DAD has announced DADlink, offering a super-fast connection between the company’s base units, capable of handling up to 128 bidirectional channels with a latency of less than 100ns.

The actual channel count is dependent upon the chosen sample rate, which can be any of the commonly used sample rates between 44.1kHz and 384kHz – the DADlink format acts as a digital audio signal extension that connects directly into the ‘belly’ of the digital processing system of a DADlink-compatible unit.

‘Since it is a proprietary format, we know every detail and corner of the systems on both sides of the connection, which is how we are able to minimise the latency and keep all aspects of the audio quality at a maximum,’ says DAD Sales Director, Mikael Vest.

‘Pristine audio quality has always been the name of our game, and if you use a DADlink connection it means that the analogue audio signals have already been through our A/D converters – perhaps even our preamps. And within the digital domain, the transfer resolution via DADlink is happening at 28-bit floating-point, which adds another 96dB of headroom for a total dynamic range of 237dB. Further, also to preserve audio quality across independent units, phase alignment is applied within the system delay.

‘Finally, the zero-latency connection is not just faster than any other formats, it is much faster. A Madi connection, which is often considered to offer “near-zero” latency, is two samples, and <100ns actually equals 0.005 sample. In other words, DADlink is a staggering 400 times faster.’

DADlink can be used via optional SFP modules, and apart from DAD base units, it is also compatible with NTP Technology’s Penta 720 and Penta 721s units.

More: www.digitalaudio.dk