Swiss-based Barix has launched the Exstreamer M400 IP audio decoder. According to Davide Nossa, product manager at Barix, it provides more processing power than previous Exstreamer models, enhanced security features, and further extensibility alongside expanded support for audio formats and technology standards including Opus and AES67.
The Exstreamer M400 features stereo, line-level, analog audio output with RCA-type connections and can decode streams in MP3, AAC-HE, FLAC, PCM, Opus, and Ogg Vorbis formats. Barix says newly added AES67 support enables the Exstreamer M400 to be configured as a dedicated AES67 receiver and decoder, enabling seamless integration into AES67-based audio-over-IP networks plus interoperability with Dante-compatible devices. The Exstreamer M400 incorporates the full AES67 interoperability guidelines, including RTP audio delivery, multicast addressing and PTP-based synchronization with a separate master clock device. Supported discovery methods include SAP, mDNS and RTSP, enabling the decoder to automatically identify and list available streams from Dante, Ravenna and other audio over IP solutions that use these protocols. The manual insertion of SDP information allows for interoperability with third-party solutions that do not support these standards.
Customization
Barix claims the Exstreamer M400’s software-driven architecture enables easier expansion, rapid prototyping and greater customization. Barix adds that the larger buffer size and advanced buffer management technology allow configuration to further bolster the Exstreamer M400’s resilience to network performance disruptions in applications where minimizing latency is not critical.
The company explains that expanded support for IT security standards includes “https: support for audio streams and the web-based management interface, plus secure, encrypted SIP communication links using TLS and SRTP.” Other new features relative to earlier Exstreamer models include IPV6 support and internal audio file storage with externally triggered playback.
The Exstreamer M400’s Linux-based architecture enables upgradability and a modern API is planned for future release for developers, replacing previous Exstreamer models’ older CGI control specifications.
