MultiDyne Fiber Optic Solutions has amplified its audio strategy with the integration of
Dante Audio over IP networking from Audinate into its range of opener solutions for
modular, high-density fibre transport and signal conversion.
Audinate’s Dante is the de facto leader in Audio over IP networking for the commercial
AV and broadcast markets with more than 1 100 Dante-enable products available,
which are used in facilities worldwide for reliable, low-latency, multi channel digital
audio transport.
MultiDyne’s innovation gives users a broader palette to leverage Dante across fibre
networks, allowing users to convert XLR audio, line-level audio, intercom and more to
Dante—and vice versa—at the inputs and outputs of MultiDyne hardware. This
includes the Bulldog field fibre transport system, and the FiberNet optical network
control system among other platforms.
The interoperability between Dante networking software and MultiDyne hardware is in
part made possible through a special openGear 8×8 module from MultiDyne’s OG
Series that the company will unveil at IBC2017. Though the initial release will support
an 8×8 architecture, the scalability and high density associated with Dante and
MultiDyne products will allow users to create a “matrix’ within MultiDyne hardware to
support multi channel capacities up to 64×64.
MultiDyne president Frank Jachetta notes that while the new openGear module
integrates a standard Dante “gateway’ to move Dante audio in and out of MultiDyne
hardware, what happens once inside that hardware is what sets MultiDyne’s
innovation apart. The result elevates its stature beyond a simple “line-in, line-out’
product to a true long-distance transport platform for broadcast and live events.
“We have designed this Dante-enabled openGear module to operate within a flexible
framework of connections inside our fibre transport solutions that can move between
XLR, mic and line switches, phantom power, on and off control, and even two-wire
intercom,’ said Jachetta. “And with the benefits of this additional flexibility, our
customers working with an ever-increasing number of audio channels get the
additional capacity that Dante provides—as much as eight times the amount—along
with that industry-standard, Ethernet-based Dante audio transport that broadcasters
and content producers crave.’
In relation to specific MultiDyne hardware products, adding the Dante-enabled
openGear module to the BullDog essentially brings more channel capacity and
functionality for field-based fibre transport to a studio or mobile production truck. The
integration of Dante-enabled audio within FiberNet is perhaps more interesting, as it
eliminates interface equipment that was traditionally required to bring audio onto the
fibre network.
“Optical network systems are faced with significant bottlenecks when it comes to
moving audio in and out, and must rely on separate fiber-optic transmitters and
receivers to put analogue audio onto a digital fibre network,’ said Jachetta. “With the
interoperability of Dante, we have created a solution with the ease of use of a legacy
I/O panel that integrates switches from mic lines, intercom and so forth, encodes the
signals, and adds them to a modern digital network. It simplifies everything from live
musical performance and event staging to live sports production on the sidelines,’ he
concludes.