

Gosh, I love this! Any synthesist that still has, say, all her weird guitar pedals from her drone metal project, and suddenly use them quickly and efficiently without having to completely discombobulate one's mixer. Plus, I actually understand how patch bays are supposed to work, as opposed to me goofing with fx sends on my mixer. Great video!

best patch bay explanation I've watch on youtube! cheers

Holy shit thank you for this video. Just bought one of these patch bays, this is going to save me hours each month of routing stuff to my 2 input interface 😵‍💫

I have a mix of synths and modular, so the patch bay shown can also do quarter to mini jack conversions. A few stereo min jacks would also be a bonus.

Always a pleasure Jorb. Thanks for sticking your neck out there for the greater good of the synth community. We appreciate your knowledge and the fact that you decided to share it! Cool product here

I’ve come here from all my friends are synths recommendation. Already subscribed. Thanks for your help .

I wired up my own 19"patch bay many years ago, no idea what happened to it, took bloody ages but was very useful. This seems like a much better idea!

This looks like a solution a problem I have: several stomp boxes (FX) and several synths and how to connect them. This was an excellent video demonstration, well done Jorb!

Seems like a small thing, but this form factor is hugely helpful, especially when integrating with small setups. So cool. Thanks. Wouldn't have known about this particular patchbay without the heads-up!

I really love how you're super happy to make videos about utility stuff because as you say ''I love gear'' haha. No cherry picking here. Good gear is good gear. I appreciate you dude

This is cool and I could see it being useful for some folks studios. For me it defeats the purpose of having my patch bays as desk space is premium real estate in my studio. Having rack mounted bays is incredibly helpful for space and keeping my cable management tidy. Patch bays are incredibly useful I’m so glad I put them in it makes the workflow SO much easier!

Didn't know I needed this, but it's the perfect solution for my setup. Thanks Jorb

This is such a great tutorial, and it finally cleared up all of my confusion about patch bays. Thank you!

Thanks for this clear explanation of the minibay, ordered one :)

Been scoping this out for a while!!! Very awesome you made a video of it. You the man brother!! Thanks.

been wanting a patchbay for a while now, and this looks perfect. Thanks for the great demo!

Tremendously helpful and informative video. Thank you!

Can’t wait to watch this. I have a patch bay. It’s super useful.

Welp, That’s exactly the patchbay I was looking for - thanks for the review!

Very cool Jorb! Thank you for your content. This is so useful.

I was enlightened! Great informative video!

Great Video Jorb! Now I know how to use this thing. Thank you so much!

Great video Jorb - much appreciated!

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Awesome. Thanks!

Great content. The examples were realistic, useful, and easy to follow. I was feeling a little intimidated when it started, but seeing the equipment and connections and listening as changes were made helped to lock it all in. Nicely done.

Another key reason to use a patch bay: Its front jacks are durable and *designed* to be plugged and unplugged countless times. The jacks on your musical instruments are frequently not as durable. I've had them get loose and fail, whereas I've never, ever, had a patch bay jack fail.

Thanks for this, a very useful tool to have, will have to look into it.

Watched 2 vids of you today, what a great channel! #subbed

Great desktop patching tool, apart from the fact that mods (normal/half/thru) are hidden inside. Ain't no time to disassemble the box in order to change the signal flow. And since a patch bay is made to gain time while connecting audio devices, one major feature was lost by constructing Minibay the way it is now. Once it is corrected, and should be, I want one. Jorb, Thanks for this presentation :)

Hey Jorb, I recently found your channel (fellow guitarist turned synth-nerd here). You have a gift for explaining things very succinctly. Thanks for the content.

I have 2 of em side by side, love em, great vid thanks!

Great video. Thanks!!

Here's another point I'd like to add related to the Minibay. I know a lot of people who could benefit from this or something like the Patchulator by Bored Brains. If you get your hands on one it might be a nice comparison video where you point out some of the differences between Patchulator, Minibay, and other (more) standard 19" 1u patch bay units.

I literally could not make my set up work without patchbays. They are so incredibly useful, but can be intimidating and quite confusing for someone whos never used one before. They are also the perfect solution if you are out of inputs on your mixer, but don't want to upgrade to something larger. Interesting design using insert style jacks on the back to and 3.5mm on the front to save space. Great job explaining normalling, routing, etc. Amazing video!

OMG yes! I love this ♥️🤯😱 how have I never seen anything like that before?!

That is awesome!

Your video is fantastic!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I got a Boredbrain Terminal 2 with which I am going to apply your ideas!👋🏼👋🏼

now i want one too! my lazyness will benefit a lot! :)

Helpful and methodical approach. I bought a Patchulator 8000 from Bored Brain a couple of years ago, and it has saved so many headaches with patching and unpatching, and finding working cables. If I had more gear, I would consider getting this bay . It looks very functional.

Why didnt you make this video 8 years ago when i never could decide if i should get a patchbay or a big mixer ;)

Appreciate you jorb. I'm not even into eurorack, but the mpc and deepmind stuff you have put out for free (you can pay if able) makes you a force for good in the world mate.

