Re: Behringer DEQ 2496 question
I wonder if Behringer has a user forum where company support personnel can answer user questions about products, like other companies do?
"Sticky" audio symptom, sounds like dry metal to metal connection like jack or switch contact where higher voltage audio punches through a thin oxide layer and circuit conducts for a while.
Didn't those units have a design/component issue associated with marginal ribbon cable...?
My guess is that a bad connection to the analog audio (input side pre-conversion) path should not interfere with a digital audio input... but I have no idea, and would suggest contacting Behringer customer service for an authoritative answer.
I hear they may be returning calls these days under a new more accommodating customer service model, but i don't know any more than I read on the WWW. 
JR