UK-based console manufacturer Calrec has entered into a Ravenna partnership with ALC NetworX
The announcement follows the publication of the AES67 Standard on ‘High-performance Audio-over-IP Streaming Interoperability’, which is fully in line with the fundamental operating principles of Ravenna. Consequently, integration of Ravenna offers a straightforward means for Calrec to open its Hydra2 network to the AES67-based community.
‘The excellent work by the AES’s X192 committee in its publication of AES67 has given the AoIP project a huge boost, allowing different manufacturers to design interfaces that they are confident will work with other manufacturers’ equipment,’ says Calrec Technical Director, Patrick Warrington. ‘ALC NetworX’s involvement in drafting AES67 means that Ravenna interfaces will be directly compatible with AES67 equipment.
‘While Madi continues to serve the industry extremely well, we expect to see AoIP interconnections providing a more flexible and elegant replacement in the near future, offering greater capacity, flexibility and multicast possibilities, all on an infrastructure shared with other services.’
‘Non-proprietary AoIP solutions are commonly not able to offer the low-latency, determinism, capacity and broadcast feature-rich audio networking that Calrec’s Hydra2 provides, but we think that AES67 and its compatible brethren are a perfect companion technology for wider connectivity to third-party equipment in a broadcast facility,’ Warrington continues. ‘Ravenna, with its open technology approach and scalable performance capabilities, is a perfect way to implement a powerful and flexible gateway between Hydra2’s unsurpassed performance and AES67’s broader connectivity.’
Calrec has also announced support for Audinate’s Dante AoIP network interface, which will provide 64 inputs and outputs to the Hydra2 network on a Gigabit interface. ‘It is important for commercial manufacturers such as Calrec to maintain an agnostic approach to IP interfacing,’ Warrington says. ‘Although more commonly found in the pro-audio and installation markets, Audinate is ahead of the game in that it has a complete networking solution, and some of our customers are seeing applications for Dante in their broadcast environments.’
Calrec remains committed to the development of an AVB (Ethernet over IP) interface, announced last year. The company sees the benefits and applications of AoIP solutions and Ethernet-based AVB proceeding on separate tracks, with applications for both technologies.
‘The increasing interest in the new AES67 interoperability standard underlines the demand for open media networking standards,’ says Andreas Hildebrand, Senior Product Manager at ALC NetworX. ‘With every new manufacturer that comes on board, the appeal of Ravenna is broadened exponentially.
‘The decision of Calrec in particular, unquestionably one of the world’s leading suppliers of broadcast mixing consoles, to select Ravenna as the path towards AES67-based media networking interoperability further validates Ravenna’s open technology framework based on existing standards. Beyond being compatible with AES67, Ravenna offers manufacturers such as Calrec the freedom and flexibility to adapt the technology to their individual platforms or to add specific functionality as required.’
See also:
Orban embraces Ravenna
More: www.calrec.com
More: http://ravenna.alcnetworx.com
