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




Actually, I think the newest up and coming (and best, for most
applications) solution here is OpenSound Control signals (OSC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSound_Control

This is a recent protocol developed by Berkeley Labs here in San
Francisco to address the issues with using MIDI clocks or rewire (that
is, latency and inaccuracy in the case of midi clocks).

A fair number of programs have adopted this standard (see the list at
the bottom of the article) ..... Max/MSP being the largest.



Tony K wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>>     
>
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