In the early 1990s, a concerted effort was made to fold audio network system controls into a single standard. The AES24 project yielded ideas that were implemented by the industry, but it failed to produce the uniformity that its proponents hoped for.
At the conclusion of this year’s San Francisco convention, the Audio Engineering Society and the OCA Alliance announced a new project, AES-X210 “Open Control Architecture (OCA)," with the goal of establishing OCA as the public standard for the control and monitoring of professional media networks.
The idea is noble, but the success of this effort will rest on the committee’s ability to convince multiple manufacturers to buy into the concept.
Check out the AES Standards website in order to participate in this project or are interested in its progress. The AES Standards Committee Chair is confident that the committee’s work will prove enticing to manufacturers.
“AES Standards has been deeply involved with standards for digital audio since starting work in 1977," Chair Bruce C. Olson said. "The AES-X210 project to standardize OCA takes us to the next important milestone by integrating control with transport of audio over a variety of networks. Combined with a number of other projects in this exciting area of audio the AES continues to lead the world in audio standards, which enable a thriving marketplace for compatible products from competing manufacturers. We are very pleased to collaborate with the leading manufacturers in the OCA Alliance on this standards project.”