EtherSound


EtherSound is an audio-over-Ethernet technology for audio engineering and broadcast engineering applications. EtherSound is developed and licensed by Digigram.

EtherSound is intended by the developer to be compliant with IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards. Just as the IEEE defines rates such as 100 Megabit and Gigabit Ethernet standards, EtherSound has been developed as both ES-100 and ES-Giga. The two versions of EtherSound are not compatible.

Network technology

While Ethersound is compliant with the IEEE 802.3 physical layer standards, logically it uses a token passing scheme of transporting audio data which prevents all of its features from being used on a standard Ethernet network. On a standard network it is only able to distribute audio and control data one way. It is not designed to share Ethernet LANs with typical office operations data or Internet traffic such as email. It supports two way communications only when wired in a daisy chain topology. For this reason Ethersound is best used in applications suitable to a daisy chain network topology or in live sound applications that benefit from its low point-to-point latency.

Low latency

Low latency is important for many users of Audio over Ethernet technologies. EtherSound can deliver up to 64 channels of 48 kHz, 24-bit PCM audio data with a network latency of 125 microseconds. Each device in a daisy-chain network adds 1.5 microseconds of latency. EtherSound's network latency is stable and deterministic: the delay between any two devices on an EtherSound network can be calculated.

EtherSound Licensees

The following companies have licensed the EtherSound technology.