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Comrex meets AES67 demands with a solution from Merging Technologies

Comrex has utilised Merging’s Linux ALSA driver for added AES67 capabilities.

Broadcast manufacturer Comrex is widely known for producing TV and radio equipment that’s focused on delivering pristine audio to remote studio locations. Utilising custom designed hardware and an optimised Linux operating system, the manufacturer turned to Merging Technolgies for a suitable driver to add AES67 capabilities on a solely software basis.

“We were interested in remaining with the standard, rather than the proprietary solutions offered by each of the major AoIP players out there,” begins Tom Hartnett, technical director at Comrex. “We'd run down several options for delivering AES67 in software, but hit a dead end several times. We then looked at Merging’s ALSA driver before licensing, and it suited our needs well.”

Merging Technologies’ Linux ALSA driver provides high performance RAVENNA/AES67 support for Linux ecosystems. Simple to integrate, the driver has all the required functions for Linux OEMs to thrive in the market, including 1fs to 8fs support, native DSD playback and volume control.

“The driver was added to our software rather easily, since our audio section was already based on ALSA,” Hartnett continues. “It has allowed us to answer our customer's calls for AES67 compatibility at a reasonable cost and with low design effort. We had to make several requests for driver changes to Merging, and they were quickly delivered, which was incredibly helpful.”

ACCESS NX - A sleek portable IP audio codec designed with the user in mind

ACCESS NX Rack - A rackmount IP audio codec featuring AES67 for the modern studio ACCESS MultiRack - A rackmount IP audio multi-codec, capable of five full-duplex IP audio codec connections

Comrex utilises Merging’s Linux driver in its ACCESS NX and MultiRack products. The MultiRack is a rackmount IP audio multi-codec capable of five full-duplex IP audio codec connections – all self-contained in a sleek 1RU chassis. ACCESS NX offers a portable IP audio codec, which can send and receive high-quality audio over the most minimal network. The addition of Merging’s Linux ALSA driver enables streamlined interoperability between different systems.

“Our products are deployed across important broadcasting and sports events, so reliability was key and we knew we’d get that with Merging,” Hartnett adds. “The only qualification I would make is that if a company requires absolute minimum latency, a pure software solution like the Merging driver might not fit the bill. Luckily, we could spare a few milliseconds of latency on our product, so it fit perfectly. The folks at Merging were a pleasure to work with and were responsive and accommodating. It was a smooth process from start to finish.”