Focusrite REDNet

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It is very interesting development:

 

Audinate releases Dante IP Core for Xilinx FPGAs

A single FPGA may now host both product software and Dante audio networking

PORTLAND, OR. Dec. 13, 2017 — Audinate, developer of the industry-leading Dante® media networking technology, has announced the availability of Dante IP Core, a soft IP solution for audio manufacturers. It allows OEMs working with FPGA-based designs to add Dante audio connectivity to AV products at a lower cost and with greater flexibility than ever before.

Development teams can save time, reduce BOM costs and minimize their internal footprint by using a single FPGA to implement both product applications and Dante audio networking. Dante IP Core efficiently runs alongside OEM product applications such as ASRC, audio encryption, and signal processing on a range of Xilinx FPGAs, providing channel counts up to 512x512 with ultra-low latency and sub-microsecond synchronization.

Dante IP Core reduces the marginal costs of incorporating Dante in FPGA-based products, offering OEMs greater flexibility in aligning product families. Dante IP Core runs on the widely used Xilinx family of FPGAs. and provides all the interfaces required to be a fully functional Dante endpoint, including SiLabs clock synthesis, serial and parallel audio, DDR2 and SRAM, and a variety of standard control interfaces including UART, SPI and I2C.

“Dante IP Core gives savvy manufacturers something they’ve been requesting for a long time.,” says Chris Ware, Senior VP of Engineering at Audinate. “By integrating Dante IP into FPGA based product designs, they can save costs, reduce board space, and more easily manage thermal constraints while adding features their customers demand.”

Audinate is now a member of the Xilinx Alliance Program, a global community of qualified vendors that offers IP cores, tools and support for system designers who are developing innovative products using Xilinx FPGAs.

Dante IP Core is available for the Xilinx Spartan 6 family of FPGAs. Support for the Artix 7 FPGA is expected Q1 2018. Contact your Audinate representative for information about other platforms. For additional information please visit  http://www.audinate.com/dante-ip-core.

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6 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Very cool. 

 

 Keep an eye of it please

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22 hours ago, Miska said:

 

Why would it need to be "home market"? Dante is not for home market in first place. It is designed for pro-audio use cases just like Ravenna and other AES67's.

 

With Merging Hapi you can get 16 channels of DXD/DSD256, and with Merging Horus you can get 48 channels of DXD/DSD256...

 

 

Actually Dante can be used at home for multi room installations easily, there are even wall plates available integrated with Dante/AES67. 

 

https://www.atterotech.com/products/dante-wall-plates

https://www.atterotech.com/products/aes67-wall-plates

 

I know there are quite a few other multi room solutions as well, Dante/AES67 available for wall plates it means pricing can be changing for the better in the not so distant future. 

 

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1 hour ago, mourip said:

 

I am not too happy with Apple's dongle jungle. I miss my old "cheese grater" MAC Pro with all of it's slots...

 

Thanks for the reply.

It is pain in the ass, but works well with iMacs, our customers in tv stations, film studios and post - production facilities using dozens of TB2, TB3 expansion chassis for 10G Ethernet, high-end 4k video cards with no problem at all, even in reality shows where they need to record continuously 24/7 for weeks. Really reliable.

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16 minutes ago, Miska said:

 

Looks neat, but I have to wonder how many audiophiles would accept the DAC integrated into the wall socket...

 

For a kitchen, or my wife's fitness room, why not? It can work quite well with a simple active monitor which has wired connection not wireless only. Roon can be used for few zones easily and it should be a really reliable solution, hope to try it soon. 

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1 hour ago, mourip said:

 

I am not too happy with Apple's dongle jungle. I miss my old "cheese grater" MAC Pro with all of it's slots...

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

Actually I am using an Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock, powered from a linear 20V, 10 A power supply for my shiny new Macbook Pro to connect everything audio related. This way all devices connected to the dock are powered from one linear power supply including the Macbook Pro. I really like how it works.

 

 

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On 2018. 01. 05. at 1:05 PM, dbrulhart said:

 

This is the exact reason why we decided to embark with Ravenna... the ability to extend the protocol if needed. We actually added the DSD support in Ravenna ourself as this was not in at the begining. We specified it up to DSD256 for now, but may easily extend again to DSD512 or DSD1024 when time comes. Other specific data, like MQA for instance, or any "non standard PCM" data may be easily added to the protocol if needs be, why not ?

 

That's the beauty of our job, keeping all the complexity for us, and making things simple for the user... this is actually more a karma than a job ;-)

 

 

Thanks for the info and your contribution. Can we expect any announcement around NAMM time few weeks later, regarding Ravenna?  

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3 hours ago, dbrulhart said:

 

Merging doesn't do NAMM, we're concentrating on pro shows like AES/NAB/IBC/ISE/Infocomm and consumer high-end shows.

 

But there will be RAVENNA related announcements soon ;-)

 

Thanks a lot, I was on your booth at NAB (we won a Best of Show Award there for some of our VR/AR technologies), and IBC and it seems ISE can not come soon enough  Hope to be there as well.