Networks, Harman, Meyer Sound and Riedel are among those expected to submit devices for certification in the first wave – although no specific product details have been released as yet. Meanwhile, there are plenty of relevant solutions making their way into the market. Take Biamp, whose AVB-based Tesira scalable media system for digital networking is due to ship on 14 May and delivers a spec including: modular scalable I/Os, DSPs and networked end- points; up to eight DSP cards in a single chassis; and a maximum of 420 x 420 digital audio channels. Meyer Sound is among the others
Biamp demonstrated its AVB-based Tesira scalable media system for digital networking at ISE 2012
platform. Featuring Q-LAN – a standards-based, low-latency Gigabit Ethernet network implementation – the non-AVB-compatible Q-Sys reflects a desire “to base our products upon industry standards from much larger industries than the professional audio industry,” says Rich Zwiebel, QSC Audio’s vice president, systems strategy.
Standardisation... Hildebrand reveals that ALC NetworX and Ravenna partners are participating in several standards developing bodies. Meanwhile, the standardisation process for AVB is now entering its final stages.
All IEEE AVB standards are complete, with the exception of 1722.1, which determines discovery, enumeration, connection and control. This is expected to go to sponsor ballot in April, reveals Minich, and should be an official standard by Q3. There has also been recent progress
regarding AVB device certification, with recent weeks bringing news of a link-up between the AVnu Alliance and independent test house UNH-IOL. Certification testing will begin this August, while pro-audio product assessment will commence in Q1 2013. Alliance members Avid, Biamp, Extreme
stepping up to the plate, with its engineering team working on the implementation of AVB in multiple new products, including the D-Mitri digital audio platform and CAL column array loudspeakers.
...with differentiation If, for many, AVB is likely to provide the basis of future networking strategy, individual vendors will be obliged to rethink how they go about ensuring a commercial edge hitherto drawn – in part at least – from proprietary protocols. It seems inevitable, therefore, that the focus will gradually shift towards talk of additional functionality. In this regard, Dante – the audio
networking solution developed by Australian company Audinate that
‘Dante is by design a complete networking
solution’ David Myers, Audinate
offers support for AVB and is regarded by many as a pathway into the AVB world – appears to be in a strong position, with adoption by more than 50 OEM manufacturers to its credit. Invited to detail the advantages of what one might term Dante AVB over its ‘standard’ equivalent, Audinate co- founder and current COO, David Myers, explains: “Dante is by design a complete networking solution – not just a set of protocols like ‘standard AVB’. Audinate’s customers use Dante because they get all the required audio