All user reviews for the Monarch MPB-32

Unbalanced Patchbay (Full-Normal or Parallel) with 32 channels, 16 front and 16 back pairs.
Each patch has its own circuit board and can be flipped to change the behavior: Full Normal when used as standard (e.g. to connect to a console insert), parallel when flipped 180 degree(front jack facing the back and vice versa)

Pay attention that this is a full-normal patchbay, not a half-normal.
This means that it will break the back connection as soon as you plug a jack at the front of the patchbay, top or bottom. Therefore it is not possible to tap out the signal without breaking the original flow.
(However with a little welding, it is easy to make it half-normal, see tip in the tutorial section)

Advantage:
- Simple and robust.
- very affordable when found on 2nd hand market.

Disadvantage:
- Must be completely taken out of the rack and dismantled completely (i.e. minimum 32 screws to remove) to access and flip a single card. You'd better think about your final setup before you install it in the rack.
- The facade does not eave much room to note down the connections.
- unbalanced, but that you knew it upfront.