Hi,


Unless you have a device that can distribute those 16 channels, the
actual number of available digital I/O available on the Fireface in
its default state is two: one coaxial and one optical (ADAT2 can be
transformed through software into a single SPDIF optical pair;

There is no transformation. The second optical simply switches to SPDIF
mode.

ADAT1
would then simply go unused).

No, there's only one SPDIF I/O. It can be set to either optical or
coaxial in, and the same signal can be played back on both the optical
and coax output (not independently).


So that would mean a device or box with a similar ADAT connection
that could distribute the signal into 8 independent optical SPDIFs for
each.

The ADI-4DD converts 1 ADAT to 4 AES/EBU or SPDIF, but only XLR or coax,
not optical:
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/adi/adi4dd.htm


Daniel