Quote:
Originally Posted by digidesigner
Thanks for the info! Would be nice to know what happens behind the metalwork 
But considering that the max snake length of such system isn't that long and Cat6 cable must be used, what is that makes it worthwhile for you to make and use this conversion? |
Good, Fast, Cheap.....pick two
Good - high quality, high build quality, solid design
Fast - high performance, (may have wide bandwidth and high speed, resulting in longer cable length)
Cheap - low cost in hardware, cable and deployment (may have limited bandwidth and speed, resulting in shorter cable length)
No doubt, coax and fiber are the only way to go if you need Good and Fast. With coax RG6 the spec is out to 500', and with using the approved and qualified RME MADI media converters many thousands of feet are possible.
As an alternate snake, CAT5e/6 opens some interesting options for me. It falls under Good and Cheap, competitive pricewise with same length coax (some coax). For touring or installation, it gives advantages in less cable (weight & diameter or conduit fill respectively). Additionally, the CAT5e/6 cable can be deployed for other duties as well. How about 4 pairs of AES3 in one shielded CAT5e? How about analog audio along with component video in one CAT5e? If your shop is into multi-purposing cable, this is the way to go.
Here is a short list of CAT5e/6 uses:
M**as/KT AES50/51
S****craft Vi prop. MADI over CAT5e
D***co prop. MADI over CAT5e
Y***ha CL Dante
Link DigiLink
Venue Stage 48 (AVB)
Venue over CAT5e/6 (not approved)
Ethersound
Cobranet
Dante
AVB - many manufacturers on board
BvNet
10/100/1000/10G ethernet (10G CAT6 55m max)
VoIP
AES3
AES3id with baluns
SPDIF with baluns
composite and component video with baluns
SDI
HDMI w/ active electronics
Word Clock with baluns
RS485
DMX
MIDI
CAN Bus
Balanced Analog audio (mic & line level) 4 channel snake
RTS balanced comm
GPIO signaling
and the list goes on.......