Light Pipe

Basically this is a $3 phrase that means optical cable. The phrase was more or less coined by Alesis to help make the distinction between their proprietary 8-channel optical network used in ADAT products and standard optical connectors used on CD players and other consumer gear. When one speaks of a “light pipe” connection it is usually assumed that it is in reference to one that will transfer data as defined by the ADAT protocol, which is an eight-channel format as opposed to the two-channel format of most consumer products.