Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] Linux support for IEEE1394 mLAN?
From: Steve Harris (S.W.Harris_AT_ecs.soton.ac.uk)
Date: Thu Sep 21 2000 - 18:33:04 EEST
On Thu, Sep 21, 2000 at 11:01:14AM -0400, Paul Barton-Davis wrote:
> >mLAN support would give linux a real head start in pro audio as
> >it would remove the need for support for 101 different wacky multi-channel
> >soundcards, as you just use a generic 1394 card.
>
> i'd love to see mLAN support for linux, but i can't fully agree with
> this last statement. i don't know of any part of mLAN that would allow
> for anything like RME's "Zero Latency Monitoring", for example (where
> the h/w short circuits the input and output connectors).
Well that's not an entirely appropriate comparison, as 1394 is a bus,
rather than point-to-point, but you can send one signal to multiple
destinations, which is equivalent I think.
> and besides, we'll end up having to support 101 diffferent wacky 1394
> cards :)
/We/ don't ;) And besides there is some sort of hardware standard (OHCI?)
which new 1394 cards follow.
> assuming that a 1394 card costs less than a Hammerfall or Envy1712
> based card, yes, it is interesting. but i don't know for sure if thats
> going to be true. a 1394 card is so generic and thus so powerful, i
> wouldn't be suprised if they cost more, at least for a while.
Current cost for a PCI 1394 card is about 150 UK pounds, and as they are
much larger volume devices than multichannel soundcards they price is
likely to come down. Manufacturers are starting to include them with PC's
too. A more important point though is that a single 1394 cable can
carry 100 audio and 100 MIDI streams without breaking sweat, which beats
the bundle of MIDI and lightpipe cables I have to deal with at the moment.
Not to mention the hotplugablility and the fact that it can use arbitrary
network topologies (each mLAN device has 3 ports).
- Steve
--
Stephen Harris
MALIBU Technical Officer & JoDI Webmaster
IAM Research Group
University of Southampton, UK
07970 557047
swh_AT_ecs.soton.ac.uk 023 8059 2774
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Thu Sep 21 2000 - 19:36:18 EEST