Ok, given a pair of commodity Linux PC's with cheapo onboard audio codecs capable of SPDIF input and output, assuming I sent identical input signals into both machines and didn't perform any processing in the middle, could I reasonably expect the output signals to be synchronized, or should I expect unpleasant phasing / delay effects when listening to both channels simultaneously as a result of the inherently flakey consumer-grade codecs? The above is a simplification that should address my major concern... The goal here is to use a pair of redundant, inexpensive machines for live midi-controlled (headless) playback where the physical security of the location is lax enough that using my laptop + hammerfall would be too risky, not to mention 35 channels worth of overkill. Ideally these two machines would accept some sort of SPDIF format square-wave from some low power clock logic on their inputs and play identical, pre-cached wav files on their outputs when they recieve simultaneous "go" signals from the MIDI playback desk. Any experiences or opinions are welcome... Thanks, - Mike Piantedosi