[sdiy] Any synths with SPDIF output?

[Glen]

I was wondering if SPDIF outputs were ever put on any of the digital
synths? It seems this would be a good way to preserve the integrity of the
synth's sound, but I don't remember ever seeing this done.

I'd like to add SPDIF to a Yamaha TG77, but I have no idea how hard or
expensive it would be to do. The TG77 used 16 bit audio, and at least some
of the audio is rendered at a 48 kHz sample rate. The internal DACs are fed
via serial inputs, but I don't know how much "adaptation" the data streams
would need, to be compatible with SPDIF.

There are a few artifacts in the analog audio outputs. There's a bit of
analog background hiss, and what sounds like "interference" being picked up
from some of the digital circuitry, or perhaps from the LCD EL backlight
driver. I seem to remember disconnecting the power to the EL driver once,
and I think there was still a little interference of some sort, but that
was some time ago and I might be mistaken. 

Anyway, I was thinking that a SPDIF output would bypass a lot of the little
background noises I get through the analog output channels. It isn't that
bad and I could live with a certain amount of noise, if adding SPDIF would
be a nightmare project, but if SPDIF would eliminate the background noises,
I'm interested in trying to figure out how to add it.


later,
Glen Berry