Ethernet to Toslink Audio conversion

I would try and keep your Express running for as long as possible. Buy up a few from eBay. They can be had fairly cheaply now.

Another solution if you are sticking to apple is AppleTV and HDMI to Toslink adapter which are readily available.

Thanks, but that doesn't tell me what you want to connect this D/A to. It would help if I knew the source and destination devices for this D/A that you plan to use since you will no longer have the Express base stations for the destination.

Unless you can connect your computer directly to the D/A, and the D/A directly to your music equipment, the only other choice would be to use AirPlay ... but, without an AirPort Express, you would need another AirPlay "speaker" to receive the AirPlay stream from your computer. Your mesh system, like any wireless system, can handle the stream, but it has to connect to an AirPlay "speaker" to hear the output. A number of newer audio receivers are now AirPlay-ready. With the older ones you may be out of luck without using a direct connection.

Could you please provide an example of both the D/A converter you have and what you want to connect it to? AFAIK, there is no adapter that will allow you to directly connect digital audio to Ethernet.

Just a note to point out that while Apple offers the Netgear and Linksys products for sale, they will not provide any assistance with setup or support in the event of any issues. Apple will instead refer you to either Netgear or Linksys support depending on what product you have.

That being the case, there is really no advantage in buying from Apple......unless they are offering a more attractive price than Netgear or Linksys......which is unlikely. It's your decision though.