New Capabilities To The Automotive Audio Bus (A2B)

The MIDI Association announced today the addition of MIDI 2.0 capabilities to the Automotive Audio Bus (A2B®) from Analog Devices, Inc.

The technology will be showcased at the MIDI Association booth #10300 at the upcoming NAMM show in Anaheim, California on June 3-5, 2022. 

A2B® is a high bandwidth, bidirectional, digital audio bus capable of distributing 32 channels of audio and MIDI control data together with clock and power over a single, unshielded twisted-pair wire. The technology enables the development of advanced, feature-rich and cost-effective audio and MIDI LAN systems in a variety of musical instrument and pro audio applications.

“We see many opportunities for the extension of Analog Device’s A2B® into musical instrument and pro audio applications, particularly for guitar effects, electronic drums, digital keyboards and small format audio mixers,” said David Dashefsky, Director for Strategic Marketing and Systems in the Consumer Business Unit at Analog Devices. “MIDI 2.0 and ADI’s A2B® digital audio bus now allow your whole band to connect together with multi-channel digital audio over low-cost cables, or inexpensively connect modular systems like guitar pedals or electronic drum kits”

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the industry standard developed to connect digital musical instruments to each other, as well as to computers, tablets and smartphones. MIDI 2.0 is a significant upgrade to the original MIDI 1.0 specification adopted in 1983 and makes MIDI more expressive and easier to use by changing MIDI from a monolog to a dialog and allowing MIDI devices to discover shared capabilities and auto configure themselves. A2B® will support both MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0 devices and provide backward compatibility/translation where necessary. 

“Combining the multi-channel audio networking capabilities of the Analog Devices A2B® with MIDI’s expressive musical control creates a brand-new technology platform for the musical instrument and pro audio industry,” said Athan Billias, President of the MIDI Association. “This inexpensive platform to connect multiple digital instruments together is a big boon to designers of musical instrument and pro audio applications.”

At the June 2022 NAMM show in Anaheim, the MIDI Association will showcase the A2B technology using the ProtoZOA USB MIDI 2.0 prototyping and testing tool developed by Amenote Inc.

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