Please Excuse me if i sound stupid when I ask, what is the deal with S/PDIF digital I/O (RCA), or S/PDIF in general?

Ie, Quality, Channels, etc...

For example, the Mbox from Digidesign offers S/PDIF digital I/O (RCA), how many seperate channels is that, can i assign each channel to record its own channel path?

Ie, hook up a 8 XLR input device that has S/PDIF digital I/O (RCA), route it to the Mbox and have the ability to record 8 seperate channels of pristien audio at the same time? Or is this just a pipe dream?


Xajen

hey man wasssup? s/pdif stands for sony phillips digital interface. What this awesome connection allows you to do specifically with the m box is this.... You can bounce multiple tracks of audio at the same time either to or fro another device that has the same connection. For instance, say you have some other multi track recorder device, such as ADAT, Hard disk etc, instead of bouncing only 2 tracks at a time with the m box you can utilize your s/pdif connection and bounce all your tracks at one time. Also remember s/pdif is a digital connection. P.S. there are 2 types of s/pdif connecters either rca like the m box or optical like the digi 001 or 002 or your ADAT machines....hope this sheds some light....let me know how you make out....later
--jay--

Ok, so it is a "bounce" port?

ie, it has a two track limit?

So if i had say a 16 (pick any number) mixer and went out of its Spdif (RCA to keep the example simple). It would "bounce all 16 tracks to 2 tracks on the mbox? And the quality would still be prisiten i am assuming?

Could the RCA or Optical spdif receive a input from a "line out L/R" from a mixer or a track out? (ie, XLR/quarter to Spdif)

What about the "Optical" versions vs. the RCA versions? whats the difference there other then the connection type and word description?

Thank you for your Help,
Xajen

Hey Guys, I am an audio pro who was just looking for topics on s/pdif to explain to my assistants. Most pro audio such as s/pdif and aes/ebu
send a stereo signal digitally down one single cable. (AT least it looks like a single cable) Whether you are going to or from a box, or even the Mbox, This is the only way in or out digitally.
It is only a stereo pair. There is usually no true digital locking of the signal as
it is just a nice quick way to stay in the digital domain. Most pro gear has AES/EBU I/O ports which demand pro cabling. On Consumer devices today, you will most likely find s/pdif outs. CD Players, Recorders, Guitar multi effects boxes, signal processors of all kinds. As soon as you go pro, you will be interfacing gear with AES/EBU ports. There are tons of adapters on the market. The Pro and Consumer worlds are blending much more these days. Your best bet is to start lokking at pro gear that they don't sell in musicians friend or wherever you do buy from. the pro's don't buy their gear from a catalog. Unless we really want to. Or we want what you want at home for fun.