“All the ingredients were already there,” explains DirectOut Business Development Manager, Luca Giaroli. “For more than a decade, we’ve been offering unrivaled highly reliable audio format converters with the highest quality sample-rate conversion and redundant backup technologies available. We felt it was the right time to take a quantum step forward and add innovative processing power to the package. The result is a device designed to be the central hub of any audio system.”
PRODIGY.MP is a multifunction audio processor that shares its 2U-high compact mainframe and modular design with the PRODIGY.MC, but adds FPGA-based DSP for EQ, delays and summing matrices. This powerful addition also offers greater flexibility in heterogenous systems and independent clocking by adding SRC capabilities.
The unit has four converter slots for analog line-level, microphone input and AES3 option modules, providing up to 32 local inputs and outputs. The hardware also supports two MADI and two Network Audio options. The MADI slots are available as BNC, SC optical and SFP modules, while two optional Network Audio boards can be equipped with Dante, RAVENNA (AES67) or SoundGrid, increasing maximum channel capability to 416 inputs/420 outputs.
Both PRODIGY.MP and MC can be controlled locally via a 5-inch touchscreen on the front panel, or via globcon, a unified remote-control platform that allows all DirectOut devices to be managed simultaneously. In addition, PRODIGY.MP can be accessed via its integrated web server, with remote access via HTML and JavaScript-based user interface.
PRODIGY.MP’s network audio modules accommodate audio formats including DirectOut’s AES67-compliant RAVENNA stack that supports SMPTE ST2110-30/31 and ST2022-7 for redundant streaming. With the 64-channel Dante option, the hardware can be a front-end for audio consoles, or a standalone converter, DSP, SRC and routing system.
Waves Audio’s SoundGrid offers extremely low latency, and 128 channels of audio processing for live sound, studio and broadcast. Waves servers can be connected via SoundGrid for plug-in inserts. Virtual soundcards for macOS and Windows can directly interface with any DAW for multitrack recording and virtual soundchecking.
Two front panel headphone outputs provide monitoring of any I/O at the device. Two phase-redundant power supplies with separate IEC inlets and AC power switches support hardware redundancy. An internal switch on the network module also ensures redundancy for the network domain. While the Dante module supports Dante redundancy, the RAVENNA module offers stream redundancy in accordance with ST2022-7. EARS (Enhanced Automatic Redundancy Switching) is available for several combinations of inputs. Third-party remote-control protocols may also be added for increased system integration and signal management capabilities.
“Flexibility and reliability are two of the main characteristics needed to make a device successful,” states Claudio Becker-Foss, CTO of DirectOut. “PRODIGY.MP offers both, allowing it to accept and manage different audio formats and clock domains simultaneously, while enabling users to plan and configure their own clock redundancy strategy. globcon provides quick and efficient system management when PRODIGY.MP is used as the core of a complex audio system – alongside other products from a multitude of well-known manufacturers.”
“The audio industry, with its complex and diverse technology demands, is rapidly evolving,” adds Giaroli. “But with the modularity of the PRODIGY family, and with globcon quickly adapting and evolving, DirectOut is ready and very well equipped to meet these challenges.”
DirectOut Corporate Changes
DirectOut Technologies has announced changes in the structure and leadership of the company. As of January 2019, Claudio Becker-Foss is promoted to the role of CTO and CEO of DirectOut GmbH. He takes over both positions from Stephan Flock, who will now focus on the research and development of FPGA-based interface and DSP design.
As co-founder of the company, Becker-Foss has worked as product manager and software developer since its beginnings in 2008. Over recent years, he has become a networked audio specialist as DirectOut has progressively adopted network-based transmission technologies such as RAVENNA, Dante and SoundGrid to its portfolio.
With DirectOut being a technology driven company, it is natural to keep the CTO function and position of CEO combined. Together with Jan Ehrlich, who has been CEO and Sales Director of DirectOut since 2014, Claudio Becker-Foss will be responsible for technical strategy, and preserving the strong reputation the company has built within the industry.
www.directout.eu
