[hurdy gurdy]

Myself, as others mentioned, I will have to try the Finalizer (express) as a front end. Currently, on my home system, I run the optical outs of my 001 card to the finalizer then the SPDIF (or sometimes the analog outs) to my digital monitors that way I stay in the digital domain (if I choose) and can monitor and/or A/B my mixes with or without the finalizer or conversion .
SSL your right, one minute something seems okay and then the next some say don't do it.
But yes the converters are okay and this could be a work around for somebody looking for a front end and/or mastering processor....(just thoughts).
Happy New Year! LB.