Thanks Kurt

That looks the job. But I had something more cost effective in mind since we have only two sets of signals that need switching. Do you know of anything less comprehensive but still of decent quality???

Many Thanks!

That's it as far as I know. Nothing more cost effective than that. It's not a bad thing to have room to expand. The Apache will handel 48 channels in and out in 6 groups of 8 channels each. It's not unreasonable to think you might grow into it ... as you go along you will probably want to bring other spdif and toslink devices into your system. ..

I think a company called ZZounds makes one called the Digital Detangler and MAudio used to make one but it's been discontinued... you might find something used or on ebay ...

HOSA makes an optical patchbay that can be expanded in modules. It should do the trick but you still need to connect and disconnect by hand as it is not automated or have any type of switching.

Fostex also makes something like the Frontier Designs unit.

I'm also looking for a Toslink switcher. I have several ADAT A/D devices that I'd like to be able to easily switch between DAWs. I can't be the only one who needs this, so I'm interested as to how others do this. I see little puny 1-channel switchers and then Frontier's 'Apache' (which is total overkill for me). Anything in the middle?

2 x 2 would be good for me.

TIA,

---JC

AudioGaff, post: 106796 wrote: HOSA makes an optical patchbay that can be expanded in modules. It should do the trick but you still need to connect and disconnect by hand as it is not automated or have any type of switching.

Fostex also makes something like the Frontier Designs unit.

Super old thread but, [[url=http://[/URL]="http://audio-video-…"]Markertek[/]="http://audio-video-…"]Markertek[/] has TOSLINK switchers. Whether they do ADAT format I don't know. Not all TOSLINK is created equal and good luck finding spec sheets.

Thanks. I was -wondering- if all Toslink switchers were -ADAT- compatible switchers... I guess I should assume that TOS is a hardware spec and ADAT is more a 'transport' spec.

I was looking at this thing on Ebay: [="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220748759360&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]Digital Optical Toslink Audio Selector Switch Splitter - eBay (item 220748759360 end time Jun-01-11 04:30:25 PDT)[/]="http://cgi.ebay.com…"]Digital Optical Toslink Audio Selector Switch Splitter - eBay (item 220748759360 end time Jun-01-11 04:30:25 PDT)[/]

Anyone else? I gotta believe lots of people need this sorta thing, right? I keep reading about PT setups with 6-8 networked machines so there has to be -some- gizmos that do it, right?

---JC

dvdhawk, post: 370518 wrote: Super old thread but, [[url=http://="http://audio-video-…"]Markertek[/]="http://audio-video-…"]Markertek[/] has TOSLINK switchers. Whether they do ADAT format I don't know. Not all TOSLINK is created equal and good luck finding spec sheets.

I looked but I couldn't find any spec sheet to download from Ocean Matrix (for instance). But the good news is, if you call or email a reputable company like Markertek they could probably answer whether it's ADAT Lightpipe compatible or just the 2 channel TOSLINK protocol. If it doesn't mention the ADAT spec, it I would assume it isn't compatible.

TOSLINK refers to the type of optical connector used and does not specify a protocol, which would usually be S/PDIF or ADAT. The link you posted shows a TOSLINK switch and does not explicitly state functionality (or lack of it) with different protocols. Since these low-cost hardware devices do not decode/recode the bitstream, they should be protocol-independent, but there is the problem of bandwidth though the unit. ADAT needs a flat response to around 12-13MHz, whereas S/PDIF at 24-bit/48KHz requires only 2-3MHz.

I've tried various cheap optical splitters, switches and extenders in the past, but not this particular one. My experience is that, depending on the type and length of optical cable used, most work with S/PDIF, but few with ADAT protocols. I would be pleasantly surprised to learn that this particular unit worked correctly at the higher bit rates employed in the ADAT protocol. Keep us updated!