Comparison of audio network protocols

The following is a comparison of audio over Ethernet and audio over IP audio network protocols and systems.

Audio network technology matrix[1]
Technology Development date Transport Transmission scheme Mixed use networking Control communications Topology Fault tolerance Distance Diameter Network capacity Latency Maximum available sampling rate
AES47 2002[2] ATM Isochronous Coexists with ATM Any IP or ATM protocol, IEC 62379 Mesh Provided by ATM Cat5=100 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km Unlimited Unlimited 125 μs per hop 192 kHz
AES50 Ethernet physical layer[lower-alpha 1] Isochronous or synchronous dedicated Cat5 5 Mbit/s Ethernet Point-to-point FEC, redundant link Cat5=100 m Unlimited 48 channels 63 μs 384 kHz and DSD
AES67 September 2013[3] Any IP medium Isochronous Coexists with other traffic using DiffServ QoS IP, SIP Any L2 or IP network Provided by IP Medium dependent Unlimited Unlimited 4, 1, ​1⁄3, ​1⁄4 and ​1⁄8 ms packet times[lower-alpha 2] 96 kHz
AudioRail[lower-alpha 3] Ethernet physical layer Synchronous Cat5 or fiber Proprietary Daisy chain None Cat5=100 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km Unlimited 32 channels 4.5 μs + 0.25 μs per hop 48 kHz (32 channels), 96 kHz (16 channels)
AVB (using IEEE 1722 transport) September 2011 Enhanced Ethernet Isochronous Coexists with other traffic using IEEE 802.1p QoS and admission control IEEE 1722.1 Spanning tree Provided by IEEE 802.1 Cat5=100 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km Dependent on latency class and network speed Unlimited 2 ms or less 192 kHz
Aviom Pro64 Ethernet physical layer Synchronous Dedicated Cat5 and fiber Proprietary Daisy chain (bidirectional) Redundant links Cat5e=120 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km 9520 km[lower-alpha 4] 64 channels 322 μs + 1.34 μs per hop 208 kHz[lower-alpha 5]
CobraNet 1996 Ethernet data link layer Isochronous coexists with Ethernet Ethernet, SNMP, MIDI Spanning tree Provided by IEEE 802.1[lower-alpha 6] Cat5=100 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km 7 hops, 10 km[lower-alpha 7] Unlimited ​1 1⁄3, ​2 2⁄3 and ​5 1⁄3 ms 96 kHz
Dante 2006 Any IP medium Isochronous Coexists with other traffic using DiffServ QoS Proprietary Control Protocol based on IP, Bonjour Any L2 or single IP subnet Provided by IEEE 802.1 and redundant link Cat5=100 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km Dependent on latency Unlimited 84 μs or greater[lower-alpha 8] 192 kHz
EtherSound ES‑100 2001 Ethernet data link layer Isochronous Dedicated Ethernet Proprietary Star, daisy chain, ring Fault tolerant ring Cat5=140 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km Unlimited 64[lower-alpha 9] 84–125 μs + 1.4 μs/node 96 kHz
EtherSound ES‑Giga Ethernet data-link layer Isochronous Coexists with Ethernet Proprietary Star, Daisy chain, ring Fault tolerant ring Cat5=140 m, MM=600 m, SM=70 km Unlimited 512[lower-alpha 10] 84–125 μs + 0.5 μs/node 96 kHz
HyperMAC Gigabit Ethernet Isochronous Dedicated Cat5, Cat6, or fiber 100 Mbit/s+ Ethernet Point-to-point Redundant link Cat6=100 m, MM=500 m, SM=10 km Unlimited 384+ channels 63 μs 384 kHz and DSD
Livewire 2003 Any IP medium Isochronous Coexists with Ethernet Ethernet, HTTP, XML Any L2 or IP network Provided by IEEE 802.1[lower-alpha 11] Cat5=100 m, MM=2 km, SM=70 km Unlimited 32760 channels 0.75 ms 48 kHz
mLAN January 2000[5] IEEE 1394 Isochronous Coexists with IEEE 1394 IEEE 1394, MIDI Tree Provided by IEEE 1394b IEEE 1394 cable (2 power, 4 signal): 4.5 m 100 m 63 devices (800 Mbit/s) 354.17 μs 192 kHz[lower-alpha 12]
Optocore[lower-alpha 13] Dedicated fiber Synchronous Dedicated Cat5/fiber Proprietary Ring Redundant ring MM=700 m, SM=110 km Unlimited 1008

