I beg to differ on there is no such thing as ‘switching data’. You were suggesting a logic IC.
I think I will use a multiplexer ‘bus switch’, 2:1 inputs to output, as switching bus signals seems to be what they are for. E.g. PI5A3157, 1 channel 2 inputs to 1 output, with a switching time of under 25ns and signal propagation delay of 1ns. (Allowable jitter for WS2811 is +/-150ns). $0.45 a pop. I’ll probably use some ATtiny to do the magic value recognition, RESET recognition, and to output the switch control toggle.
Another adventure 
Thanks for the good wishes.
Prototype schematic. The ATtiny202/402 has hardware support for decoding digital signals aka ‘input capture’; it looks perfect for decoding the WS2811 protocol.
