2x2 ADAT switcher/thru

Andrew Broughton

Andrew Broughton

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Feb 2, 2011
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I'm looking for a simple device that takes an ADAT connection from 2 devices and switches between these inputs and sends it simultaneously to 2 outputs.
I see products that switch between ADAT inputs, but only have one ADAT output, and I've seen products that take 1 ADAT input and give 2 parallel outputs. I could buy both and hook them together to get what I need, but I thought maybe someone had seen something out there that has these functions built into one box.
There seems to be a lot of TOSLINK switchers that will work with ADAT signals, but again, haven't seen exactly what I'm looking for so far.
 
Re: 2x2 ADAT switcher/thru

The only products I'm aware of are the Z-Systems (Zsys) boxes. Since you basically need a mini patchbay + DA for optical in one box, these may be the right swiss army knife. As far as cost, you can probably find them used for a nice price, but new they're far from inexpensive.

Once upon a time, Midiman made a digital patchbay (DigiPatch, IIRC) but I don't know if it would let you double route a source. If you can find them I'm sure they'd only be on the used market.
 
Re: 2x2 ADAT switcher/thru

Andrew Broughton said:
Cool. Worst name ever, though!

It's more than I need, and I think even the RME product would be cheaper. I'm really looking for an inexpensive, simple device.
Click to expand...

Hi Andy.

I know it isn't exactly what you're asking, but here is a link to a cool company who's products I use sometimes, called Appsys.

Fresh digital gear...

Basically, it's a line of devices based around ADAT connections.

They make inexpensive ADAT spiltters, etc, and their main concept is to convert ADAT to a very robust electrical signal and send it over Cat5 cables, and then converting it back to ADAT.

Needless to say, this is ideal for making inexpensive long runs with ADAT devices (we use them as "digisnakes" for various Yamaha mixers).

Anyway, the electrical conversion of the ADAT signals and back is very straight-forward in a one-to one fashion where a 4-pair cable can run 4 ADAT streams, one for each pair in the cable.

It would be very easy to DIY a switching matrix where you convert your ADAT streams to electrical, switch the electrical signals with any old switch, and then route them back into a converter giving you ADAT again.

Depending on which unit you use you could easily paralell two ADAT converters on the electrical side, meaning you could avoid the optical wye-split, also.

The only question I have would be how to avoid unwanted noises if you need to hot-switch ADAT streams that also carry word clock. I don't know if this would be a concern in this application.

I will email Rolf at Appsys with a link to this site and ask him to join in.

Best regards,

Kristian
 
Re: 2x2 ADAT switcher/thru

Thanks everyone. It looks like something that fits my needs exactly doesn't currently exist, but through some of these ideas I should be able to come up with something workable.

What it's for is 2 "computers" with audio output running as main and backup, both outputting the same audio via ADAT simultaneously. Should one fail, I need to switch to the backup easily, and want to do it as inexpensively as possible, i.e. without purchasing a 2nd set of ADAT D/A and switching the audio. The reason I need 2 outputs is that the signals go to 2 existing D/A converters, extracting different stereo pairs from the 8ch ADAT signal.

Again, just looking to do this on the cheap for now.

I was thinking of this along with this as a possible solution if I can't find an all-in-one box for cheap.
 
Re: 2x2 ADAT switcher/thru

Andrew Broughton said:
What it's for is 2 "computers" with audio output running as main and backup, both outputting the same audio via ADAT simultaneously. Should one fail, I need to switch to the backup easily, and want to do it as inexpensively as possible, i.e. without purchasing a 2nd set of ADAT D/A and switching the audio. The reason I need 2 outputs is that the signals go to 2 existing D/A converters, extracting different stereo pairs from the 8ch ADAT signal.
Click to expand...
Hi Andrew,
I'm Rolf from Appsys (mentioned by Kristian earlier in this thread, we have a lot of ADAT based products developed.) There are a number of ways to do that, the most straightforward is a simple electric switch connecting TOSLINK receiver to sender modules. But I think the most elegant solution would be automatic switchover (pass primary output if only primary or both inputs are present, and switch to the secondary if the primary fails). I think I can build such a device for you, shouldn't be too expensive ... think about 200 euros as a ballpark figure. Please contact me if you're interested: info (at) appsys (dot) ch.
Kind Regards,
Rolf
 
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