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kgenus · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject: I S D N

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Deirdre · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject:

Thank you for this info-- more welcome refutation of the never ending death knell for ISDN.
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Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:42 pm Post subject:

Bruce · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:54 am Post subject:

As long as a few thousand radio stations and hundreds of National sports and news networks rely exclusively on ISDN for connectivity, as well as all the recording studios big and small, plus the thousands of businesses that still use ISDN for networking...ISDN will be with us a while longer.

B
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jasbart · Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 7:20 am Post subject: Re: I S D N

dlrosenberg · Guest

All,

I'm a little new at this biz, so I've been following the ISDN discussion with some puzzlement.

From my days at Bell-Labs and Lucent, I recall that ISDN=Integrated Services Digital Network. As I recall, ISDN was originally a 64K per channel (using two channels for data and one for dialling) service initiated for the then-rapid transmission of zeros and ones (BITS) over copper twisted pair. The ISDN multiplexer dit the A/D-D/A conversion.

There are still ISDN phones to be found in office/business environments which were planned for data transmission...but the internet and TCP-IP over CAT 5 or 6 has made ISDN largely redundant. So those phones and analog PBX's are pretty much being EOL'd. ISDN was the BIG thing in its time, but now it's been displaced, AFAIK. That's why the telcos are no longer supporting it - they want your high-speed fiber business.

Verizon just installed FTP (Fiber to the Premises) to my home. My phone line is now fiber, all-digital, and clean as a hound's tooth (never did understand just how clean that is supposed to be, but anyway...) And my effective speed is a minimum guaranteed of 10 Megs.

One of the issues seems to be that ISDN goes over a Public Switched Telephone Network - which means that you have to actually dial a phone number and someone has to accept the call on the other end. But it seems to me that, even by using FTP rather than ISDN - you still have to dial out. The fiber would guarantee a bit rate far in excess of the 128K (64K x 2) and a line completely free of noise, as all the inter-office phone trunk likes are fiber these days. The sticking point is the phone device istelf - pretty low fi.

OK, so here's the question (OK, I'm getting to it!!!!): what kind of device do you use on your end to connect your high-quality mic to the ISDN device?

TIA.

brianforrester · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:07 pm Post subject: Re: ISDN EOL'd in general.

Deirdre · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:24 pm Post subject:

Telos Zephyr here.

Mic, Mixer, Zephyr.

Sometimes a Symetrix processor in between the mic and the mixer.
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jasbart · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:32 pm Post subject:

The ISDN box that Brian is referring to is generically called a codec. The most common ones are made by Telos, Musicam, APT, and Audio TX. The codec converts the analog signal to a digital one.

I go from my mic, through a preamp, directly into a Telos Zephyr.

Jim
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asnively · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject:

Is anyone using Audio TX Communicator? How compatible is it with the boxes clients typically have?
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Deirdre · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:38 pm Post subject:

I think Banksey's using audio TX with an ISDN line.

I've had some great connections & sessions overseas with folks using an Audio TX setup to talk to my Zephyr via ISDN.
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asnively · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 7:42 pm Post subject:

I'm getting weary with hiring studio time when I need ISDN, and that Audio TX seems like a dream come true. Reading the faq on their site nearly made me pass out with excitement! I was worried it might be too good to be true... But if Banksey uses it, and you (D cool

haven't had compatibilkity issues with your Zephyr, then I'm in! Smile

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Dan-O · The Gates of Troy Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 1638

Bruce · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject:

Regarding Audio TX: It's actually closer to $1,200 or so when you add the peripheral equipment...plus the cost of a new PC if yours isn't new/big/fast enough.

Go to http://www.digifon.com for good information.

Regarding dlrosenberg's question on the ISDN device, the common term for them I believe is audio codec...codec also being the name for software programming that converts audio files from one format to another, such as converting WAV to the MP3 format. In fact, all of these ISDN codecs work by instantly converting your audio to a compressed format (actually two channels of MP2 audio is the most commonly used format for VO work) and the receiving unit converts it back to a full audio format on the other end.

I imagine ISDN can come down a fiber line as well as copper wire...don't make no difference, but as I noted earlier, as long as thousands of major entertainment players continue to use ISDN, it will still be around a while longer. We're just waiting for that better, cheaper mouse trap (hint, hint, Frank).

B
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

Dan-O · The Gates of Troy Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Posts: 1638

A recent quote from Digifon was just over $1400.00 for all of the necessary equipment for a PC, minus a solid sound card. It even says on their site "As low as $1500 complete." For a PC you need the software, the terminal adapter, NT-1 Network Terminator and a preferred sound card. You can visit the Audio TX site to find a complete list of acceptable cards.