That’s my point - reusing an existing connector type for a new and completely incompatible role will not make life easier.

I joked to a friend once that it would be far better if we just used a single connector type for everything in audio and get rid of jacks, XLR, power connectors, MIDI, etc. They liked the idea - I deadpan suggested regular mains plugs and sockets would be good - cheap, ubiquitous and sturdy.

That's fair point - I can imagine someone plugging a digital out into analog in, not expecting the hell that's about to break. Probably it sounds like digital noise, not sure about levels.

But the advantage of reusing cabling that already exists in 100% of the venues, stages and churches cannot be overstated. It is literally a drop-in upgrade, boom, now a single cable carries 32 channels instead of 1.

> reusing an existing connector type for a new and completely incompatible role will not make life easier

I don't think it's completely new purpose for XLR, I'm fairly sure I've seen other stuff than audio being pulled through XLR more than once even in professional environments.