RAVENNA set to become the new benchmark for connectivity.
Munich, May 2017: The introduction of MERGING+NADAC and then MERGING+PLAYER shook the high end audio world by introducing an Ethernet audio protocol in place of the conventional USB connection. RAVENNA offers numerous practical, performance and reliability advantages over USB and the results have been recorded in a series of rave reviews for these products.
Merging’s innovation did not stop there. Both products are offered in stereo or multichannel variants to cater for the former SACD enthusiasts, who can finally listen to the multichannel files as they should be heard. The partnership with Roon with the MERGING+PLAYER goes far beyond some of the simple “Roon Ready” implementations already released. The Roon UI was well accepted but was not capable of DSD multichannel playback. Since version 1.3, that has been implemented with many other new enhancements. This was a major result of the Merging/Roon partnership which is ongoing to introduce other new features.
The advantages of using Ethernet were plainly obvious to other DAC manufacturers and there has been much interest in how this could be be incorporated into other products. The RAVENNA Corner of the Merging stand J06 in Hall 3 will amply demonstrate where this is going. A Melco N1 Hi-Res Digital Music Source will be on display as will the Aurender X100Digital Music Player. Both these popular products take advantage of Merging’s LINUX Virtual Audio Device which could be adopted by other devices using the same operating system. Merging has also developed drivers for OSX and Windows to ensure that RAVENNA can be used with any computer platform. Of great interest will be the ROCK (Roon Optimized Core Kit) which will be running on a standard Intel NUC. ROCK is the software that Roon will make available to end users who want to build a DIY Roon device using an Intel NUC. This software is based on Roon OS, which is the current software Roon provides to partners (like Merging) who manufacture embedded Roon-based products. These products will be displayed directly connected to MERGING+NADAC via RAVENNA and all will commence shipping in the coming months.
Besides the manufactured products, Merging will introduce ZMan, a new compact and powerful RAVENNA circuit board which will be offered to OEM partners, bringing the advantages of a networked solution to audio components as diverse as loudspeakers, DACs and server/streamers. In addition to RAVENNA, this board will allow for a whole range of other capabilities like Roon Ready support, streaming services and DSP processing for advanced formats decoding or room correction for example. This OEM solution as well as associated development tools will be on display in the RAVENNA Corner and engineers will be available for answering technical questions.
Merging Technologies SA is a Swiss manufacturer with over 25 years of experience in developing groundbreaking, professional Audio and Video products for a wide range of entertainment and media industries. With a dedicated user base in the elite end of the music, film, television, mastering and performances industries, Merging is committed to developing product ranges with unrivalled quality and flexibility, no matter what the application. Merging builds tools for people who want more from their systems, have an inherent need to push boundaries, and believe that quality always comes first.
RAVENNA is a solution for real-time distribution of audio and other media content in IP-based network environments. Utilizing standardized network protocols and technologies, RAVENNA can operate on existing network infrastructures. RAVENNA is designed to meet the strict requirements of the professional audio market featuring low latency, full signal transparency and high reliability and is fully AES67 compatible. With a capacity of nearly 8 x MADI streams over a single Gigabit Ethernet link, it is also the first and only Layer-3 based IP audio protocol with full support for high-channel count DXD and DSD signals.
www.merging.com