It is not every day a simple ‘black box solution’ such as an audio amplifier can adopt new technology, bringing end-users better performance, while helping professional installers deliver the best systems efficiently. However, AV installers who have embraced products that include audio-over-IP formats, such as Dante Audio, now deliver outstanding performance to any room in a home or business, no matter how remote, with uncompromised sound quality.
MULTI-ZONE DISTRIBUTION
The multi-zone distributed audio market has evolved tremendously since the fledgling days of MP3 libraries played over rather inglorious, early-generation in-wall speakers through amplifiers possessing a few meagre watts per channel. As those systems were put to the test, listeners were introduced to a sonic performance akin to overcooked pasta topped with ageing jarred sauce, plucked from the back of the fridge. Today, thanks to engineering achievements, including audio-over-IP, residential and commercial entertainment systems reproduce outstanding audio fidelity delivered through professional AV integrators.
Dante, like similar audio-over-IP solutions, is an uncompressed digital audio codec that takes advantage of standard network Cat 5e, Cat 6A, or fibre optic infrastructure to transport packetised audio data.
Dante-enabled devices each contain a high-quality clock and synchronise with one another over the network. Once decoded, playback occurs with near-zero latency. This technology enables integrators to deliver audio with delay-free clarity in every zone and eliminates the need for traditional analog speaker wire that, in effect, acts as a noise-collecting antenna. Using Cat 6A, integrators can deliver high-quality digital audio into remote areas up to 100 metres from the network switch. Fibre applications extend the range into kilometres.
Audio-over-IP helps amplifier manufacturers deliver full-featured, space-efficient solutions using amplifiers designed with critical DSP and matrix functionality to drive multiple high-powered zones from a compact chassis. This is the new gold standard for AV pros, especially in projects where rack space is limited. Modern multi-zone amplifiers featuring audio-over-IP may be used as a self-contained entertainment solution or be part of a more comprehensive smart home ecosystem, offering unparalleled system configuration flexibility to accommodate any entertainment system architecture.
REVOLUTIONARY DELIVERY
Audio-over-IP (and video-over-IP as well) has revolutionised the delivery of entertainment content to now include standard network infrastructure, contributing to a more efficient, lower-cost process for AV installers to provide high-quality audio across multiple zones. AV integration specialists should closely examine the benefits of audio-over-IP-equipped amplifiers, to provide as the ultimate solution for their next multi-zone entertainment projects.
