converters

[GearAudioMan]

can the pro tools ad converter, for about 4 grand, be used with spdif into a regular soundcard, or do you need the whole 15 grand package just to use their converter?

[lemix]

GearAudioMan,
Welcome to the DUC
Your question puzzles me.
First, why would you need a $4K converter to feed SPDIF into a computer soundcard ?
There are quite a few great AD boxes out there for around $ 1,000, that will do that and more.
OK, as far as Digidesign converters go..their current top of the line would be the 192 IO, which sells around $2.5K last I've checked..look them up in the Buy&Sell forum.
Most importantly..that one will NOT work standalone. You'll need to run the entire PT HD setup.
Corecard, IO, Software.
The older models (824 comes to mind) can be used alone and they go for $ 500-ish used.
They are not considered to be very high quality by todays standard.

hope this helps,
best of luck