loss of signal through patchbay?

Any time you split a signal you will reduce the level somewhat.... it's all strict mathematics and the laws of physics apply. Basically, you can't get something out of nothing... but you already know that.....Unless there is an amplifier of some sort, there is a signal loss.

However, quite often the lower level signal (after the split) is still of sufficient level to give good results.

The only way to know for sure it to do as you want to do, so, get a patchbay and try it.

Borrow one from a friend or buy it where you can return it if the results are not what you are hoping for.

Good luck.

thanks herb for the reassurance-the sapphire specs brag about the headroom/ floor level so i`ll definately give it a go-patchbays are hard to find out here and i`m not up to soldering one so
beagle:which patchbay did you get,can`t find anything locally and may have to launch my credit card into the cloud and hope for the best? 

I use patchbays with no problem  To my ears, there is no noticeable signal loss.

FWIW: I have had luck using DBX Patchbays. (I tried Behrigner, but had issues with the signal pooping out on me.)

A common problem with (cheaper) patchbays is that they have the jack connections on the rear of the patchbay as well as the front. Professional patchbays do not do this. They either use D Sub connectors or they hardwire.

Because the jack connections on the rear are not moved or touched, a form of corrosion (not bad but troublesome none the less) can ocurr on the tip of the plug and also the spring steel inside the socket that is touching the tip of the plug. Behringers are known for it.

What I found I had to do was every six months or so was to just pull all the rear plugs out (not all the way either) once or twice and push them back home firmly. Then you won't have any problems. I have even had quite strong distortion due to these rear connections.  (I used to have a Roland MKS20 piano module and one time  the right channel dropped in level and went very distorted. It really sounded like the module was not well but after checking the rear patchbay connections it all came good!)

A better option is to pull the rear leads out and clean the tips of the plugs and the inside of the sockets with a quality contact cleaner. (don't just spray it in there either)

An even better option is to design your system so no patchbays are required at all. They can be a source of problems. My system is complex and is built around a Yamaha digital mixer. As a result I don't have one patchbay in my studio and yet I can route signals around like you would not believe and I have better options than with a patchbay. And total reliability as well. But I realise that may not suit everyone and for some they are a necessity. They are only good if you do a lot of patching. If you find you hardly ever patch and you are just normalising through them most of the time then you might be better off hard wiring those signals instead.

The TAFE college where I teach sound engineering has got expensive batam patchbays ($1000 per single rack space or more!) and even they are going bad now with their internal normalising connections. Basically they suck! If you can avoid them you should.

Here's what the back of one of my racks with a patchbay looked like:

http://www.nwdreamer.com/Pics/StudiosAndGear/TroutdaleStudio/MoreTroutdalePics/Studio2010-07.jpg

Beagle

NW Smith


I use patchbays with no problem  To my ears, there is no noticeable signal loss.

FWIW: I have had luck using DBX Patchbays. (I tried Behrigner, but had issues with the signal pooping out on me.)

Is that a technical term? 

As  a matter of fact, yes.  It's a term that is used often by the Muldovian Society of Sound Engineers.