channels at 48 kHz

 41.6 μs[6] 96 kHz
Q-LAN 2009 IP over Gigabit Ethernet Isochronous Coexists with other traffic using DiffServ QoS IP, HTTP, XML Any L2 or IP network IEEE 802.1, redundant link, IP routing Cat5=100 m, MM=550 m, SM=10 km 7 hops or 35 km Unlimited 1 ms 48 kHz
RAVENNA 2010 Any IP medium Isochronous Coexists with other traffic using DiffServ QoS IP, RTSP, Bonjour Any L2 or IP network Provided by IP and redundant link Medium dependent Unlimited Unlimited variable[lower-alpha 14] 384 kHz and DSD
Riedel Rocknet Ethernet physical layer Isochronous Dedicated Cat5/fiber Proprietary Ring Redundant ring Cat5e=150 m, MM=2 km, SM=20 km 10 km max, 99 devices 160 channels (48 kHz/24-bit)[7] 400 μs at 48 kHz 96 kHz
SoundGrid Ethernet data link layer Isochronous Dedicated Ethernet Proprietary Star, daisy chain Device redundancy Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6/Cat7 =100m,
MM=2km,
SM=70km		 3 hops Unlimited 166 μs or greater 96kHz
Symetrix SymLink Ethernet physical layer Synchronous Dedicated Ethernet Proprietary Ring None Cat5=10 m 16 devices 64 channels 83 μs per hop 48 kHz
UMAN IEEE 1394 and Ethernet AVB[lower-alpha 15] Isochronous and asynchronous Coexists with Ethernet IP-based XFN Daisy chain in ring, tree, or star (with hubs) fault tolerant ring, device redundancy Cat5e=50 m, Cat6=75 m, MM=1 km, SM=>2 km Unlimited 400 channels (48 kHz/24 bit)[lower-alpha 16] 354 μs + 125 μs per hop[lower-alpha 17] 192 kHz

Notes
  1. 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.
  2. AES67 devices are required to implement the 1 ms packet time. Minimum theoretical latency is two times packet time. Typical implementations achieve latencies of three times the packet time.
  3. Technology retired February 2014[4]
  4. 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.
  5. Pro64 supports a wide variation range from the nominal sample rate values (e.g., 158.8 kHz - 208 kHz).
  6. Network redundancy is provided by 802.1 Ethernet: STP, Link aggregation; redundant network connections (DualLink) and redundant devices (BuddyLink) are supported.
  7. Indicated diameter is for ​5 1⁄3 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.
  8. The 84 μs 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 Mbit/s 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.
  12. Many mLAN devices have a maximum sampling rate of 96 kHz, but this is a constraint of the stream extraction chips used rather than the core mLAN technology.
  13. These entries refer to the classic fiber-based Optocore system; no information has yet been obtained regarding the Cat5e version. Confirmation is being sought for the figure of 110 km max distance.
  14. Latency depends on frame size (packet time), network topology and chosen link offset, with. min. frame size = 1 sample.
  15. Transport is listed for media streaming and control. Ethernet is also for control.
  16. UMAN also supports up to 25 channels of H.264 video.
  17. Base latency measurement is provided for up to 16 daisy-chained devices.

References
  1. "Best Practices in Network Audio" (PDF). Audio Engineering Society. 2009. Retrieved 2014-11-13. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. AES47-2006 (r2011): AES standard for digital audio - Digital input-output interfacing - Transmission of digital audio over asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, Audio Engineering Society
  3. AES67-2013: AES standard for audio applications of networks - High-performance streaming audio-over-IP interoperability, Audio Engineering Society, 2013-09-11, retrieved 2018-04-15
  4. "AudioRail product line retired (February, 2014)". Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  5. Yamaha Utilizes "Firewire" for Audio and MIDI: Reduces Need For Cables, Harmony Central, archived from the original on 2006-01-08
  6. "Optocore connects everything". Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  7. "ROCKNET – Digital Audio Network". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
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