Scalable Solutions
Today many manufacturers offer digital solutions for signal processing, distribution, monitoring and control.
Some of these are simple point-to-point multichannel audio transfer systems, but some are scaleable network solutions with a main “trunk” and several subsets as the “branches.”
Not everything is as rosy as it may seem. There are still a few issues to be sorted out, among them the fact that networking solutions from various manufacturers remain largely proprietary.
There is no “standard” as of yet, although AVB (Audio/Video Bridging) may help foster a solution.
AVB could do for audio what MIDI did for instruments, or what DMX has done for lighting, and that is basically to allow equipment from various manufacturers to communicate with each other.
It’s something that we really need in the audio world. In the meantime, several manufacturers have adopted protocols that allow their own gear to interface.
These fall into a few groups: Ethernet Layers 1, 2 and 3, and MADI (Multichannel Audio Digital Interface).
Layer 1 protocols use Ethernet cables and switches but primarily use a proprietary media access control instead of the native Ethernet MAC . Some of the systems using Layer 1 include Riedel Rocknet, Aviom A-Net, and Roland REAC.
Layer 2 protocols process the audio by using the standard Ethernet packet system. Two of the most well known digital transfer systems, CobraNet and Ethersound, use Layer 2, and it’s been adopted by numerous manufacturers.
Layer 3 protocols use IP packets to transmit the audio data over Ethernet cables. QSC Q-LAN, Axia Livewire, and Audinate Dante are a few of the protocols that use Layer 3.
MADI (also known as AE S 10) fosters serial digital transmission over coaxial cable or fiber optic lines of 28, 56, or 64 channels, with sampling rates of up to 96 kHz and resolution of up to 24 bits per channel. We see an increasing number of digital consoles offering MADI interfaces and cards.