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.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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.

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.

Exactly what you expect, connections are firm and confident. Mount it, plug in, and go. Not much to talk about. It says on the front of the unit itself it has direct routing to allow phantom power (48v) to pass through. Have yet to try it and eventually will do an A/B comparison of the Focusrite 18i20/Octopre preamp direct signal from a condeser and dynamic versus the passthrough on this unit and update this review. For what it's worth I already have the ART Headamp 6 and it's a great unit, also very simple and straightforward. I think these guys are the alternative to behringer if you partake in that stigma. Excellent bang for the buck. Will be buying their tube pres and compressor for a separate rack.

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

I bought two. One for going into a mixer and one as a return from another room. When reversed the numbers go from 16 to 1 so I turned it upside down (see photo). Yeah, nit picky but annoying. The box is sturdy metal but the XLR jacks seem kind of cheap. Still, the price is right and ART is a good company.

High quality XLR patch-bay

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.

Great bit kit

Does exactly what it says on the box. Neat design, clean looks good and works perfect for a decent price too.

Great quality product - as advertised.

Cumplio su funcion de una forma excelente.

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 !!!