Why Networked AD/DA converters for ProTools HD systems is the way to go.

Hi there: the networking audio offer several advantages over other audio systems like those based in Thunderbolt: they work on any OS, do not require dedicated hardware  - only a NIC card, and they can share the audio streams over the network to several DAWs in the net, in a simple to implement and low cost infrastructure, avoiding lots of hard wired cables.

In the Networked Audio world there are several protocols and the key players today are  Dante, Ravenna and AVB. Several companies offer converters using one of the protocols, and as usual, there are low, mid and high level converters. In the mid level Focusrite has been leading with their Dante RedNet series, now we have I/O boxes from MOTU using AVB. Solid State Logic is now also offering a Dante series I/O as well.

In the high end converters arena, two of the best are DAD, out of Denmark, using Dante, and Merging, from Switzerland, using Ravenna. Both offer sampling rates up to 11MHz (for DSD and DXD), mic preamps, extensive formats I/O and also both have now Mini-Digilink connections available. Now you can have a hybrid system with ADs close to the source, add a network cable, or a switch if more than one,  and have your DAs hooked to your computer using the Mini-Digilink.

If you put all of this into context, and into your budget, now you can have several ADs closer to the source which can be routed, managed and spread over your entire facility, providing redundancy and extending the range to distances over 100 meters when using Copper to Fibre converters. You can record an event or show in more than 1 DAW using the same audio streams, and so on.

So, if you have a ProTools system and you are thinking in the future, take a closer look to the AOIP protocols and the systems out there.

Cheers!