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April 2013 l 55
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PRO-AUDIO CERTIFICATION With the standards initiative nearing a resolution, the interoperability certification programme has been gearing up. ISE brought the news that the AVnu Alliance had initiated certification testing for AVB- enabled networking bridges developed by AVnu Alliance member companies at its appointed testing house, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). Several manufacturers have
already submitted AVB-enabled devices for testing, with more expected to follow suit in the coming months. AVB bridge certification began on 17 January, while pro-audio endpoint certification is due to commence this month. Minich suggests that certified product could be available as of “early Q3”. Overseeing the implementation of AVB certification testing is Bob Noseworthy, chief engineer and manager of the AVnu Consortium at UNH-IOL, whose other clients have included OpenFabrics Alliance and Wi-Fi Alliance. Speaking recently to sister title Systems Contractor News, Noseworthy explained that the bridge programme encompasses more than 400 pages of conformance test requirements, the implementation of which yields detailed reports and data that is fed back to the manufacturers for final adjustments. “Once those have been
satisfactorily resolved and the product has passed through the testing procedures without any difficulty, it can be submitted to
DANTE CATCH-UP
PLANTING ITS flag adjacent to the ISE show, Dante developer Audinate hosted another day of workshops and seminars in Amsterdam at the end of January. The well- attended event was sponsored by 10 OEM adopters of Dante and culminated in the announcement of the launch of Audinate’s new Ultimo platform, an inexpensive, ready- to-use Dante interface for networked audio products. Two manufacturers have
already announced new products based on Ultimo in prototype devices: Stewart Audio of California has licensed Ultimo for use in a half-rack DSP powered amplifier, the DSP100- 2; and Attero Tech of Indiana is developing the unDIO2x2, an affordable means of adding two channels of Dante audio to an existing Dante-based network. Dave Robinson caught up
with Audinate CEO Lee Ellison at the close of a busy day of information sharing.
Who is licensing Dante? “We have over 70 OEM manufacturers who have adopted Dante. Only six months ago that number was barely over 50. At NAMM we announced that PreSonus has become a licensee – this is big news for us.”
Why is Dante proving to be so popular? “It’s down to two things. One, people see it as future-proofing their network. Dante has adopted AVB as a future protocol that we will
incorporate into the overall Dante solution, for instance. “But Dante is much more
than AVB – it’s a complete solution that concerns issues like how do you really discover, control and manage devices; how do you implement features like redundancy; how do you integrate to PCs and Macs; how do you monitor the networks. So our engineering team has spent time delivering a really strong proven solution, so you as the manufacturer don’t have to hire an engineering team to do all that work.
How many products are ‘Dante-ready’? “There are close to 100 products that currently support Dante and between 200 and 300 products under development. Yamaha has tens of products. We have a new licensee [Stewart Audio] that has launched an Ultimo product [at ISE], and that’s announced they’re developing 11 products! We didn’t even know that! The sheer numbers makes us the most interoperable solution available.”
Of the 70 licensees, how many are actively developing products and applications? “In the 60s. We don’t target people who aren’t developing product. AuviTran, who are the people involved in the development of EtherSound, are developing Dante products. The number is increasing. At the end of the day, the consumer/customer wants
Lee Ellison speaking at the Audinate networking conference
something where he can go to any manufacturer and say, I want it to work!”
In that respect, what about infrastructure? “Dante works on existing network switches, and will continue to work as infrastructures migrate over to new switches to accommodate AVB technology.”
And the Ultimo launch? “We make networking a no- brainer. Ultimo is designed for low channel count applications, it’s a 2-in, 2-out chip. Now we’re really giving you a cost- effective solution for powered speakers, I/O boxes, wall plates and so on, for a fraction of the price. Ultimo enables our OEMs to achieve their desired cost targets for networked low channel endpoints.
Because you are keeping it simple? “No, because we are doing a lot of clever things that are quite difficult to implement on such a cost-effective chip. This means that virtually
every manufacturer can have high-quality, tightly- synchronised, Dante [technology] in their solution at a very cost-effective point, and that is what will facilitate the convergence between AV and IT that everyone has been talking about. “We hadn’t intended to
pre-launch this but we have 10 manufacturers who have already adopted this platform and are actively developing products with it. Who? You’d be surprised who. We’re bringing intelligence to the AV network from end to end. It’s going to be hot, I’ve got to tell you…!”
+ In February, Audinate, announced a promotion for its Dante Virtual Soundcard software. The ‘single-seat licence’, normally selling for $150 (€115), can be purchased for $30 for a limited time. The Virtual Soundcard allows a PC/Mac to connect to a Dante audio network by using the Ethernet port on the computer to communicate with a network of other Dante- enabled devices.
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