Black Lion Audio has announced the PBR TT-LIT and PBR TRS3-LIT patchbays – 2U-high units with a customisable LED display for interconnection of outboard hardware via audiophile-grade connections.
The PBR TT-LIT is populated with 96 TT (Tiny Telephone) connections on its front panel and 12 DB25 connections (Input 1-8 to Input 41-48, and Output 1-8 to Output 41-48) on its rear panel. It carries a customisable display for every front panel connection point – users connect a USB keyboard to customise the display or use the included PatchCAD BLA Edition software application featuring a quick, familiar spreadsheet-like interface to create custom text to show how the display will look via a computer, then export the file to a USB drive to load directly into the patchbay itself.
The PBR TT-LIT’s LED display supports up to six characters per channel as channel descriptions, while a tap of the Display button can be used to turn it off. The PatchCAD BLA Edition not only permits PBR TT-LIT users tocustomise the LED display, but also print labels for traditional patchbays, so no need (necessarily) to discard old patchbay(s).
Per-module mode-switching is accessed via recessed switches on the top panel for configuring normalisation modes – the switches themselves are rated to 10,000-plus operations. A grounding connection is also available on the rear panel to prevent noisy ground loops.
The PBR TRS3-LIT takes the same concept of its bigger brother and applies another approach to interconnecting outboard hardware in terms of connectivity and channel count. Its LED display is able to support 12 characters per channel in the same space as a result (though it is identical in operation to the PBR TT-LIT’s LED display), while the rear panel-positioned three-way mode switches allow for Norn (normalled), Half (half-normalled), and Thru operation for mults, bypassing, monitoring and parallel processing.
The PBR TT-LIT and PBR TRS3-LIT are both robustly constructed, with a reinforced steel chassis and black anodised aluminium faceplates.
The units carry an SSP of €1,332 (including 19% VAT) and €559.00 (including 19% VAT) respectively, becoming available in early 2025.
More: www.blacklionaudio.com
