ART P16 XLR Balanced Patchbay

This 16-point XLR patchbay delivers reliable performance in a straightforward, no-nonsense design. The build quality is solid - housed in a sturdy 1U rack chassis that feels substantial without being overly heavy. The front and rear XLR connections are robust with good grip, showing no signs of loosening even with frequent cable changes.The normalling scheme is well-implemented, with clear labeling that makes signal flow easy to understand. The parallel wiring configuration is particularly useful for studio applications, allowing flexible routing without introducing unwanted noise. The gold-plated connections provide excellent signal integrity, and I've experienced no degradation or interference across multiple patching scenarios.Installation is straightforward, though the depth might require some planning in shallow racks. The unit runs cool and doesn't require any special ventilation considerations. The spacing between XLR connections is adequate for most cable types, including some of the bulkier premium cables.While the price point is higher than TRS alternatives, the professional-grade XLR implementation justifies the cost for those needing balanced connections. The only minor quibble is that the front panel labeling strips are a bit small - you might want to use additional labeling for complex setups. For studios, live sound installations, or broadcast facilities requiring reliable balanced patching, this unit hits all the right marks.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I bought this patch bay so that I could have easy access to both my outboard preamps and the preamps in my Apollo interface, all of which have inputs on the back (which is normal, but hard to get to in my small studio.) I purchased a short xlr snake to run between the preamps and the patchbay, and now everything is nicely organized. I really only needed 8 inputs, but then I realized that I can use the other channels to connect to my mixing board for rehearsal, etc.You may be asking yourself if you really should just use a TRS bay instead, but if you use preamps / mics with phantom power a lot, I'd use this bay in conjunction with a TRS bay. While a TRS bay will pass phantom power, you have to make sure you never patch/unpatch a mic from a preamp with the PP engaged! You can damage the preamp this way ("hot patching.") I use the ART XLR bay to send mic signal to preamp, since there is no risk of hotpatching with an XLR input. Then I connect the output of my preamp to a Normalled channel of my TRS bay (Sampson S-patch) that feeds back to my line inputs on my interface unless interrupted with a patch cable if I need to send the signal to a processor. It's a bit more complicated but will save your preamps from hot patching when your brain is in a thousand places during a session and you can still use XLR M-F cables.I detect no noise or signal loss from this unit, and the jacks are nice and tight. The construction of the unit feels solid enough to take some abuse if you were to use it in a live sound application, and it's a definite plus that you can flip the rack ears around, which allows you to select male or female jacks on the face. Overall a great patchbay, especially for a home studio or live rig.

I had been looking for a LONG TIME for a patch bay like this that I could install on the rear of my 19" rack enclosure. When I stumbled across this, I ordered it immediately! It was installed on the same day that it arrived, and I have been very pleased! It sure beats messing around inside of the rack while trying to patch a microphone line to my mixer.What really attracted my attention were the 16 XLR inputs/outputs offered. Since I had a 16-channel rack-mounted mixer, this patch bay was a perfect match. Before I ordered this item, I also looked at other similar items, but the features that they offered did not usually match what was offered by this item. When I did come across another item with the same features, the price was much higher! I thought that the price for the ART P16 was good for what was offered, especially when compared to prices of similar patch bays or assemblies that I considered to be mostly inferior or unacceptable.This item appears to be very well-made, and I am completely satisfied with my purchase. I would not hesitate to recommend this patch bay to anyone with a compact mixer installed in a standard rack enclosure.

Seems well made and solid. A great idea to be able to extend the microphone inputs on a mixer to avoid having to move the mixer to change mic-in channels. In essence, it makes a temporary solution permanent and avoids damage to the mic-in XLR inputs on the mixer. It also transmits 48v Phantom Power for using large-diaphragm condenser microphones.

Great unit that works well. Most of my gear has XLR connections so it made sense for me to get this patch bay. I also use condenser microphones which require phantom power, and this unit allows the 48 Volts to reach my mic preamps.

Great product but it didn’t come with the necessary screws to mount it on my rack

For the money you can't beat it. Works as expected and no noise.

It’s a patch bay. It’s handy for accessing the rear inputs of gear that’s in a rack or otherwise difficult to get at. You can only access the inputs OR the outputs depending on how you orient the rack ears. If you want to have access to inputs AND outputs, you have to buy a second unit... OR...So I removed all the screws and disassembled the unit. The Jack’s are all soldered to a single card. I cut the card in two between inputs 8 and 9 by scoring it with a utility knife and snapping the card in half (very carefully of course). Then I turned one card around and reassembled the unit. The most difficult part was removing and replacing all 78 screws. Now I have access to 8 inputs and 8 outputs. That’s all I need.Of course now the warranty is void, but all of the Jack’s still work, and I really don’t see how much can go wrong with the unit.Of course YMMV, but if you’re handy and willing to take the risk and don’t realistically need 16 inputs OR outputs, this may be a handy mod to consider.You can also find videos on YouTube of people doing this as well.

Works flawlessly

Great bit kit

Great quality product - as advertised.

Silenziosa e senza colorazioni al suono ... un ottimo prodotto per il prezzo alla quale viene venduta. Utilissima l’opzione reverse delle alette di montaggio rack .. avevo giusto appunto necessita di avere i jack OUT avanti e non dietro come quasi tutte quelle in commercio, sono bastati 5 minuti e un cacciavite a croce, tutto risolto !!!

Cuando estuve en busca de unir un cuarto para grabar y otro de control, las posibilidades eran comprar un snake o mandar a hacer uno. Si lo compras sale muy caro y si lo mandas hacer sale en más de 20,000 pesos mexicanos. Cuando ví este producto no lo dudé ya que es justo lo que buscaba y por un precio razonable, el único pero que le pongo es que sí colorea la señal, pero por el precio es muy recomendable.