The Pots and Pans is a potentiometer control for an audio connection.

It can be set to either Volume or Panning mode. The volume control will go from high to low, the panning will go from Left to Right.

It also has the most powerful tool in music, a mute button.

Is it an input or an output?

It can be used either as an input or output in both volume and panning modes.

And what exactly does the Pots & Pans do?

The Pots and Pans allows you to manage the amount of a signal in a stereo connection. That can mean reducing the volume of audio in a Left and Right channels, or panning to change how much of it appears in Left or Right. It is used also as a practical way to move the volume control out from a menu-dive in a device, to a hands-on twist-able potentiometer control that is easily accessible. For example, did you ever want to...

Change volume on a Pocket Operator synth? it requires a double-keypress and visual check of small LEDs to change it. As an alternative, PnP can be placed in the output of the Pocket Operator, the volume set to full and then easily managed by twisting the pot.

Change the L / R position of where a particular instrument plays in your audio panorama. Many tabletop synths do not have a panning possibility in their feature set, e.g. Pocket Operators, Korg Volcas. With the PnP, you can easily adjust this, creating a more finished mix, by positioning your instruments in Pan mode.

"Drop" an instrument into your jam, while keeping it synced with other devices. You might have a PO with a killer riff which you only want to drop in for a few moments, the PnP allows it to be dropped in and taken out easily.

Can TAPS be combined?

Yes, they can be combined, they are also stack-able, you can plug a Beat Splitter into a PO, then plug a PnP into one of its outputs. These configurations solve other problems, such as...

Wet / Dry effects on your tabletop. If you want to duplicate your audio output from a device (with Beat Splitter), then you can run a cable through an effects unit (e.g. Korg Monotron), put a PnP on its output and you get a Wet / Dry version of the effect by turning the pot in Volume mode.

You can A / B test two sources of of a input to a mix. Just set up like point 5 above, then use a PnP to pan between the two inputs.