07.30.2009 — SpeakerCraft still won't divulge everything about it's forthcoming Nirv IP-based multiroom A/V system. The product delivers audio, video, data, intercom and control signals simultaneously over a single Cat 5 cable.

Even so, SpeakerCraft director of engineering Jason Craze was kind enough to answer a few questions from Derek Flickinger, our friendly geek who was intrigued by the system.

Nirv will be shown at CEDIA Expo 2009 in Atlanta.

Craze's answers are vague but that's the best we could get from him ... for now.

Q. Did they develop their own IP-based audio technology or do they license someone else's?
A. Licensed, but with proprietary tweaks for our implementation. All partnerships will be revealed as we approach the show.

Q. There is no mention of multiroom (or multi-speaker) synchronization or if it supports 5.1. Can you dynamically change the source to multi-point mappings from their controller?
A. Up to 7.1 and all "mappings" are configurable on the fly.

Q. I also am curious what potential requirements there are for manually setting up the traffic prioritization (QoS) in the Ethernet switches. This could be a major factor from an integrator’s configuration viewpoint (if you manually have to set that up as either a link port or TCP port through a managed switch).
A. Since we are our own network with no care of the "home network" other than our side-connect for media retrieval and internet connection, this is a non-issue. All prioritization is built in and requires zero configuration from the installer.

Q. It would be nice to know if it uses multicast (and all of the configuration implications thereof) or if it uses unicast streams, which has scalability and potential performance implications.
A. Unicast, multicast are both available as needed.

Q. Do they have an audio card that plugs into the PC for direct Ethernet out to their sink devices so the audio can stay in the digital realm?
A. We have digital inputs to our system for PC connect, or any source for that matter.

Q. What types of amps are they using (two channel Class D)? Do they have programmable equalizers in them for calibrating the audio for each room?
A. All amps are class D. There will be multiple channel configurations. The system has EQ for each room.


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Q. Do they have any kind of development kit so you can integrate other control systems with them? Are they exposed as DPWS [Devices Profile for Web Services]-based devices that can be discovered and controlled via standardized protocols?
A. We will have a published protocol for connecting other controllers. We cannot be controlled via "standard" network protocols.

Q. What kind of integration do they have with legacy analog sources?
A. We support IR and RS-232 for older components. Audio and video can be brought on network via analog or digital means.

Q. Do they have rack mountable power supplies that can feed the amps from a centralized location over the 16/4 wires in a Siamese cable?
A. Amps can be either centrally (rack) mounted or placed remotely in zones.

Q. What is the story on your Australian technology partners, Fluffy Spider and their FancyPants graphics engine?
A. They just laugh and they won't tell us.