-=> Quoting Terry Smith to T Owen <=-
TS> You could easily MUX 5,000 channels of 32 bit conversion at 100,000
 TS> bps sampling onto a single fiber, and run the signal 50 feet or 5,000
 TS> miles with infinite splits, adds, and drops, with no ground loops or
 TS> degradation.  (Thinking of telco SONET OC-48 standards as to fiber
 TS> utilization).  The fiber would be just a little less work to handle
 TS> than all buy the skinniest snakes.   
 TS> Given the costs of digital gear as they're dropping, a basic fiber
 TS> snake should soon be cheaper than a quality analog one with splitters.
 TS> Looking at some of the digital mixers starting to drop in price,
 TS> manipulating signals as digital from transducer to power amp should
 TS> soon be practical.  For now, that level of digitization would have
 TS> less artifacts than a couple hundred feet of twisted pair at mic
 TS> level.   
That sounds great! Are you sure about the 5000 miles figure with infinite
splits? I suppose that folks DO run hundreds of feet with standard
twisted pair, but I wouldn't even attempt it. For that sort of thing, I 
would be careful to run all line levels from the stage. How about
those folks who run the return feeds down the same mulitcore with the
mic level signals? I have always found this practice to be an awful
idea, and folks look at me as if I was nuts. I have actually seen this
practice more often than not! Truly amazing!
... "Nice boat we're in. Where're the oars?"
--- Blue Wave/RA v2.20
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