Using 16rig with patch bay?

Fuse AudioFuse
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#1

Anyone using the 16rig with an external patch bay?

Good or bad idea?

Is it a viable workaround for the 4 aux sends limitation on the software patch bay (control Center)?

Thanks

#2

Hi @browndwarf

I don’t own a 16Rig myself, BUT i’ve been using interfaces with multiple I/O for decades now and have ALWAYS used a patch bay, the reasons for using them FAR OUTWEIGH any downsides as they are just so flexible…No crawling around under or behind things to try and re-patch, pretty much eliminates the risk of breaking jacks (i’ve seen this done on more than one occasion), MUCH easier to see what you’re doing (provided you’ve labelled it up properly). Less wear and tear on your interface’s I/O jack sockets… New patch bays are usually cheaper to replace than expensive repairs and there’s less downtime because of it…

I think your question would possibly be better phrased as ‘Reasons to NOT use a patch bay’. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

HTH!

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#3

The only reason I can think to NOT use a patch bay would be if you’re using the 16 rig sitting on a desktop instead of mounting it in a rack.

My 16rig is mounted in a (small) rack so sticking a 1U patch bay just above made sense to me.

One way to look at it is, why potentially wear out the connectors on a piece of kit worth $1300 when you can use a $150 patch bay to take all the wear and tear?

Most of your equipment, the 16 rig, your synths, etc generally put their audio connectors in very inconvenient places. Think of a patch bay as way of making all these the audio inputs and outputs on various pieces of gear available in one convenient (front facing) place.

The flexibility can be useful - e.g. I want to send a particular instrument directly to my monitors without involving the 16rig - I can just patch them together. Or I have one of those mickey mouse Korg oscilloscopes (NTS-2) and I can use patch cables to “tap into” any audio source without interfering with the normal signal path.

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#4

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, my 16rig is mounted in a rack along with a ferrofish 16 and it’s a pain having to swap connections as the physical space in my setup is very tight.

The ferrofish provides an extra 16 outs and I’m fine working within the Arturia command centre to configure those outs to my outboard equipment and pedals. But I find the 4 aux sends very limiting.

Trying to weigh the pros and cons of having this flexibility with Patchbay with the costs and potentially new noise issues.

Thank you so much!

#5

Thank you for your suggestion!

Decisions decisions decisions :sweat_smile:

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#6

Yes, the AF16Rig with the AFCC software allows you to route any input (32 analog/ADAT inputs of the AF16Rig and 32 USB inputs from the computer) to any output like a patch-bay.

The 4 aux sends only apply to the AF16Rig’s internal Main mixer (plus there’s the Cue mixer that could be used as an additional stereo send).
But if you if you are setting your mix busses / aux sends in the computer, you have 32 USB channels from the computer that can be routed to any of the 26 outputs (10 analog and 16 ADAT).

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#7

Thanks for your insightful reply Sean.

My workflow is to sequence and arrange on a hardware sequencer. Using ableton mainly as an audio recorder. I will record a master stereo along with the stems. To this day, I still can’t quite figure out how to use cue mixer in a useful way.

Thanks for the reminder that all the inputs can be routed to any output. I guess I’ve been tunneled into thinking only in the aux sends routing. Will spend some time to explore this.

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#8

I use my 16rig with a Samson S patch plus. The patchbay is so versatile that once you understood how you can use it, it has so many pros and so many things you can do…
If you think you need it, go for it without doubts

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#9

Thanks for the recommendation. Been reading good things about the Samson and it’s likely the one I’ll go for!

#10

no problem :wink: there is also the Behringer Ultrapatch Pro that works pretty good too. The only problem for me, it is that the switches normal-half normal-thru, are placed on the top of the device, so not reachable if you place the unit in a rack

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#11

@SMVProducer
The ART one i currently have has the switches on the rear of the unit, they’re still a little tricky once you have all the jacks populated, but they’re reachable with a pen or pencil when needed.

HTH!