Last year we counted what we thought was every networked audio on the market. We knew some people would find this information useful but we were overwhelmed by the response. This year we repeated the count and buoyed by the interest we spent a lot more time on it. Frankly last year’s count wasn’t good enough and we found many many more products across all protocols and categories…
So here are the scores for 2014:
There are a total of 796 networked products, though that figure is changing all the time. Many product have the option to support more than one protocol.
377 products support CobraNet
326 products support Dante
92 products support EtherSound
58 products support AVB
26 products support Ravenna
As we mentioned last year we set out some rules for counting devices as this proved not to be as easy as we thought. When is a product a product? When is something a different product? These are the rules we set out:
• We have investigated products that appear to be shipping. Its sometimes difficult to see if products are discontinued or if they are yet on the market. We have done what we can to verify whether each product is available for purchase
• We have included every SKU of a product. If a company sells a 2 x 600W amplifier and a 2 x 1200W amplifier they are counted as two products because they would have a different use
• Where the same product is available to purchase in a variety of card configurations such as a processor that is 16 in 16 out, 8 in 24 out, 24 in 8 out etc. This is counted as one product as the overall channel count is the same
• Where a similar product is available in different models 8 in 8 out, 12 in 12 out, 16 in 16 out, or a mixer with different input channel counts then these are counted as separate products as they would have a different use
• We have captured data about products that use AVB technology but are not AVnu AVB compatible. These products are not included in our totals for AVB devices they do not provide connectivity to anything other than themselves
• We have not included hacks, circuit boards, OEM kits or something that it not an actual product sold on its own or, at a user level, allows a product to become networked
• We have included hardware interface cards that fit into products such as a PCI PC card as this does enable an actual product to become networked. Such a card is counted as one product even though it can support countless models of PC
• A software driver or program that enables a Mac or PC to support a particular network protocol is counted as one product
• Where a manufacturer’s network interface card fits into many audio products we have counted each shipping product, because that interface allows the product to become a networked audio device (we counted 108 interfaces)
In particular you should note that it is a small data set and the activity of one manufacturer can seriously skew the results:
• The number of Cobranet loudspeakers is skewed because one manufacturer has this as an option 53 of its products, out of the total of 66 Cobranet loudspeakers
• One manufacturer has 25 of the 104 Cobranet amplifiers
• 32 of the 58 AVB products are from two manufacturers, including one intercom manufacturer
In terms of manufacturer activity
8 manufacturers actually ship products with AVB
35 manufacturers actually ship products with Cobranet
57 manufacturers actually ship products with Dante
12 manufacturers actually ship products with Ethersound
7 manufacturers actually ship products with Ravenna
In order to help people specify networked audio products we have released an iOS app allowing you to search for ‘Dante amplifier’ or ‘Cobranet Mixer’. You can build shopping lists of equipment and export them. We’ve even included data on a number of proprietary protocols and you can also search for AES compliant devices. For those who want a fuller market overview you can do an in-app purchase for complete downloads of product or protocol categories. Since our database is changing all the time you can update the app’s data at any time.
Manufacturers can submit or correct product information by contacting us at: info@rhconsulting.uk