Samson S-Patch Plus 48-Point Audio Patch Bay with 1/4-Inch Phone Connections

This is my first patchbay and I'm quite pleased with it. For years I've been crawling around behind the racks in my small studio wiring and re-wiring gear every time I want to reconfigure my signal chains. But no longer will I be covered in dust bunnies and spiders, thanks to the S-patch Plus. This thing really is a game changer, especially for those of us less experienced with what can be a rather confusing "simple" tool- it's well built and packs a lot of common-sense functionality into a small space.The best part about the S-patch is the freedom it gives you to choose Normalled, Half-normalled or Thru functions with the flip of a switch on each input-output pair. This is really convenient, especially if, like me, you're new to patchbays and want to experiment with functionality and signal chain options. The switches are sturdy, as are the jacks and the metal casing of the unit itself- no cheap plastic or thin faceplates here. I've noticed no loss or degradation of signal when tracking or mixing with the unit and I've found the signal flow diagrams printed on the top of the casing to be very helpful as well.My only complaint is that the unit doesn't come with Rack Screws, which isn't a huge deal, but it would be nice. It does come with stick-on rubber feet in a little bag, which I'm not using because I have it racked but they would be nice if you had this sitting on a desk. Additionally, some folks have commented on how there isn't much room on the face of the unit for labeling each channel. This is true, but that's the price you pay for a single rack space size unit. I got around this by purchasing a 2 foot long, 1.5" wide, 1/8" thick strip of aluminum at the local hardward store for 3 bucks. I used a jigsaw to cut it to ~19" long like a standard rack unit blank. I drilled out holes in the ends for screws and mounted it just above the S-patch on my rack. Then I stole my wife's labelmaker and created stick-on labels for each piece of gear connected to the patchbay, and stuck them vertically to the aluminum strip. This plate can easily be removed to access the diagrams on the top of the S-patch when you get confused on what the heck-swoggle "half-normal" means.One word of caution, especially if you're new to this: while any TRS bay will pass phantom power from a preamp to a mic, you run the risk of "hotpatching" your mics if you plug in cables while the phantom power is engaged. This can really damage your preamps. If you're really careful, you can get around this by simply never patching a live mic, but this is always going to be a gamble, especially if you're like me and your brain is in 67 places at once during a session. So while it's tempting to put all your preamps "behind" the bay, it's better run the output of each pre to a channel of the patchbay which is then normalled to your interface / board. For example, in my studio if I want to plug a mic into an outboard preamp, I use the following chain:Mic --- xlr patchbay (much safer for phantom than trs) --- Preamp --- S-patch channel normalled to line input on my interface. This means that my mics always run directly to my interface via my outboard preamps UNLESS I break the normal via patch cable. Any phantom power thus flows to the mic from the preamp "ahead" of the S-patch. Remember, phantom power flows the opposite direction of mic signal!Overall, I'm very happy with the S-patch and I already can't imagine my control room without it. It's also already full, so I'll likely buy another soon.

I had 2 Behringer patch bays but one was already losing good quality connection on only the rear ports which are the most important.I love that the Samson has the switches in the front versus the top. It makes switching normalled connections to half or thru so much easier. I used to have to need to unscrew the racks but this thing is very VERY solidly well built!What I also enjoy is the TRS rear inputs are extremely enforced. I can really tell that this patch bay was worth $50 more than the behringer.I still have a second behringer patch bay and hopefully it lasts but if it truly doesn’t, I’m ordering a second Samson!

This is a great entry level unit! I’ve had it for a few months and it is rock solid

The Front Switches for the Modes are Life Savers as Well as The Classy Blue Look. I bought 2. 💙 I just wish since there is NO room to Lable on The Front of The Patch Bay that they Would include Free a Template to Save Time and Effort for Organizing. Other than That Superb Patch Bay.Coach Charles Johnson aka Chitownvoice Chitownvoice Studio Chitownvoice.com

Samson S-patch is simple, convenient TRS patch bay. it has 24 in/out which seems more than enough for my expanding hybrid studio. it allows manipulate different effects chains and different hw unit into my limited amount of interface input ports (preamp-bypassed). its easy to switch modes of N/HN/T from the front, and easy to chain hw and switch their order (i.e la2a before or after 1176? add eq after or before compressor, etc). sure with interface that has more inputs such manipulation can be done in its software mixer routing, still i find it less intuitive and slower than simple patch in hw that is infant of me. so far unit seems to work fine with no noise - mainly using it in normal mode.So why I deduct one star? because of the amateur quality control. the unit arrived with its front panel upside down. that means front panel numbers different from back panel, but more importantly the toggle mode switch has no room to move half-normal, just normal and thru. philips screw driver and a minute later the panel set back to it's correct position and issue solved, just annoying it came out of the factory like that.beside that I like its 1u format, so although there is less room to write on it the names of the units, its easy to save document with the inputs/outputs units.

Usually a patch bay is not a big deal. Set it up and start using it. This is no different but one thing that stands out and is super useful is the fact that the signal flow controls are on the front of the unit and not the back. This makes setting or changing from normal and through super easy. I'm not sure why most of patch bays have that on the back where you more than likely cannot reach but this is convenient. I would imagine if you are in a studio with a lot of hands on the gear that may be a problem but I have my own studio and this is perfect.