Thanks to @Frunse for turning me on to the various AES- related digital transport media formats, especially AES3 aka AES/EBU.
My system after per-driver amping, MBM reinforcement + several trueSubs, in general active crossovers and signal upmixing may end up with 20+ output channels.
I am pretty poor, so my multichannel interfaces / format converters must cost low hundreds rather than thousands, shooting for $15-30 per channel.
I've been dismayed by the added per-port costs of managing, neatly organizing even purely physical / mechanical wiring issues, sometimes greater than the actual AD/DA converters!
So, the goals for this thread:
1. scratch pad for my notes, general questions and discussion on the below topics welcome
...
2. collecting as complete a list as possible of format conversion devices that include (to or from) any of the various standards related to AES/EBU, including Coax BNC AES3id
but the per-port cost MUST be low, no thousand-dollar devices please!
SMSL SU-2 and Eitr 2 being great exemplars, already well covered in other threads but worth summarising again for this context.
...
3. S/PDIF coax RCA and AES3 share the same audio data transmission standards, so dealing with electrical / mechanical issues like voltage and impedance are enough to get bidirectional conversion, usually requiring active devices, but sometimes (within short enough distances and clean EMI/RF contexts) cheaper passive solutions have good odds of success.
USB to/from S/PDIF is not expensive and obviously TOSlink to/from coax even more trivial, so all the common digital connection formats well covered. TOSlink giving 100% galvanic isolation is a plus
...
4. Finally, delving into audio-over CAT5e/6 structured wiring including breakouts from both DB-25 and RJ11, AES72 & AES59
These also designed to work for analog signal transport, usually true-balanced, so that's a big plus for post-DAC routing if that is centralised.
Use of Shielded quad twisted pair QTP via STP is required for proper Grounding, a critical topic here
...
My system after per-driver amping, MBM reinforcement + several trueSubs, in general active crossovers and signal upmixing may end up with 20+ output channels.
I am pretty poor, so my multichannel interfaces / format converters must cost low hundreds rather than thousands, shooting for $15-30 per channel.
I've been dismayed by the added per-port costs of managing, neatly organizing even purely physical / mechanical wiring issues, sometimes greater than the actual AD/DA converters!
So, the goals for this thread:
1. scratch pad for my notes, general questions and discussion on the below topics welcome
...
2. collecting as complete a list as possible of format conversion devices that include (to or from) any of the various standards related to AES/EBU, including Coax BNC AES3id
but the per-port cost MUST be low, no thousand-dollar devices please!
SMSL SU-2 and Eitr 2 being great exemplars, already well covered in other threads but worth summarising again for this context.
...
3. S/PDIF coax RCA and AES3 share the same audio data transmission standards, so dealing with electrical / mechanical issues like voltage and impedance are enough to get bidirectional conversion, usually requiring active devices, but sometimes (within short enough distances and clean EMI/RF contexts) cheaper passive solutions have good odds of success.
USB to/from S/PDIF is not expensive and obviously TOSlink to/from coax even more trivial, so all the common digital connection formats well covered. TOSlink giving 100% galvanic isolation is a plus
...
4. Finally, delving into audio-over CAT5e/6 structured wiring including breakouts from both DB-25 and RJ11, AES72 & AES59
These also designed to work for analog signal transport, usually true-balanced, so that's a big plus for post-DAC routing if that is centralised.
Use of Shielded quad twisted pair QTP via STP is required for proper Grounding, a critical topic here
...
