Audio router

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An audio router is a device that transports audio signals from inputs to outputs.

Sound mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing; pressure wave, generated by vibrating structure

In physics, sound is a vibration that typically propagates as an audible wave of pressure, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.

Contents

Inputs and Outputs

The number of inputs and outputs varies dramatically. The way routers are described is normally number of inputs by number of outputs e.g. 2x1, 256x256.

Signals

The type of signals transported - switched can be analogue - Analog - audio signals or Digital. Digital audio usually is in the AES/EBU standard for broadcast use. Broadband routers can route more than one signal type e.g. analogue or more than one type of digital.

An analog signal is any continuous signal for which the time-varying feature (variable) of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. For example, in an analog audio signal, the instantaneous voltage of the signal varies continuously with the pressure of the sound waves. It differs from a digital signal, in which the continuous quantity is a representation of a sequence of discrete values which can only take on one of a finite number of values. The term analog signal usually refers to electrical signals; however, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, human speech, and other systems may also convey or be considered analog signals.

Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is the discrete, discontinuous representation of information or works. Numbers and letters are commonly used representations.

Digital audio technology that records, stores, and reproduces sound

Digital audio is sound that has been recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is encoded as numerical samples in continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samples are taken 44100 times per second each with 16 bit sample depth. Digital audio is also the name for the entire technology of sound recording and reproduction using audio signals that have been encoded in digital form. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s, it gradually replaced analog audio technology in many areas of audio engineering and telecommunications in the 1990s and 2000s.

Crosspoints

Because any of the inputs can be routed to any output, the internal arrangement of the router is arranged as a number of crosspoints which can be activated to pass the corresponding signal to the desired output.

Some Manufacturers of audio routers

Imagine Communications is an Irish internet service provider and telecommunications operator, who provide WiMAX, wireless broadband and resell Eircom telecommunications wholesale packages. The company operates in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway and the United States.

FOR-A

FOR-A is a brand name for professional broadcast video and audio equipment. Founded more than 41 years ago and based in Japan, FOR-A has spread globally, with subsidiaries in America, Canada, Korea, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Klotz Digital AG was a manufacturer of audio media products based in Munich, Germany. The company was active in the two business segments Public Address and Radio & TV Broadcast. Its products include systems for radio broadcast, television broadcast, live sound, public address, and commercial sound.

See also


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Video router

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Broadcast-safe video is a term used in the broadcast industry to define video and audio compliant with the technical or regulatory broadcast requirements of the target area or region the feed might be broadcasting to. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the regulatory authority; in most of Europe, standards are set by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).