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Post by tonycamphd on Dec 25, 2014 13:57:48 GMT -6
Hey fella's, merry xmass! I'm going to order a pair of 3 space panels from redco, i designed them per the attachment, I have 2 patchbays, they are 144 points each, 3 rows of 48 each. I'm going to make this an end all/never change set up for me, i've wired no less than 4 huge patchbay arrays in my day, and this WILL(please!) be the last 8) All the gear will be attached via Dsub25 connectors, so theoretically, if i ever want to location record or move, i should be able to disconnect and re connected this rig hassle free. to be clear, this will be patchbays on the top of the desk, and back panels(pictured) fed out through the back of the console/desk to all the gear, the mogami connecting through patchbay to the dsub panels will be no more than 3 feet long, probably shorter(still to be determined). let me know if you guys see any flaws in this pretty simple idea, i staggered B row so it could be seen and accessed easier if repairs are necessary at any point. thanx T  |
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Post by drbill on Dec 25, 2014 14:16:40 GMT -6
Why 144 point Tony?
Personally, they don't make sense to me, and are non-standardized. I like the output on the top, input on the bottom, and normals / half normals accordingly. If more are needed, add another bay. As for the rear connectors, bravo! Although I much prefer Elco's over Dsubs, having a quick disconnect on the back of any nature is significantly better than solder on lugs IMO and will allow you to reconfigure easily. don't worry about the length of your Mogami interconnects. 3', 10', 25' is not a problem.
Rear Drawing is fine, but I'm a stickler for consistency and the "some offset, some not, some offset to the left, some offset to the right" thing kind of wigs me out. But if it works for you, that's all that matters.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,099 
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Post by ericn on Dec 25, 2014 15:09:22 GMT -6
Tone I'm with Bill 144 do save rack space, but are a pain off you are normal king between 2 of them!
I have one because the small fader and big fader on the status are unbalanced on a single TRS jack and only one is normalled!
The jacks alone are a PITA to solder, but then I remove them from the frame and solder them then screw them back together !
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Post by tonycamphd on Dec 25, 2014 15:26:50 GMT -6
ericn I agree with you both on the top/bottom row rigs, BUT i already own both of these, and i'm not in the $ like i'd like to be, so it is what it is, I will definitely lay it out logically and use the bottom rows for odds and ends. The top 2 rows are also normalled as they come drbill the reason i offset the B row is so when you're digging around in there you won't have one set of cables sitting right on top of the other, it's for easy access, which makes troubleshooting much easier, although i agree from the outside, the offset look is more confusing, but certainly not when comparing 36 dsubs to 288 single xlr/1/4 trs jacks!! Merry xmass boys 8)
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Post by svart on Dec 25, 2014 15:32:39 GMT -6
If it's a "end all/never change set up", then why bother having Dsubs on the back? If you do have to move it, it'll take roughly the same amount of work to unplug the Dsubs as it would to simply unplug the gear from the bundle.
I wired all my wires directly to the patch bay with 1/4TRS on the other end. If I move gear, I simply unplug the gear and replug it. It adds maybe 20 seconds to moving a piece of gear, but would have probably saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars in having someone make up a bunch of Dsub snakes and rear panels..
Anyway, you do what you feel is necessary, but personally I am afraid you are doing this simply because you can, not because you actually need to.
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Post by tonycamphd on Dec 25, 2014 16:58:20 GMT -6
If it's a "end all/never change set up", then why bother having Dsubs on the back? If you do have to move it, it'll take roughly the same amount of work to unplug the Dsubs as it would to simply unplug the gear from the bundle. I wired all my wires directly to the patch bay with 1/4TRS on the other end. If I move gear, I simply unplug the gear and replug it. It adds maybe 20 seconds to moving a piece of gear, but would have probably saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars in having someone make up a bunch of Dsub snakes and rear panels.. Anyway, you do what you feel is necessary, but personally I am afraid you are doing this simply because you can, not because you actually need to. ehh, no way bromee, I have a ton of the way ur suggesting under my belt and i will be building my own cables, removing 36 dsub connectors vs 288 fly away spaghetti stringed xlr/trs connectors? the jumbling and tangling is absurd, trying to id everyone of those with a label or number? i've seen this movie so many times its not even funny, and thats not even mentioning the amount of $ i'm saving on xlr/TRS connectors, this is a vastly better way to go iMO, that really wasn't the Q. BTW, i scored 100 super high Q dsub 25 males/females, metal hoods, thumb screws for about $250, decent xlr/1/4" trs would have been a crazy expense for all the shit i'm hooking up, i have 162 trs and 75 xlr connectors at my console alone, that alone would have been $1000 at least, it's now avoided(my board is being set up Dsub as well)  |
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Post by drbill on Dec 25, 2014 19:46:23 GMT -6
drbill the reason i offset the B row is so when you're digging around in there you won't have one set of cables sitting right on top of the other, it's for easy access, which makes troubleshooting much easier, although i agree from the outside, the offset look is more confusing, but certainly not when comparing 36 dsubs to 288 single xlr/1/4 trs jacks!! Merry xmass boys 8) Tony - I understand the reasoning, it's the layout that's wanky IMO. If you're concerned about congestion - and I completely "get that" - why not make the rear panel larger. For me, the DSubs are even too cluttered, and that's the #1 reason I chose elco's which are 3X's as dense, so I have 1/3 the snakes hanging out. The #2 reason is gold pins that knife into each other for a very tight connection, and the screw down connectors that never go "wiggly". I agree with you wholeheartedly in comparison to XLR's or TRS's. Individual cables are a freaking nightmare IMO. For my bay it would be over a thousand individual TRS cables. Can you imagine trying to troubleshoot? LOL One word of advice. Things change, no matter how much you think you've got it "wired" (sorry for the pun...) I'd highly suggest making your Dsub to Dsub interconnects different lengths rather than "just what you need now". If you need 3', make them 3', 6', 10' and maybe 15'. At some point in time, something will change and a rack will need to move. Better yet, make more (longer) than you actually currently need, and then utilize them when needed. Oh, and if you terminate the rear of all your equipment racks with female Dsubs that fan out into M/F XLR's for interconnect to your actual pieces of gear, changing out gear will be a joy. Just make sure to make a few XLR to TRS, and TS (terminated correctly) short jumpers and changing gear is painless, fast and requires zero soldering or bay juggling. You can even completely reconfigure with zero downtime. Thinking these things thru in advance will insure that you never have to recreate your bays. Perhaps just add more when the inevitable gear expansion happens. MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL.... |
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