Howdy
There was some decent discussion about this on rec.audio.pro a few weeks ago. Just do an [
="http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search"]"advanced search"[/
] on "digital patchbay".
I have the cheapo MAudio DigiPatch and it works fine. If you're a DIY type, here's a general description of how to do it from Mike Rivers:
"RCA connectors will work OK for S/PDIF, but they're more likely to wear out sooner than more robust connectors - and wear is the biggest enemy of patchbays. A plastic panel (or one of those classy wood ones from Funk Logic), a handful of BNC bulkhead mounting F/F adapters, some RCA-to BNC cables to connect your devices to the panel, and some BNC-to-BNC cables to patch between jacks will do very nicely. Check
http://www.mouser.com for catalog number 523-31-220N-75RFX for some
inspiration. Markertek (
http://www.markertek.com) has reasonably priced BNC-RCA and BNC-BNC cables. Get 75 ohm (RG-59) cables for best results."
"If you have a friendly local TV station that's junked their old video patch panels and will give you one, that'll do nicely, too, but be sure to get the cables with them. They're special and expensive."
"Of course the coolest is a routing switcher designed for digital connections, but if you're looking for something simple, inexpensive,
and obvious, go with a mechanical patchbay."
