Open letter - audio over network IS the future !! Say so if you also believe it!

Hello !
 
I'm posting here a kind of "open letter" on the topic of audio over network solution (mainly, Audinate's DANTE solution). I'm now convinced it is the most interesting and practical solution available now and I would like people that are also sharing this opinion to participate in this thread!
 
Audio over network IS the future (not USB3 or Thunderbolt solutions). I'll try to be as detailed as I can be on the conclusions I have reached, while trying to keep this post as short as possible.
 
CONTEXT
I am a semi-pro producer / musician. Working on small projects on small budgets. I have to keep a day job in order for me to keep doing my "musical" activities. I need mobility, scalability, portability, and reliability. I've been working in the last 5 years using an ADAT/FIREWIRE based solution to connect my audio to my laptop running SONAR. Since firewire support has mostly been dropped, and Thunderbolt has not yet really gained popularity and USB2 audio devices are not always supported properly on USB3 ports I am finding myself STUCK in a "digital audio protocol no-man's-land" that will force me eventually to upgrade all of my audio and computer equipment simultaneously. I hate that prospect...
 
So, after some testing of USB solutions and after reflection on what I think are the basic needs of the majority of audio producers, I have reached the conclusion that audio over network solutions are a promising way to go! It feels to me that these solutions are the only ones that will offer some longevity...
 
So, I will now replace the ADAT card of my YAMAHA 01v2 digital mixer with the AUDINATE Dante Card and "go on the network" using the 30$ Dante Virtual Soundcard on my windows laptop.
 
Using CAT6 cables and decent switches / routers, I can adapt and connect my setup to small venues, apartments or houses I might be asked to work in.
 
Some people talked here that the latency is not that good on DANTE... Well, latency on USB and firewire is "as easily" just as bad I guess. Anyway I feel it is always best to use an hardware mixer for my musicians, to avoid latency issues. So, I'll still use the 01v with this approach in mind (using direct outs that SONAR will capture). In 2015, latency issues should be a thing of the past. This hardware / software manufacturer's problem should not be OURS anymore. So, I'll do my best to ignore and bypass it.
 
SO... Dante will offer me 16 bi-directional audio flows, scalability (I can add more input/devices when needed), it will allow me to save a lot of money on XLR snakes and other installation issues and all of this using protocols and equipment that should not get "dropped" for at least a decade (I hope)....
 
I feel this approach makes sense for the "home producer" just as well as the "pro - large venue" big-bucks-studio-owners.
 
So, allow me to be loud and clear, to HELL with USB3 and Thunderbolt!!!
 
... Your thoughts...??  
 
 

I've seen such a system in action, about 6 years ago. It was being used by the Cakewalk staff to record a live concert, recording 16 tracks over Ethernet using the Euphonix EuCom protocol. I think they said it could handle up to 24 tracks. I dismissed it at the time because although interesting, it was a far too expensive setup for me to ever consider.
 
But this is great news, that there's an inexpensive alternative. Something to consider down the road, assuming it doesn't become an abandoned technology like Thunderbolt seems doomed to be. 

Thanks Bitflipper, for your post. Always reassuring to see that guys who know their stuff finds posts from amateurs like me a bit interesting.
 
I've ben reading and watching a lot of stuff about this in the last few days. I stongly think de should seriously consider this tech... And let the bakers know se are!!!
 
 

guys, the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that AUDINATE'S approach to leverage trusted network infrastructures to transmit audio TO and FROM any device that is connected to it is nothing short than as relevant and STRONG as was the implementation of the first MIDI protocol / standard! Remember?
 
- It had to be cost-effective
- It had to rely on already available technology (for the most of it)
- Audio / synth manufacturers had to come together to form a larger community that could better influence technology's evolution (Ok... that's more how I am seeing it... but hey, the DAW/Audio community is small... if we want evolutions to go a little bit our ways, we have to stop being that little "audio community bunch of geeks"... we have to connect to something greater than us... audio geeks like to "connect" things, right? Also WHO DOES NOT NEED DECENT NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE IN 2015??? Nobody. Every businesses, homes, schools, everybody needs network!
 
... got to go... more later...

Food for evaluations....
 
Dante Just Got Easy (Designing Dante Networks) : http://youtu.be/p1TKxj9AIhY
LSC Presents "Dante Digital Networking On Set" : http://youtu.be/Nj6Hh980xpk
DANTE audio networking : http://youtu.be/aK4s-_G4C2s
CTW InfoComm 2014 Coverage: Audinate Dante Via : http://youtu.be/GgNryHM5wf0
Dante Via: Make Any Computer A Networked Audio I/… : http://youtu.be/VV59Il6Uu7II
 
... And still searching...

SuperG
Dante, from what I can tell from it's design is a fairly *good* compromise on an ethernet audio protocol. It's not routable, but for live needs I can't see where it would need to. The biggest hurdle for audio is coexisting with IT type traffic - so if it can be done here without too much impact, so much the better.

There are other solutions, AVB (over the top, IMHO), and AES50 (non-ethernet)... AES50 (Behringer/Midas) looks interesting, it uses ethernet media, but the adapters are custom.
 

I wouldn't think you'd ever try to implement this on an existing ethernet with email traffic, etc. already going on. You'd always use custom adapters and the network would be ad hoc -- set up for audio.

yummay
Some people talked here that the latency is not that good on DANTE... Well, latency on USB and firewire is "as easily" just as bad I guess. Anyway I feel it is always best to use an hardware mixer for my musicians, to avoid latency issues. So, I'll still use the 01v with this approach in mind (using direct outs that SONAR will capture). In 2015, latency issues should be a thing of the past. This hardware / software manufacturer's problem should not be OURS anymore. So, I'll do my best to ignore and bypass it.

Dante features/convenience are fantastic.
Where Dante falls flat is if you need low round-trip latency.
The lowest round-trip latency that you'll achieve is ~10ms
If you want the ability to effectively play/monitor in realtime (thru software based EFX/processing), you need round-trip latency at about half that amount.

Larry Jones

SuperG
Dante, from what I can tell from it's design is a fairly *good* compromise on an ethernet audio protocol. It's not routable, but for live needs I can't see where it would need to. The biggest hurdle for audio is coexisting with IT type traffic - so if it can be done here without too much impact, so much the better.

There are other solutions, AVB (over the top, IMHO), and AES50 (non-ethernet)... AES50 (Behringer/Midas) looks interesting, it uses ethernet media, but the adapters are custom.
 

I wouldn't think you'd ever try to implement this on an existing ethernet with email traffic, etc. already going on. You'd always use custom adapters and the network would be ad hoc -- set up for audio.

That's the point. It's just that expectations seem to want a bit more - i.e. using IT ethernet adapters, sticking a WIFI access point adapter on it so you can control via a tablet, etc. I agree though, a dedicated ethernet plant, or dedicated digital whatever transfer media in use is the way to go. All of which rub a bit of the the shine off of AVB and Dante....

I've realized today that AVB is more of the "open standard" type than I first tought of... (Audinate's solution is proprietary... they sell licenses...) Somehow until now, I've understood it the other way around... my bad...
 
AVB might be a little overkill / expensive, but just because of the shift of perception I've had today I have become interested again in MOTU'S new line of avb interfaces...