Talk:Patch panel

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Comments[edit]

What is the most commonly used term? Patch bay or patch panel? I have known it always as patch panel. What about you? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.172.240.188 (talk) 21:02, 15 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have never heard of a patch panel being referred to as a patch bay. Chewbaggins (talk) 26 May 2009 —Preceding undated comment added 21:03, 26 May 2009 (UTC).[reply]

In recording studio parlance, "patch panel" usually refers to a single panel (often a 1U rack strip) containing patch jacks, while "patch bay" refers to an organized set of such panels fitted in a rack or mixing console. Rocknrollsuicide (talk) 19:29, 4 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I believe a patch panel is a single panel with RJ-45 connectors, while a patch bay consist of multiple patch panel and switches and other networking devices. (Tdmike (talk) 08:26, 29 October 2015 (UTC))[reply]

Patch bay is an older term from the analog world. Recording studios for Audio or television studios for video.

Patch bay in the analog world is like wiring closet in the digital/networking world.

The other difference is that patch bays are out in the open in a studio control room where as wiring closets are typically behind a locked door. I know, this is not true in a data center where patch panels are out in the open.Robert.Harker (talk) 04:49, 3 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I was Program Controller of University Radio Loughborough 1974-8, using home-built kit. We were mostly a DJ-based presentation, with the occasional live band, and so although we had a standard preset setup, 2 3-deck studios and dounle stereo mikes with jingle machines in the control room, occasionally you'd want to over-ride it with a short-term patch so one piece of kit would feed and/or be fed from something different from usual. We therefore had a patch panel out of the way so we could temporarily over-ride the usual defaults. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.216.50.39 (talk) 13:58, 25 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

RE Normalization, 1st sentence. That a Citation is needed strikes me as superfluous. For professionals or intermediate-level amateurs in audio it has always been the case that the "top row is output" and the "bottom row is input" of a patchpanel set (or US, colloquial, single-unit 'patchbay'). That it needs citation is like saying we need one for: "we have a left foot and a right foot, the left shoe goes on the left foot, the right on the right." I suppose, if you really need to pick this nit, like I am, you could cite one of the existing references - but the one relevant is only a link to a (correctly written) article (another "opinion?"). Or, perhaps, you could cite a bunch of panel manufacturers' product descriptions. During the last 50 years of my own experience in studios, all commercial audio patch-panel/bays are set up this way. Sure, there are exceptions: home-brew gear and highly specific installations, which, if mentioned, *would* need citation. Not to make fun of the person who flagged this as needing a reference, but I wonder if they have ever held one of these units in their hands. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:8569:6410:4094:74B4:F412:F1B5 (talk) 16:08, 24 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

No citation needed - just watch a few sound recording engineers' vids on you-tube. I removed it. 2602:301:7772:6C0:8F64:C0AF:7AD:8D2A (talk) 23:10, 30 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I have restored what seems like a legitimate request. See WP:BLUE for some discussion. I'm an audio expert and I was not aware of this convention. ~Kvng (talk) 02:05, 5 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, but the sky is indeed blue - and patch bays/panels are top out bottom in ("Normally"). Hmmm, how can you call yourself an "audio expert" without recalling the standard instructions that come with all off-the-shelf patch bays? They're commercially available for USD 80 to USD 250, with the average prices (as of early 2024) running about USD 100. Have you actually seen one?

I have eight patch bays in my studio, two each made by Samson, Neutrik, and Behringer. Two I made myself. Each has two rows of 24 channels, making 48 ports (/sockets/jacks/holes/whatever) total.

I am looking now at instructions taken right out of the boxes. The written text - and especially the diagrams with directional arrows - make clear that a convention exists. In fact, it seems so nonchalantly described as if the authors don't think twice about it. These instructions refer to a typical set up being Top Out, Bottom In.

That's sensible because of the workflow of signal patching: top down, left to right (at least in countries that read left to right). Of course, you can configure them any way you like. However, of the dozens of professional studios and likewise as many home studios I've visited or worked in, every one of them (but one) has their bays and (generally, their outboard gear also) running top out, bottom in. (The one outlier is someone who is so dearly chaotic you'd not trust him to fold laundry :).

I don't know how to remove the citation need nor how to refer / endnote such a reference. Perhaps someone else can do so, please.

Note the diagram here: [1]https://samsontech.com/blog/the-ins-and-outs-of-a-patchbay/

And the user manual, which has more diagrams --- all of which show Top Out, Bottom In, here:

[2]https://storage.googleapis.com/samson-production/uploads/documents/s-patchplus_OM_v1.pdf

The other manufacturers mentioned have similar downloadable manuals - all reflecting this unspoken blue sky standard.

cheers 2600:1700:8569:6410:6D76:606:EDA:9FD (talk) 19:12, 9 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I added your Samson document. ~Kvng (talk) 19:57, 9 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Punchpanel diagram flawed[edit]

As I related in the Talk page for the image, I don't think the punchpanel diagram makes sense. There cannot be a single wire connecting the panels (unless the panels act also as switches and routers, which they clearly do not).Amead (talk) 03:54, 22 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Photo of two GigE switches...[edit]

...seems inappropriate to me, since it illustrates a pair of switches, which have their own onboard jacks, and do not constitute a patch panel, which would be a passive jack field inbetween active devices. Bill Woodcock (talk) 18:50, 12 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

There are also patch panels in the picture. This is a typical arrangement for a network build and I think it is good to show the use of the panels in context. ~Kvng (talk) 14:16, 15 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Eh. You're absolutely right. I dunno, I must have been in a bad mood or something. This is one of those times when an "undo" that was socially acceptable to use would make me feel better about myself, but, well, here we are. Bill Woodcock (talk) 04:35, 16 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Bwoodcock, All is good. No need to feel bad about yourself. ~Kvng (talk) 15:49, 18 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]