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S/PDIF source switchers for TOSLINK+RCA or RCA only, and TOSLINK optical to RCA adapters?

Lt_George

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Jul 14, 2019
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I have a couple of related questions here regarding devices to manage the connection of different sources to a DAC. I've been perusing the wares on eBay and Amazon and have yet to find answers.
  1. Is there such a thing as an S/PDIF source switcher that incorporates both TOSLINK and RCA inputs, or even just an RCA only switcher? I can only find optical in, optical out. Nothing at all for RCA, and being able to output RCA may be convenient.
  2. Do standalone TOSLINK to RCA adapters do anything undesirable to the signal? are they basically all the same? There are plenty of sellers with the same 2-3 units with their own logos on at £10/€10 to £15/€15, I can't see anything that stands out from the crowd.
I'm not totally opposed to the no-brand items from China, the likes of Lindy and Startech frequently sell them with their own logos on and a markup for European CE certification, but if there is a trusted brand (or seller) with these things I'd grateful to be pointed in the right direction.

Thanks.
 
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LTig

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I have a couple of related questions here regarding devices to manage the connection of different sources to a DAC. I've been perusing the wares on eBay and Amazon and have yet to find answers.
  1. Is there such a thing as an S/PDIF source switcher that incorporates both TOSLINK and RCA inputs, or even just an RCA only switcher? I can only find optical in, optical out. Nothing at all for RCA, and being able to output RCA may be convenient.
It seems nothing has changed in the last 15 years. In 2003 I also looked for a switcher of toslink and coax and found only very expensive patchbays with MIDI control for recording studios. Finally I had to build my own digital patchbay.
  1. Do standalone TOSLINK to RCA adapters do anything undesirable to the signal? are they basically all the same? There a plenty of sellers with the same 2-3 units with their own logos on at €10 to €15, I can't see anything that stands out from the crowd.
I'm not totally opposed to the no-brand items from China, the likes of Lindy and Startech frequently sell them with their own logos on and a markup for European CE certification, but if there is a trusted brand (or seller) with these things I'd grateful to be pointed in the right direction.
I used such a converter from Toslink to Coax for a 10 m connection between BD player and DAC and it worked reliably. The same company offers also a Coax to Toslink converter.
 
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Lt_George

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...build my own digital patchbay.

That's just a pain in the posterior. I'm not ready to do that just yet, I haven't made up my mind which DAC I'm going to get and I'm not sure which systems are going to end up running through my headphones. I'm still curious though, is it expensive to put together a digital patch bay? what do you need? I just searched "digital patch-bay" and so far I only see expensive units for pro use. Nothing I would contemplate buying.


I've used reichelt before, only place in Europe I could find the sata cable I wanted. Good recommendation, and reasonable postage price to the UK as well.
 
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