[PlanetCCRMA] external soundcard future

[Juan Reyes]

Hi,

 From a composer's standpoint, although a high sample-rate (at least 48K)
and a high bit rate are desirable, our main concern is number of 
channels. With Ambisonics, VBAP, and even wavefield synthesis, we need 
at least eight channels of output in soundcard interfacing.

Therefore I also stress that external soundcard future is of great
concern for many of us.

However, I have seen that some companies like focusrite, motu, echo, and
others, have been developing ethernet IP devices that stream audio over
networks. As I understand most of these devices follow proprietary
protocols like  Audinate's Dante[1] or AVB Ethernet[2]. Some of these
devices even include A/D-D/A converters. Some even work with ASIO drivers.

Consequently I feel I should post the question rather on how close are
we to an Open-Source Linux solution to, for instance, 'AVB'?.

Perhaps 'AVB' access through 'Jack' or 'JackNet.

   Thank you!,

   -- Juan Reyes


[1]
http://go.audinate.com/resources/assets/death-of-analog-rise-of-audio-networking-f

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Video_Bridging