Re: Audio link two computers in real-time: ethernet?

[Tony K <bigtonyk@gmail.com>]

Not sure what would be best, but off the cuff, I'd say easiest (if the
computers are close together)  is S/PDIF.  If all you want to do is
pass audio, heck, the line in/out on the sound cards would work too,
but you'll get some signal degradation.  I'd try S/PDIF first if you
have cards with those ports.

On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 7:36 AM, Per Boysen<perboysen@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 1:20 PM, Buzap Buzap<buzap@gmx.net> wrote:
>> What's the best way to link two computers (mac or pc):
>
> "Best" depends on the purpose. Some way might work better for a
> particular application and vice versa.
>
>> One would get the original signal via Firewire, add some FX and pass it 
>two the next.
>> Would this work with Ethernet (what protocol/concept? Rewire?)?
>
> Ethernet and Firewire are two different data streaming protocols. You
> can't send "firewire through ethernet". But by using appropriate
> software you may stream data, including audio, by both protocols. One
> example is the application Logic, where you can use ethernet cables to
> connect loads of Apple computers as a node system, or "super computer"
> or "cluster network", so all node computers put their CPU muscles at
> the service of the center machine which you are working on. Another
> example is Wormhole that just streams audio through ethernet cables.
> But I think it has to be the gigabit ether net, not the older and
> slower version that are still to be found in old computer hardware.
>
>> What's the best practice here to make this work in real-time
>
> Any plain digital format. Like ADAT, optical or coaxial S/PDIF. I had
> a live rig a couple of years ago connecting two laptops by S/PDIF and
> I can report it worked perfectly well. Good things is you don't get
> any extra latency in the signal, since you are not taking that extra
> AD/DA tour when sending the already digitized signal directly into the
> other computer's digital input. If you have a computer with a digital
> port in its hardware (for example an old Apple G5) you can make it
> work through that port and won't have to keep an extra audio interface
> for the second machine. In my old two-lappy rig I had one top audio
> interface with good mic preamps for the first machine and an
> inexpensive audio interface with only line-in and digital inputs for
> the second machine.
>
> ReWire is a protocol to synchronize transport functions and stream
> audio between two applications on the same machine, i.e. running under
> the same operating system. Not a solution to wire up multiple
> computers.
>
> Greetings from Sweden
>
> Per Boysen
> www.boysen.se
> www.perboysen.com
>
>



-- 
-==-=-=-
Tony