Attero Tech’s Outside-the-Box for CobraNet
Digital audio is the way of the future. But for some, the future is now, and Attero Tech’s Outside-the-Box series of CobraNet audio interface products are designed make the conversion of analog signals to digital easier for AV pros.
Digital audio is the way of the future. But for some, the future is now, and Attero Tech’s Outside-the-Box series of CobraNet audio interface products are designed make the conversion of analog signals to digital easier for AV pros.
“Analog makes for a lot of planning because every channel requires its own dedicated cable. In a setup where you’ve got several microphones, instruments, monitors, amps and speakers, a mixing console … that cabling can really add up,” explains Mike Sims, director of marketing and sales at Attero Tech. “Each of our at-the-wall boxes uses one PoE cable, as opposed to eight analog cables and one power line for conventional analog devices.”
The series’ four models can be mixed and matched. The InBox and OutBox wall boxes come in configurations of 2×2 or 8×8 and, depending on the unit, handle microphone and line-level inputs or balanced or unbalanced line-level outputs via XLR/TRS and RCA connectors. The MatchBox eight-channel USB interface digitally streams multichannel PC audio to and from a CobraNet network, and the VoiceBox is a 4×4 mic/line pre-amplifier with a built-in DSP.
According to Sims, the “at-the-wall” configuration–which allows mics, loudspeakers, etc., to plug directly into the CobraNet system via the Outside-the-Box wall plate–means there’s only a short distance to cover before converting an audio signal from analog to digital, and therefore fewer opportunities to introduce noise. The PoE feature allows one Cat-5 cable to supply both power and network connectivity to the InBox, OutBox, and MatchBox for up to 64 channels of uncompressed 48,000 kHz, 24-bit audio. Products are priced separately, ranging from $999 to $675.
