[LAD] embedded high end audio

[Phil Frost]

On Jul 31, 2008, at 2:06 AM, porl sheean wrote:

> i thought maybe i would give a brief description of what i would like
> to achieve in the end so someone may have a better idea as to how to
> go about it.
>
> my basic idea is to have a network of small devices that essentially
> have audio inputs and/or outputs (mainly just stereo, but i can
> imagine larger ones such as 8 in/out as well) and a network adaptor
> which each connect to a main multi in/out device (or just a computer i
> suppose) and synchronise to one clock source somehow. i have ideas as
> to how interfaces for naming/assigning inputs/outputs etc should work,
> but i am unsure as to the feasibility of the hardware of the devices
> themselves. rather than getting someone to design a full custom
> solution, i would like to be able to build on as much oss as possible.
> netjack (at least the early versions of netjackmp) looks perfect, but
> i'm unsure how the synchronisation etc would work. my resources are
> extremely limited, but i really think i have some good ideas as to how
> these things should work (user interface wise etc) and hope it is
> possible.

Well, another way to do it is run balanced audio over one or more of  
the pairs in cat5. In fact 100 megabit ethernet uses only 2 of the 4  
available pairs, so you could in theory run stereo audio and ethernet  
over a single cable (though I haven't tried this, maybe crosstalk  
would add some audible noise). If your transmitters and receivers are  
properly balanced, I bet a blind listening test wouldn't reveal any  
difference. It's also cheap to implement, zero latency, and  
synchronization is at worst the maximum difference between wires  
divided by the speed of light. If you aren't sold on the idea, you can  
make a box with a tube in it, illuminated by an LED, and say it adds  
tube warmth or something.