<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 15 Apr 2018, at 20:28, Andrew Robinson <<a href="mailto:andrew@bml.co.uk" class="">andrew@bml.co.uk</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">Thanks Mikael and Andrew<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I feel like I'm starting to get to the point where I can ask some beginner questions...</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">1) A lot of manufacturers use a naming convention: <i class="">n </i>x <i class="">n </i>but nobody seems to explain it anywhere.<i class=""> </i>What do those two numbers indicate?</div></div></div></blockquote><div><br class=""></div><div>Mostly number of possible ins x outs, including ADAT expansion, SPDIF, Headphones etc.</div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">2) To me, an ADAT was a digital audio VHS tape recorder that shouldn't have lasted into this millennium. Does ADAT now mean that 25 pin D connector that looks like SCSI?</div></div></div></blockquote><div><br class=""></div><div>ADAT expansion is connected through optical ports, like the ones on hifi equipment, but with another protocol. The 25 pin D connector is mostly just for multichannel (8) analog in/out</div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">3) Why does everything have so many outputs? I feel like I'm missing something because a 4 in 8 out box sounds absurd to me. Am I wrong to just want lots of inputs but only a single digital out (and possibly a stereo pair to monitor)?</div></div></div></blockquote><div><br class=""></div><div>Yeah, I’ve also cursed this from time to time :-)</div><div>If you got some external fx, it can be utilised to route audio to it without having to change the cable around</div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">4) Everything seems to have a connector I've not seen before. What is that connector that looks to be the size of a 3-pin XLR, but with a T-shaped hole called, and what's it for?</div></div></div></blockquote><div><br class=""></div><div>It’s a combo connector, XLR and jack.</div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="">5) My current thinking is that what I should be looking for is a box full of D/A converters with one 25-pin D connector on the back, and a 'snake cable' that converts this to jack plugs. Judging by the fact that I can't find such a thing, I'm worried if this is a sane conclusion to have reached? </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thanks for bearing with me!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">- Andy_R</div></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""><div class="">Whats your budget btw?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">/Micke</div></body></html>