Technically, any of them could be inputs or outputs! So instead, let’s establish some general terms to help explain the patching system: Synths and mics output signal but connect to “inputs” on a patchbay and become “outputs” on the other end, but this obscures the fact that no connections are exclusively inputs or outputs, they’re just that: connections. The most confusing thing about patchbays is understanding the input / output convention. Switching the reverb and EQ or adding any other effect to the chain would require unplugging everything and re-connecting in the desired order. As you may have gathered, this can be very time-consuming if you ever want to change how things are routed to each other. Finally, you would plug the output of the reverb into your mixer or recording interface. If you put an EQ and reverb after the synth, the routing changes automatically so that the synth (the sound source) goes into each effect in the order you’ve inserted them.īut imagine if that synth, EQ, and reverb were physical units in your studio the only way to connect them would be to plug the output of the synth into the input of the EQ, and then connect the output of the EQ into the input of the reverb. When you insert a synth on a channel, it automatically routes the synth to the output so that you can hear it. In a DAW like FL Studio or Ableton Live, these connections are made automatically. Simply put, a patchbay is a central hub that connects any sound source in your studio to anything that can listen to the sound. Illustration: Jordan Moss What is a patchbay?

Midi patchbay vs interface