we found that Ravenna ticked our boxes, especially because it’s open-source and uses standard network infrastructure,” states Hollebone, before confirming that it’s the Horus Networked Audio Converter that introduces Ravenna into the Merging portfolio. It’s Ravenna- controllable when connected to the right third-party device but also a complete, turnkey system when connected to Pyramix. In choosing this protocol, Merging makes a clear distinction between VoIP and audio over IP, understandably so, but some would still need convincing that IP is an acceptable transport medium for mission-critical programme. “Latency was a crucial issue,” says
Hollebone, “and we looked at that very carefully to make sure Ravenna dealt with it. That given, the benefits of IP are many. You’re not just limited to audio only down the line, for a start: you have the opportunity to route signals and control
a real-time audio transport protocol based on Dante, using standard Ethernet-based networks. “It’s not file transfer, it’s real-time,” points out Will Hoult, Focusrite’s product manager (Pro Audio Category), “and we’ve worked with Audinate to expand Dante to 44.1kHz and to incorporate TC Applied Technologies’ JetPLL – to maintain clock stability, low jitter and clock recovery.” The company sees RedNet as an
extension of its interface strategy in the wake of the M-Box USB peripheral, and as a strategic move into new markets – as confirms Rob Jenkins, director of product strategy at Focusrite. “We’re known for mic pres,” he says, “and facilities need to connect multiple rooms, so we thought a network backbone to the interface hardware was the right direction to go. And we’re offering features beyond the audio performance that make RedNet appropriate to horizontal
“Having looked at the options we found that Ravenna ticked our boxes, especially because it’s open-source and uses standard network infrastructure”
Chris Hollebone, Merging Technologies
the whole network remotely. It makes Horus a powerful box: there’s a lot of routing capability, which is relevant because there’s so much I/O – particularly when we have multiple Horus units connected. The ability to input signals from AES-EBU or MADI, for example, and then route them to anywhere in a Ravenna network, is a huge bonus. Had that been at the expense of a key audio issue, like latency, we wouldn’t have gone down this path.” Nuage was officially launched at InterBEE in Tokyo last November, and is shipping in Q2. Its adoption of Dante is expressly designed to connect audio and control for all Nuage components grouped together in a LAN. “Dante is going to make a huge difference in the post market,” says Cook. “It’s a low- latency, high-bandwidth networking technology that has proven itself capable and robust in the live sound and installation markets. In post facilities there may be MADI or another point- to-point, room-to-room patchbay somewhere, but clearly the future will be in moving audio data around a true IP network. Add to this AAF and MXF media exchange formatted files, which can use the same IP infrastructure, and you
really are talking progress.” Focusrite, in plug-in terms one of
Avid’s most significant development partners in the halcyon days of Digidesign, is now looking at expansion through the implementation of RedNet –
markets like post – specifically multi- room, multi-site connectivity. “It was important for us not to be
‘selling’ proprietary solutions: Dante has an eco-system of manufacturers and was, correctly in our view, conceived for a standard network. That’s what will make it preferable to anything that could be perceived as a cul-de-sac, or a mono-culture.” Avid also recognises this biosphere of
brands, according to Tyler. “Avid needs to be working in that open eco-system,” he says, “but of course we also want to give ‘Avid advantage’ where we can. EUCON will always integrate Avid hardware and software better than a third-party solution – Pro Tools 10, for example, adds even more relevant commands. When it comes to other uses of Ethernet, we have our Satellite Link protocol for synchronisation of Pro Tools with either Media Composer or other Pro Tools systems but, beyond that, Avid is a member of the AVnu Alliance and is committed to AVB: that’s our roadmap for real- time audio streaming over Ethernet. For file sharing we use the AAF protocol for Pro Tools to Media Composer workflow.” And then there’s Gobbler, the independent, post-FTP storage facility supported by Pro Tools and other DAWs: a means of backing up sessions to the Cloud and sending them to other users. “Pro Tools 10.3 adds a ‘send to Gobbler’ function,” reveals Tyler, “so if you’ve