When I first started working in studios, I had to learn about patch bays. Now that I've learned, I'm a HUGE fan! This is a good idea. Personally, I'd like to see a version of this bay with a multipin connector, like EDAC or D-Sub, instead of 1/4" insert cable. Otherwise, great!

Looks useful.

Tbh this just makes me happy for my mixer 😅

I wish I had seen this before I got a rack patch.

The fax send technique makes it for me. Thanks

Good review 👍. My 19" rack patchbay is just a filler panel since I switched to a jamming table. This could be used like a versatile snake head for my mixer and currently under-used rack effects. The passive summing mixers would be handy for my modular patches.

I recently reworked my setup so that everything goes to two Erica Synths Matrix Mixers: one for audio routing, one for CV routing. Similar idea + attenuation

It's a cool product, the one major (fatal) flaw for me is that they placed the (normal/half/thru) switches inside the unit so you have to take all your connections out and the unit apart to change this. The type of switch they used for this is so small they could have easily given access from the front or real panel. Maybe not important to some but I find I change these up enough with my patch bay that it would be an issue.

I get my cables tomorrow, but I'm slightly confused by the FX send/return model. I have a stereo compressor. If I understand this correctly, I will take up two channels of FX for each input/output combo (in:R, Out:R on FX1, and In:L, Out:L on FX2) From here, FX1 and 2's top rings will be input jacks, and bottom rings will be output jacks. I got a little thrown off by the stereo chorus since it was mono in stereo out and my brain wasn't computing the send back into one of the other mixer channels.

Thanks for the video! I'm always trying to figure out if a patch bay could be better than my current set up which has all of my outboard gear connected to my medium big mixer (soundcraft 22) and I've got two separate stereo aux sends and another mono aux send, each with their own effects chains. So I can just dial in how much op1 to send to my oto delay and reverb chain, and for fun send some to the volante/vongon/screen violence chain at the same time. Then I can send another synth to my guitar pedal mono chain and get some quirky looping going. It's all aways hooked up in the mixer. This works wonderfully for my production style where I work up a sound situation that I like, experimenting without having to unpatch or patch up anything, and hit record on my daw when I'm ready to record a performance. Downsides are that I wish I could find a mixer with more stereo effects send/returns, and of course I'm giving up the control I might have recording track by track. I prefer it that way though, to avoid spending most of my time editing rather than exploring. If someone has an extra Shure Auxpander lying around please let me know!

Have you seen ADDAC System's patchbays? They're rackmount rather than desktop, and they have stereo splitters and XLR jacks built in as well.

Ohh, this is perfect - cheap enough to instabuy. My rack mount patchbay is gathering dust, not because of lack of usefulness or fx pedals. The comment about the normalization switches is valid, but not something I do often. My current patchbay requires me to open up the case and switch the orientation of the daughter boards, so the switches are a step up.

Just returned a neutrik patchbay, was about to slaughter it to build somthng like this. I gave up. Good choice. Good job jorb. Pay the man well.

Jorb is good!

bringing in my modular fx and sending drumachines or synths at them? very cool little piece

Jorb! question: does this work with stereo pedals that have 1 TRS in and 1 TRS out? i just preordered the Chase Bliss Onward pedal and im trying to wrap my brain around how that would work based on what you did here with the FX 1 going in and out of the delay… how would you get stereo in and out of a stereo pedal with one jack for each. does that make sense? because i’m confusing myself just typing this out

This is such a great idea. I've often thought someone should come out with a guitar style loop switcher with multiple inputs designed with synths in mind, bu this is probably a better idea.

is there any latency between the patch bay and synth. I had to hook up my synth from mixer to interface to record the audio not midi. playing live between the 2 synth feels not accurate but sound great when playback or midi sync to cubase.

I have an old mixer with just two mono sends and one stereo return and inserts for each channel, can I use this patchbay to somehow overcome the limitation of the x2 mono sends and x1 stereo return on my mixer? Maybe by using the individual channel inserts? I'm new to mixing routing and parallel fx tecniques

This would be a perfect companion to a 1010 blue box. Also, where was this 3 months ago when I was rewiring my studio and added traditional patch bays? I need this!

I'm missing something with the effects pedal connection. If it's TRS on the patchbay side and T input R output on the pedal side on the same cable, wouldn't it cause a feedback loop?

Great video. I was wondering how i can route microphones to the minibay. Would It just be one cable since its mono?

Looks very interesting, as already 184 other comments state. I have a question…. I cant see any outgoing cable to the mixer or audio interface. Where are they? Thank you.

You GAS enabling villain you 🤣 . Have zero funds for gear currently and I had just found that little solution a week again and it’s in my list of have to gets . Now my empty pockets really itchy thanks .

Very cool patch bay device. I wonder if a matrix would be easier to manage I/O than mini jacks cables?

