Apple Soundtrack Pro 3 - Manual (Page 516)

Connectors for S/PDIF signals are found on most consumer digital equipment, such as
DAT recorders, CD players, DVD players, MiniDisc equipment, and some audio interfaces.
S/PIDF optical digital connector
TOSLINK Optical and ADAT Lightpipe
TOSLINK is a connector for optical digital signals. TOSLINK is used for several digital signal
formats, although most devices support only one of these formats:
• S/PDIF (stereo digital)
• AC-3 and DTS (5.1-channel surround)
• ADAT Lightpipe (an 8-channel digital signal)
Some Macintosh computers have a single interface that combines a TOSLINK connector
with an analog stereo miniplug.
TOSLINK connector
ADAT Lightpipe is an eight-channel digital audio format developed by Alesis. This signal
format uses TOSLINK optical connectors. Eight channels are supported at sample rates
of 44.1 and 48 kHz using 24 bits per sample. Higher sample rates are available by pairing
channels (this format is sometimes called sample multiplexing, or S/MUX). For example, a
sample rate of 192 kHz is possible, but the number of channels is reduced to two. However,
not all equipment supports channel pairing and increased sample rates.
AES/EBU
The AES/EBU (Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcasting Union) standard for
transferring digital audio typically uses XLR connectors in professional studio environments.
The data protocol is essentially identical to S/PDIF.
XLR connector
516 Appendix C Working with Professional Video and Audio Equipment