Sonnet Announces Avid-Qualified Thunderbolt AVB Adapter for Apple Mac Computers

[Uskompuf]

Sonnet Technologies today announced the Sonnet Thunderbolt AVB Adapter for Mac computers, a compact, bus-powered Gigabit Ethernet adapter with AVB (Audio Video Bridging, aka IEEE 802.1) networking support for Apple Mac computers with Thunderbolt ports. The Avid Qualified Sonnet adapter was designed for use with the Avid Pro Tools | Carbon professional audio interface for music production, enabling MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers — both lacking onboard Gigabit Ethernet ports — to connect directly to the Avid interface via a Cat 6 cable.

AVB was developed to overcome issues related to attempts at connecting various analog and digital audio video equipment to each other and provide a networking standard on which devices could utilize a common connection (Gigabit Ethernet) and communicate and operate in precise synchronization with each other. Featuring a 40 Gbps Thunderbolt interface, the Sonnet Thunderbolt AVB Adapter supports the proprietary version of AVB employed by the Avid Pro Tools | Carbon interface to stream audio at 32-bit float precision. When used outside the Pro Tools realm, the Sonnet adapter also supports the low-latency, fully synchronized streaming of audio and video over Ethernet required for standard AVB workflows. Using the Sonnet adapter enables users to add their Mac computer as an endpoint in an AVB network and connect to other AVB-enabled devices such as audio interfaces, mixers, plug-in processors, personal monitor stations, stage boxes, speakers, and speaker processors, either directly or through an AVB-compliant switch.





MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers are immensely popular for use in pro audio production but lack the Gigabit Ethernet port for wired networking required for use in many AVB applications. The Sonnet Thunderbolt AVB adapter provides MacBook Air and MacBook Pro users the AVB-compatible Ethernet connection needed to make the connection to the Avid Pro Tools | Carbon interface or to an AVB-compliant switch. iMac and Mac mini users can use the Sonnet adapter in conjunction with their computers' onboard Ethernet port, enabling them to dedicate one port for AVB use and the other port for connecting to a standard network or shared storage.

The Sonnet Thunderbolt AVB Adapter is small, lightweight, bus powered, and the only Avid -Qualified single-adapter solution for connecting late-2016 and later MacBook Pro and 2020 and later MacBook Air computers to the Avid Pro Tools | Carbon audio interface. The Sonnet adapter also includes a Thunderbolt cable, plus a Thunderbolt connector retainer clip that slides over one end of the cable to secure it to the adapter and prevent accidental cable disconnections.

Availability & Pricing

Sonnet's Thunderbolt AVB Adapter (part number AVB-TB) is available now from Sonnet and soon from channel partners worldwide at the suggested retail price of 149.99 USD.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Valantar]

So, while I'm well aware that professional AV gear is generally very expensive (and that the relevant companies rarely have any issues paying for it), can someone please explain to me why this ever-so-slightly specific GbE adapter needs a Thunderbolt interface at all? Sure, we all know of crappy GbE adapters that fail to deliver full performance even when connected to 5Gbps USB, but there are plenty of options that manage this just fine - and, of course, faster adapters than this as well. So why limit this to TB3, beyond the ability to charge a much higher price?

 

[TheLostSwede]

So, while I'm well aware that professional AV gear is generally very expensive (and that the relevant companies rarely have any issues paying for it), can someone please explain to me why this ever-so-slightly specific GbE adapter needs a Thunderbolt interface at all? Sure, we all know of crappy GbE adapters that fail to deliver full performance even when connected to 5Gbps USB, but there are plenty of options that manage this just fine - and, of course, faster adapters than this as well. So why limit this to TB3, beyond the ability to charge a much higher price?

It doesn't as such, but since Thunderbolt = PCIe it would have slightly better lantencies than going over USB.
In this case, since it's about time sensitive data, every little bit counts I guess.
Also less chance of some wonky interrupt issues that can happen to USB.
The pricing is nuts though, you pay $100 for Thunderbolt, $10 for Gigabit and $40 for the brand.

 

[Laykun]

If this was a 10Gb, or even 5Gb Ethernet interface, I'd understand. But gigabit? You'd be a fool to buy this.

 

[TheLostSwede]

If this was a 10Gb, or even 5Gb Ethernet interface, I'd understand. But gigabit? You'd be a fool to buy this.

Or maybe it's designed for a niche market that needs exactly what this delivers? Yes, it's expensive for sure, but it has some very specific features that no-one else offers.