Exhibition and demonstration of "HDSPe MADI FX," a MADI recording solution that is Thunderbolt-compatible and supports up to 390ch

SYNTHAX JAPAN exhibited and demonstrated ""HDSPe MAXI FX,"" a MADI recording solution.

MADI (Multichannel Audio Digital Interface) is the standard for audio signal interfaces. The AES/EBU standard has been extended to support multi-channels and this allows 125MB of data to be transmitted through a BNC terminal and coaxial cable. Long-distance audio transmissions of multi-channels are supplied by the simplest method with an accuracy of sample units. The increase in digital audio equipment has been standardized with the purpose of supporting multi-channels. This has a variety of effects such as enabling long-distance transmissions, reducing installation costs and decreasing overall maintenance.

This has been defined as Standard AES 10-1991 according to AMS/Neve, SSl, Sony, Mitsubishi and the Audio Engineering Society (AES).

AES/EBU handles two channels with a high phase balance in one system; whereas, MADI lines up these AES/EBU signal in 28 serials with support for up to 56 channels and a variable pitch of +/-12.5.

In 2001, the 64-channel mode ""MADI-X"" (MADI-Extended) was officially introduced with the largest sample rate supporting a variable pitch of 48kHz+/- and 32-channels at 96kHz. The effective data rate has been increased to 125Mbit/s by additional coding.

In the booth, a 3-system MAID was connected to a Mac Book Pro by mounting a ""MADI FX"" PCI card onto the chassis of a Thunderbolt with a 18-in/18-out 24bit/192kHz-support USB & FireWire audio interface ""Fireface USX"" used for monitoring. This was connected to the audio preamplifier ""Micstasy."" This enabled coverage up to an input/output of 390ch by ""MADI FX.""

Together with a 8ch mic preamp, this possesses a MADI function, so it becomes 64ch by connecting eight devices together. It is possible to extend up to 2km with drum cables.