ok, I think I may be confusing some of you with my problem.
I know how the M-Audio control panel works and how SF/Wavelab's inputs work.
my problem with this FW Audiuophile is that it is not telling SF or Wavelab(or Vegas, CDWave or DP4/OSX for that matter) that it HAS a s/pdif input.
in the above listed apps when you select your input source I only have the options of FW 1/2 or FW Multi.
this is the problem. the M-Audio control panel is set correctly; ie, external clock s/pdif input activated and routed to the 1/2 outs.
I've even tried sending the s/pdif input to the S/W return in an effort to get the signal via the FW Multi option from SF/Wavelab...no dice.
after further discussion with M-Audio, they even believe that I may have a faulty interface.