Comparison of audio network protocols

Audio network technology matrix^[1]
Technology	Transport	Transmission scheme	Mixed use networking	Control communications	Topology	Fault tolerance	Distance	Diameter	Network capacity	Latency	Maximum available sampling rate
AES47[1][2]	ATM	Isochronous	Coexists with ATM	Any IP or ATM protocol	Mesh	Provided by ATM	Cat5=100m, MM=2km, SM=70km	Unlimited	Unlimited	125 μs per hop	192 kHz
AES50[3]	Ethernet physical layer^[a]	isochronous or synchronous	dedicated Cat5	5 Mbps Ethernet	Point-to-point	FEC, redundant link	Cat5=100m	Unlimited	48 channels	63 μs	384 kHz and DSD
AudioRail[4]	Ethernet physical layer	Synchronous	Cat5 or fiber	Proprietary	Daisy chain	None	Cat5=100m, MM=2km, SM=70km	Unlimited	32 channels	4.5 μs + 0.25μs per hop	48 kHz (32 ch), 96 kHz (16 ch)
Aviom Pro64[5]	Ethernet physical layer	synchronous	Dedicated Cat5 and fiber	Proprietary	Daisychain (bidirectional)	Redundant links	Cat5e=120m, MM=2km, SM=70km	9520 km^[b]	64 channels	322 μs + 1.34 μs per hop	208 kHz^[c]
CobraNet[6]	Ethernet data-link layer	Isochronous	coexists with Ethernet	Ethernet, SNMP, MIDI	Spanning tree	provided by 802.1^[d]	Cat5=100m, MM=2km, SM=70km	7 hops, 10 km^[e]	Unlimited	1.33 and 5.33 ms	96 kHz
Dante[7]	Any IP medium	Isochronous	Coexists with other traffic	IP	any L2 or IP	Provided by 802.1 + redundant link	Cat5=100m, MM=2km, SM=70km	Unlimited	700 channels^[f]	84 μs^[g]	192 kHz
EtherSound ES-100[8]	Ethernet data-link layer	Isochronous	Dedicated Ethernet	Proprietary	star, daisy chain, ring	fault tolerant ring	Cat5=140m, MM=2km, SM=70km	Unlimited	64^[h]	84–125 μs + 1.4 μs/node	96 kHz
EtherSound ES-Giga [9]	Ethernet data-link layer	Isochronous	Coexists with Ethernet	Proprietary	Star, daisy chain, ring	Fault tolerant ring	Cat5=140m, MM=600m, SM=70km	Unlimited	512^[i]	84–125 μs + 0.5 μs/node	96 kHz
HyperMAC	Gigabit Ethernet	Isochronous	Dedicated Cat5, Cat6, or fiber	100 Mbps+ Ethernet	Point-to-point	Redundant link	Cat6=100m, MM=500m, SM=10km	Unlimited	384+ channels	63 μs	384 kHz and DSD
Livewire[10]	Any IP medium	Isochronous	Coexists with Ethernet	Ethernet, HTTP, XML	Any L2 or IP	Provided by 802.1^[j]	Cat5=100m, MM=2km, SM=70km	Unlimited	32760 channels	0.75 ms	48 kHz

Notes

^ Ethernet transport is combined with a proprietary audio clock transport. AES50 and HyperMAC are point-to-point audio connections, but they bridge a limited bandwidth of regular Ethernet for the purpose of control communications. An AES50/HyperMAC router contains a crosspoint matrix (or similar) for audio routing, and an Ethernet switch for control routing. The system topology may therefore follow any valid Ethernet topology, but the audio routers need a priori knowledge of the topology. While there are no limits to the number of AES50 routing devices that can be interconnected, each hop adds another link’s worth of latency, and each router device needs to be controlled individually.
^ The network diameter figure is the largest conceivable network using fiber and 138 Pro64 merger units; derived from maximum allowed response time between control master and furthest slave device.
^ Pro64 supports a wide variation range from the nominal sample rate values (e.g., 158.8 kHz - 208 kHz).
^ Network redundancy is provided by 802.1 Ethernet: STP, Link aggregation; redundant network connections (DualLink) and redundant devices (BuddyLink) are supported.
^ Indicated diameter is for 5.33 ms latency mode. CobraNet has more stringent design rules for its lower latency modes. Requirements are documented in terms of maximum delay and delay variation. A downloadable CAD tool can be used to validate a network design for a given operating mode.
^ Channel capacity is based on 48 kHz/24-bit sampling and operation on a 1 Gbps network.
^ The latency value is based on 4 audio samples with this configuration. Note that latency is dependent on topology and bandwidth constraints of the underlying hardware, for example, 800 μs on a 100 Mbps Dolby Lake Processor.
^ EtherSound allows channels to be dropped and added at each node along the daisy-chain or ring. Although the number of channels between any two locations is limited to 64, depending on routing requirements, the total number of channels on the network may be significantly higher.
^ EtherSound allows channels to be dropped and added at each node along the daisy-chain or ring. Although the number of channels between any two locations is limited to 512, depending on routing requirements, the total number of channels on the network may be significantly higher.
^ Network redundancy is provided by 802.1 Ethernet: STP, Link aggregation.

References

^ "Best Practices in Network Audio" (PDF). Audio Engineering Society. 2009. Retrieved 2014-11-13. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[2] Ethernet transport is combined with a proprietary audio clock transport. AES50 and HyperMAC are point-to-point audio connections, but they bridge a limited bandwidth of regular Ethernet for the purpose of control communications. An AES50/HyperMAC router contains a crosspoint matrix (or similar) for audio routing, and an Ethernet switch for control routing. The system topology may therefore follow any valid Ethernet topology, but the audio routers need a priori knowledge of the topology. While there are no limits to the number of AES50 routing devices that can be interconnected, each hop adds another link’s worth of latency, and each router device needs to be controlled individually.

[3] The network diameter figure is the largest conceivable network using fiber and 138 Pro64 merger units; derived from maximum allowed response time between control master and furthest slave device.

[4] Pro64 supports a wide variation range from the nominal sample rate values (e.g., 158.8 kHz - 208 kHz).

[5] Network redundancy is provided by 802.1 Ethernet: STP, Link aggregation; redundant network connections (DualLink) and redundant devices (BuddyLink) are supported.

[6] Indicated diameter is for 5.33 ms latency mode. CobraNet has more stringent design rules for its lower latency modes. Requirements are documented in terms of maximum delay and delay variation. A downloadable CAD tool can be used to validate a network design for a given operating mode.

[7] Channel capacity is based on 48 kHz/24-bit sampling and operation on a 1 Gbps network.

[8] The latency value is based on 4 audio samples with this configuration. Note that latency is dependent on topology and bandwidth constraints of the underlying hardware, for example, 800 μs on a 100 Mbps Dolby Lake Processor.

[9] EtherSound allows channels to be dropped and added at each node along the daisy-chain or ring. Although the number of channels between any two locations is limited to 64, depending on routing requirements, the total number of channels on the network may be significantly higher.

[10] EtherSound allows channels to be dropped and added at each node along the daisy-chain or ring. Although the number of channels between any two locations is limited to 512, depending on routing requirements, the total number of channels on the network may be significantly higher.

[11] Network redundancy is provided by 802.1 Ethernet: STP, Link aggregation.

[AES-1] "Best Practices in Network Audio" (PDF). Audio Engineering Society. 2009. Retrieved 2014-11-13. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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