[sdiy] Lockout / DRM chips?

[David Huss]

The idea to do some sort of multichannel modular via digital cables is not exactly new and not exactly something that isn't obvious. 

Technically such a thing is already done with ADAT/Toslink optical cables and many audio interfaces use it to allow users to add more I/O channels.

So the main obvious question is why we haven't seen something like this widely used in the modular world?  
  
To me the answer is that the simplicity of the concept is unbeatable: Everything is just a voltage versus time, one signal per cable, what you see is what you get. All while being reliable, cheap to implement, cables are cheap, clocking is not an issue, it is conceptually clear, etc.

The two useful applications of multi-channel cables I see are: (1) polyphonic modules where patching up 4+ cables is annoying and takes up valuable panel space and (2) breakout boxes for multichannel connections between racks (e.g. via Ethernet).  

Of course I could envision cool systems with multi-channel cables, but I am not sure it is really worth the extra complexity to make them digital. By that point one can ask, why not just run everything on a computer and make a patch-cable controller panel that just reads out the patch connections, knob positions etc and controls a big virtual modular.

On September 9, 2026 11:44:34 PM UTC, Gordonjcp <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote:
>On Wed, Sep 09, 2026 at 07:31:21PM +0200, cheater cheater via Synth-diy wrote:
>> 
>> So, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that I can't go
>> into specifics, but there are good reasons to expect a new modular
>> format showing up sometime in the not extremely distant future.
>
>Good luck with that.
>
>How did you get one with your polyphonic modular idea with 24 channels of 24-bit 192kHz CV on a single 3.5mm jack?
>