Digital Audio - Digital Audio Interfaces

Digital Audio Interfaces

Audio-specific interfaces include:

• AC'97 (Audio Codec 1997) interface between Integrated circuits on PC motherboards
• Intel High Definition Audio A modern replacement for AC'97
• ADAT interface
• AES3 interface with XLR connectors
• AES47, Professional AES3-style digital audio over Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks
• I²S (Inter-IC sound) interface between Integrated circuits in consumer electronics
• MADI Multichannel Audio Digital Interface
• MIDI low-bandwidth interconnect for carrying instrument data; cannot carry sound but can carry digital sample data in non-realtime
• S/PDIF, either over coaxial cable or TOSLINK
• TDIF, TASCAM proprietary format with D-sub cable
• A2DP via Bluetooth

Naturally, any digital bus (e.g., USB, FireWire, and PCI) can carry digital audio. Also, several interfaces are engineered to carry digital video and audio together, including HDMI and DisplayPort.

In professional architectural or installation applications, many digital audio networking protocols and interfaces exist.