Good video and interesting product, thank you. I already use classic patchbays in my studio but it could interest me as this is tabletop thus obvioulsy encouraging for experiments. BUT with regular TS jacks everywhere. And idealy ALL the conections on top, nothing on the back and the normalizing switches accessible on the top too. I obviously undestand this will impact its tiny form factor but I don't like to deal with 3 types of connections plus Y cables for the same job and having to dismantle the thing to access to the normalizing settings. So, Minibay's people, gi'me the same but bigger with bigger holes. Something 19'' wide, 3 or 4 U high , and tabletop flat. "The MiniBigBay mk2"? 😄 (actualy I'm reinventing the horizontal lateral patchbays we could find on big studio consoles)

This is a great explanation on how to use a Patchbay, for people who have never used one this is a must watch. For those who want a great first Patchbay this looks like a no-brainer. The passive summing is a big bonus too. I was on the waitlist for the first run but decided not to buy because of the TRS stereo jacks which for me is a bit of a downside because it requires more adapters. Also, I prefer patchbays that can handle balanced signals. I could still think of a lot of situations where this would be helpful especially for new patchbay users, ergonomically it’s makes a lot of sense, aside from the need for extra adapter cables, it’s a nice layout.

that's a cool little unit, not sure the dip switch inside the box's a good idea, regardless though it's an affordable flexible unit that's perfect for a small/medium set up..cheers man hope you have a good trip to germany

what about synths that support left and right, each in TRS... is that just simply for grounding issues then? can I still split in the same way using two TRS to the TS/TRS splitter?

Nice

I bought one of these and I’ve pretty much figured it out..for the most part. If you use stereo pedals with 2 ins and 2 outs, it’s great. I’m having trouble routing pedals with single stereo TRS to dual mono TS (Strymon El Cap V1 & Hologram Microcosm). Has anyone ever tried this?

It's a great product as it employs some original approaches. One issue for me would be that mono patch cables are quite expensive (and I already use a ton on my semi modular synths where they are needed most) and that you would have to also buy a bunch of Y adaptors to work with TRS connectors at the back of the unit. And those adaptors are notoriously flimsy and get easily damaged from ordinary use, I've replaced mine a few times just the last 3 years. I would be far more comfortable with 1/4 Mono connectors and ports, and switches on the top panel to replace most of the ports there. I've long thought of building something like that, I have the case and most of the parts, just need to order a custom built PCB for it.

Thanks for the video! I might have missed it but how is build quality? Is it going to last decades?

i try to normalize the minijack connection from a1 to b1 to have the most used connections in the modular always next to them. but doesnt work. is normaling only via jack to minijack?

I have three Jaspers , 6, 4, and 3. i would go insane without patchbay.

Can this be used with balanced rack gear? Something like a stereo delay that takes either TRS or TRS to XLR?

Is it actually silent as you plug and unplug stuff? I would expect it to make the awful unplugging sound. Is it just editing for our ears' benefit or have I been doing something uncouth all along

This is brilliant kit. I would use it with older 1/4" out synths like you are. The price point (~USD$200) is right. But $60± shipping per unit (from Thailand) is not. ☹️ I wish they'd get distribution in the US (eg. Perfect Circuit).

Interesting. I bought a patchbay, but for some reason when I try to think about creative routing it hurts my brain.

Dang, that looks useful. I play mostly guitar but I keep rearranging my effect pedals … and I’ve got a drum machine … and some synths I’d like to use more … so I could really use this. Also: what is the story behind that delay pedal?! It looks like you backed over it with a truck.

If you plug the insert cable into say the B1&2 jack on the back; which is 1 and which is 2, Tip or Ring? Wondering how this thing is wired that way internally.

Do you think this minibay can work with modular and its higher levels? I want to be able to use stereo pedals with eurorack sounds.

@jorb …. I can find 6.35 stereo TRS to 6.35 female TRS but can’t find stereo to mono TS . Will a female TRS connection work?

Question: In these examples, if the multiple synths, sequencer, etc is all patched in and going out to an interface, that means anything recording is on one Left/Right channel? What if you want to separate those for mixing?

I am a bit confused on how to run full stereo FX on it with mono signals and I also don't get which side is L and which is R on the fx outs..

A3 on Minilogue!

Looked on DF’s site but can’t find the answer: does the mixer output balanced or unbalanced signals?

My OCD would kill me with all the cables. I try to keep my setup clean... Midi cables are bad enough. Awesome idea though, looks like it could be fun. It'd be cool if you could pull the synth outputs and send them to some eurorack units

With what you would think is a weak argument for having a patchbay. You'd be surprised with that. Imagine a stack of 19" rack synths all with their own individual outs. That's a lot ins and outs. Suddenly convenience isnt so much a luxury but a requirement. That becomes a lot of cables.

Being totally manual, $180 / €180 is too expensive! I have an AKAI MB76 from the late '80s that cost about $200, (NEW!) and has 7 analog inputs and 6 analog outputs (hence the 76), with 32 memories that can be controlled by MIDI program change. And... It can also be used as a mixer! 1U rackmount, very sturdy, never had a problem with it (contrary to what happened to my Yamaha DMP11 Midi controlled mixer from the same epoch).

Is this anything like BoredBrain Patchulator v2?

They have enough real estate on the top between the rows to put in 'normaling' toggle switches - when they launch Version 2 with those switches (hint hint) I will be buying at least 2 !!!!

I went to their site. It says excluding GST but it doesn't say what GST is.