my cheap plastic box arrived today !! I drilled the holes and fitted the connectors.

The plastic is rubbish but its fine for the prototype.

the large XLR hole drill worked well, but the smaller drill bits I have ripped the plastic really badly and nearly distroyed the box completely before I finished !!!

Connectors so far:

2 x 4pin hirose power

6 Neutric Combo inputs

6 standard XLR outputs ( some could be routed as returns / monitors )

2 locking headphone jack sockets

2 tough reversable USB sockets ( will reverse one for programing the DSP / arduino )

8 mini XLR sockets for extra assignable inputs / outputs

I'll need to add 2 BNC connectors for timcode IO

that should keep me going for a while !!

Although the Neutrik combo connectors are plastic , they are quite strong and I never herd of anyone breaking them ( including musicians !)

The other side has the metal connectors, HEAVY !!

I think I might use plastic connectors all around and possibly carbon fibre body with thin metal RF shielding on the inside for the final design,. a long way off yet !!!

Looking forward to shoving all the wires into the box ASAP !!!