XLR junctions and signal degradation.

[Stereophonic]

I am thinking of installing the Manley Mastering Backbone. I really like the interface and options. (Parallel, MS, gain stage etc) I do wish that it had the ability to re-order the inserts on the fly like a Crookwood router. As a work around, I am considering building a kind of XLR patch-bay. Basically, I'd take the ELCO to XLR snake, chop it in two and add XLR connectors between the two halves so that I can patch accordingly.
I have spoken to Manley about this and they agree it will slightly degrade the signal. What are your thoughts on adding an extra XLR junction to the signal flow? I think the flexibility will be worth it but am not certain. And to clarify, the custom cabling will flow like this: Backbone/ELCO -> balanced cable -> XLR insert panel. ||( hear I patch accordingly )|| XLR -> balanced or un-balanced cable -> XLR/Gear. Cable length will be kept at an absolute minimum.

Thank you,


Timothy Stollenwerk


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[NorseHorse]

I doubt you'll hear any difference.

Go for the patchbay as it will probably improve your quality and quantity of work.

[24-96 Mastering]

Cable length will likely increase, though that's likely negligible. The main thing imo is that at each connection point you have an additional source of error in your setup. That may be a worthwhile price to pay if you get a good benefit out of having that patchbay. Personally, I didn't. Had one but found that over the years I hardly ever used it... I found my analog chain remained in the same order for at least 95% of projects. Since all my gear is hardwire bypass anyway, I ditched the patchbay and just repatch manually (i.e. crawl under the console), when needed.

[dave-G]

It's easy enough to test an approximation with your existing gear and some extra cables. Just chain-up say, a compressor and an EQ and record the loop-through.. Then XLR-couple another length of cable on each connection and record a loop-through that way too ... Then A/B compare and see if you lose anything notable.

If your lengths aren't too bad, and your wiring is done well, I would imagine the difference would be pretty small, if noticeable at all, but it's better to know for sure!

-dave

[Cellotron]

Just got word that my Backbone got shipped by Manley to my dealer today - should have it here sometime late next week!

I almost never reorder gear in my chain though - to me I can easily work with the parameter of having only two order switchable inserts - or I can just as easily go back to repatching (which is what I do now) when the rare occasion comes up when I need to.

I think if being able to repatch every insert into any order at the push of a button is a big concern for you then absolutely you should get the Crookwood instead of the Backbone.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

I doubt you'll hear any difference.

Go for the patchbay as it will probably improve your quality and quantity of work.

Standard TRS and mini TRS patchbays are among the worst offenders when it comes to contact degradation! It's really hard to keep them clean and the contact area is extremely small. You'd be better off sonicallly with several XLRs in series than a standard patchbay.

Regardless, here's something that I highly recommend:

What is Stabilant 22?


This contact enhancer is the real deal. Every connector in my studio gets a drop of Stabilant 22 (after cleaning first with 99% Isopropyl and a toothbrush).

BK

[Stereophonic]

My current setup requires me to crawl under my console to re-patch. It's rare, but it does happen depending on the project. I do not like having unused gear in the chain, even if it's hard bypassed.
I think part of the problem is that the features of the Backbone are make me greedy. As an example, the first device in my analog chain is typically compression. It's either tube or solid state. With the Backbone it would be great to take the normally 'unused' compressor and move it to the parallel insert. I could crawl under my desk but then I run into the issue of cabling: One compressor is unbalanced, the other is balanced. (ocl-2 / 2500).

Originally Posted by Cellotron

Just got word that my Backbone got shipped by Manley to my dealer today - should have it here sometime late next week!

That's excellent! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Are you making your own cables or did you go with RAPCO?

Originally Posted by bob katz

Regardless, here's something that I highly recommend:

What is Stabilant 22?

This contact enhancer is the real deal. Every connector in my studio gets a drop of Stabilant 22 (after cleaning first with 99% Isopropyl and a toothbrush).

BK

Thanks for the recommendation, Bob. How often should connections be cleaned - once a year?



Timothy Stollenwerk


____________________________________________
S t e r e o p h o n i C . . . . . . . . | Stereophonic Mastering | | Custom Audio Mastering |
m a s t e r i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503. 407. 2521
Stereophonic Mastering on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

[bob katz]

Thanks for the recommendation, Bob. How often should connections be cleaned - once a year?

Well, cleaning and preservation are two different things. If you clean a NEW connection and then preserve it (plus enhance it) with Stabilant 22A it should last a number of years without concern. Unless it's outdoors in the rain :-).

BK