Solid State Logic has released the Madi Dante Bridge, claimed to be ‘the world’s first broadcast-specification bridge’ between the Madi audio format and Audinate’s Dante IP media network. The release is also SSL’s first implementation of Dante I/O.

The Madi Dante Bridge enables SSL C100 HDS and C10 HD Digital Broadcast Consoles or any other standard Madi device to connect to Dante networks with full redundancy maintained.

The Bridge features a front panel headphone socket (with rotary level control) and inbuilt headphone monitor routing, to truly replace traditional patchbay confidence routing and fault-finding functionality with equivalents in the IP Audio domain. Font panel controls facilitate routing mono or stereo paths from Madi In, Madi Out, Dante In or Dante Out directly to the headphones. A front panel LCD screen provides signal present metering selectable to show four points in the signal chain – Madi In, Madi Out, Dante In and Dante Out. GPIO connections allow for transfer of tally info and switching functions across the network with the audio.

With 64 channels per Bridge (48kHz) and up to 512 channels per 1Gb network link, Dante is fully scalable using standard IT infrastructure. Redundant PSU, Madi ports and Dante ports mean the Bridge promises uninterrupted operation, keeping critical devices and audio paths functioning throughout a broadcast facility. In addition to the inbuilt clock redundancy options in Dante controller, the Madi Dante Bridge also includes a pair of redundant sync inputs for use as a self-redundant Dante Grand Master clock.

‘Dante is by far the most widely adopted IP Audio network solution,’ says SSL Director of New Products, Niall Feldman. ‘An extensive collection of compatible devices from an array of manufacturers and thousands of installations worldwide, prove its versatility and reliability. We feel that IP Audio networking has a great deal to offer broadcasters and are confident that the SSL Madi Dante Bridge offers a genuinely useful interface to this highly versatile network technology. With Audinate’s clear statements that Dante will be AVB compliant when the standard is ratified, we are confident that Dante and the AVB standard are likely to become an integral part of broadcast infrastructure of the future and SSL will be part of that.’