All About CobraNet

There must be a better way

Actually, the problem usually isn't finding a better way to do things; new solutions come and go all the time. The struggle is longevity: finding a technology that's proven, fits logically with the needs of your job, and will still be relevant for years into the future.

Take Audio over Ethernet (AoE), for example. There's no shortage of professional equipment that deals in digital audio these days, but most live applications only run digital for ten feet or so before jumping back to analog for distribution. A handful of device-specific formats might vie for the chance to put that signal onto a data network, but the equipment is usually expensive enough that it's not cost-effective to do AoE unless you're wiring up a theme park, stadium, campus, or similarly huge venue.

Well, it's time to take the insanity out of networked digital audio. Start with the oldest and most widely used AoE standard in the industry and add cost-effective devices that fit in just about every installation (including small venues).

What does all of that add up to? An easier work day, and fistfuls of cash in your pocket, that's what. It's time you got acquainted with CobraNet, the sound reinforcement professionals' best friend.

Okay, but what is CobraNet?

Well, first off, the "cobra" part doesn't have anything to do with snakes. It's a reference to the original Shelby Cobra 289 racer, a GT-class hot-rod that tore up the international race tracks and established American engineering as the last word in muscle cars. What more do you need to know, right?

"A lot more," you say?
Ok, well try this on for size: CobraNet is the most established technology for sending real-time, high-quality digital audio over an Ethernet network. With 15 years of installations and support from manufacturers across the industry, CobraNet is the de-facto standard for networked audio in professional A/V. Without boring you with a history lesson on how CobraNet slithered out of the primordial goo, we'll just tell you that the technology came onto the scene around 1996 and is owned by Cirrus Logic, who develops the core technology and licenses manufacturing rights to major audio industry players like Dolby Labs, BiAmp, Crown, Whirlwind, Yamaha, QSC, and yours truly.

We can get into the nitty-gritty details later, but at its most basic form the CobraNet setup takes a digital audio stream, packs it into a specially-formatted network bundle, and then makes the data instantly available to every other device on the network. Between input and output, there's usually an A/D and D/A conversion, DSP processing, and visits to multiple intermediary devices, too. On a technical level, CobraNet uses OSI level-2 technology to make point-to-point connections between devices. In English, OSI level-2 means that CobraNet acts a lot like a physical cable, but with the important advantage of still being directed as a software signal over the network.

Confused yet? Here's the long and the short of it:

• CobraNet is high-quality. There are no codecs involved that throw audio data away in order to trim the sound wave down to a more dainty size.
• CobraNet is real-time. There is no packet routing or network congestion that will force you to wait for a buffer to fill before playing.
• CobraNet is flexible. There is no hard-wired routing that must be ripped out and reconfigured for you to change where your audio goes.
• CobraNet is hands-on. There are design decisions to be made, software connections to configure, and you will have to create an installation that works cohesively.

Okay, CobraNet is the best option for AoE. Why do I care??

You'll definitely want to take a look at our list of eight really good reasons to use CobraNet. At the top of the list: you can save a boatload of money on decreased cable, reduced labor and equipment costs, your system becomes much more flexible and extendable, the sound quality is better, installation is a lot less painful, and more and more customers are looking for CobraNet systems integration experts.

Nobody really questions the need for networked audio when talking about super-massive installs, such as theme parks and stadiums, but cost-effective new equipment is making it affordable to use CobraNet, even on mid-sized and small-scale venues. At the very least, it's worth taking a serious look.

Okay, why choose Attero Tech stuff instead of another manufacturer?

Back to the cost-effective devices we referred to a second ago, check out our Out-of-the-Box A/V product series. We've finally made it affordable to get into a CobraNet setup by giving you a way to get digital conversion, DSP processing, and AoE networking right at the wall. It's like taking a 100-foot cable run that goes through mixers, racks, patch bays, switchers, capacitors and amplifiers, and turning it into a four-foot run. It's a night-and-day difference, both in quality and in the decreased overhead. That means money in your pocket.

Still have questions? Take a look at the other resources we've put together, including the point-by-point breakdown of CobraNet advantages, the frequently asked questions section, and the design, tech, and software guides that are downloadable from each of our product pages.