Re: Audio link two computers in real-time: ethernet?

[Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 1:20 PM, Buzap Buzap<buzap@gmx.net> wrote:
> What's the best way to link two computers (mac or pc):

"Best" depends on the purpose. Some way might work better for a
particular application and vice versa.

> One would get the original signal via Firewire, add some FX and pass it 
>two the next.
> Would this work with Ethernet (what protocol/concept? Rewire?)?

Ethernet and Firewire are two different data streaming protocols. You
can't send "firewire through ethernet". But by using appropriate
software you may stream data, including audio, by both protocols. One
example is the application Logic, where you can use ethernet cables to
connect loads of Apple computers as a node system, or "super computer"
or "cluster network", so all node computers put their CPU muscles at
the service of the center machine which you are working on. Another
example is Wormhole that just streams audio through ethernet cables.
But I think it has to be the gigabit ether net, not the older and
slower version that are still to be found in old computer hardware.

> What's the best practice here to make this work in real-time

Any plain digital format. Like ADAT, optical or coaxial S/PDIF. I had
a live rig a couple of years ago connecting two laptops by S/PDIF and
I can report it worked perfectly well. Good things is you don't get
any extra latency in the signal, since you are not taking that extra
AD/DA tour when sending the already digitized signal directly into the
other computer's digital input. If you have a computer with a digital
port in its hardware (for example an old Apple G5) you can make it
work through that port and won't have to keep an extra audio interface
for the second machine. In my old two-lappy rig I had one top audio
interface with good mic preamps for the first machine and an
inexpensive audio interface with only line-in and digital inputs for
the second machine.

ReWire is a protocol to synchronize transport functions and stream
audio between two applications on the same machine, i.e. running under
the same operating system. Not a solution to wire up multiple
computers.

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.boysen.se
www.perboysen.com