Audio over IP Has Moved from Emerging Technology to Industry Standard

The broadcast industry is experiencing one of the most profound infrastructure transformations since the transition from analogue to digital television. Across content production organizations, traditional SDI-based facilities are increasingly being replaced—or complemented—by IP-native production environments built around standards such as Dante, AES67, RAVENNA and SMPTE ST 2110.

IP architectures offer broadcasters significantly greater flexibility than legacy infrastructures, allowing signals to be routed dynamically across facilities, resources to be shared between production areas, and systems to scale without the physical constraints of point-to-point cabling. They also enable new operational models, including distributed production, remote workflows and virtualized environments that would have been difficult or impossible using traditional SDI infrastructures.

As broadcasters continue to invest in modern facilities, AoIP is no longer viewed as experimental technology and has become a core component of broadcast infrastructure.

Yet while discussions around IP migration often focus on bandwidth, network design, redundancy, and interoperability, one critical operational element can sometimes receive less attention than it deserves: monitoring.

In reality the move to IP has made monitoring more—not less—important. As audio paths become increasingly dynamic and software-defined, operators need greater confidence than ever that the signals they are hearing accurately represent what is travelling across the network. In complex IP environments, monitoring has become an essential tool for validating workflows, confirming routing and maintaining operational confidence.

The Benefits of AoIP Are Clear—But So Are the Challenges

AoIP technologies including Dante, AES67 and RAVENNA have enabled high-quality audio transport over standard IP networks, while SMPTE ST 2110 has extended those concepts across complete production infrastructures by transporting video, audio and ancillary data as separate, PTP synchronized streams.

Production resources can now be shared between multiple control rooms and routed wherever they are required without dedicated physical connections. New production areas can be added with far greater ease, and facilities can be expanded without rebuilding entire signal infrastructures. From an engineering perspective, IP also offers resilience through network redundancy, efficient resource utilization, and improved scalability.

However, flexibility inevitably introduces complexity.

Unlike traditional SDI environments, where engineers could often follow a physical signal path from source to destination, IP infrastructures may carry thousands of simultaneous multicast streams moving dynamically across the network. Audio and video no longer travel together as a single signal, and different protocols may coexist.

An issue that once involved checking a cable or router destination may now involve network timing, multicast subscriptions, channel mapping, or interoperability between multiple standards. Operators need to understand not only whether audio is present, but also whether the correct channels are arriving at the correct destination with the expected timing and metadata.

Modern monitoring systems have taken on a new role and are no longer passive devices simply confirming audio presence. They have become active diagnostic tools that help engineers verify signal integrity, validate routing, and identify problems before they affect transmission.

The Operational Challenge Many Organizations Underestimate

One observation that we see consistently emerging across large IP deployments: organizations tend to focus heavily on building the network but often underestimate the operational implications once the facility goes live.

Designing a robust IP backbone is unquestionably important, but the day-to-day success of an IP facility depends just as much on the ability of operators and engineers to understand what the network is doing in real time.

Broadcast operations remain fundamentally human. Directors, operators, shader engineers, technical directors, and transmission teams all rely on robust monitoring for clear, immediate information to make decisions under pressure, particularly when something unexpected happens.

Today’s monitoring solutions must integrate natively with IP standards, support multiple networking protocols, present complex channel configurations clearly and provide intuitive interfaces that simplify, rather than complicate, operations.

Equally important is reliability.

In a 24/7 broadcast environment, operators cannot question whether the monitoring equipment itself is presenting an accurate picture. Confidence in the monitor directly translates into confidence in the facility.

Manufacturers therefore need to think beyond hardware specifications. They must consider software flexibility, standards compliance, interoperability, lifecycle support and responsiveness to customer requirements. As facilities evolve, monitoring platforms must evolve alongside them.

A Real-World Example: A Ground-Up ST 2110 Rebuild at a Major New York Broadcast Facility

Conceived as a next-generation broadcast center, this network represented one of the industry’s most ambitious IP deployments. At the time of commissioning, it was the largest broadcast facility in the world built around a complete SMPTE ST 2110 backbone, demonstrating that IP had matured sufficiently to support mission-critical television operations at the highest level.

For Wohler Technologies, participation in the project represented the largest single order for in-rack audio monitors in the company’s history. The deployment centered on Wohler’s iAM-SUM16 audio monitors equipped with the RAVENNA networking option.

Working closely with the project’s chief architect, and his engineering team, Wohler developed a customized software implementation to support their specific ST 2110 audio channel flows. Rather than expecting operators to adapt their workflows around standard product capabilities, the monitoring platform was engineered to align with the unique requirements of the facility, including provision of analog audio stereo outputs over RCA, to enable them to monitor audio from in-rack units from their PCs.

This collaborative approach proved invaluable throughout deployment.

As commissioning progressed, Wohler engineers identified an issue affecting monitors operating under particular conditions. Although the issue had not yet resulted in operational failures, Wohler chose to address it proactively rather than wait for customer reports or scheduled maintenance.

Two engineers travelled to the facility and spent consecutive weekends upgrading every installed monitor across the site. While this represented a significant logistical undertaking at scale since equipment had already been installed throughout production areas, MCRs and engineering workspaces, the upgrades were completed with minimal disruption to operational schedules.

The decision reflected a broader philosophy that successful IP deployments depend not only on product capability but also on sustained partnership.

Today, Wohler monitoring solutions are deployed throughout the facility, supporting production operations, MCR and contribution workflows. Nearly every operator desk and engineering workbench incorporates Wohler monitoring, creating a consistent operational experience across the entire facility.

Wohler was selected following a competitive evaluation, with the decision ultimately reflecting a combination of advanced functionality, IP readiness and the long-established reliability associated with the Wohler brand.

Mike Strein, recently retired Director of Engineering for ABC News, stated: “We looked at a variety of monitoring platforms and devices when designing the Galaxy facility, the new hub for all of Disney’s media content creation in New York City. Wohler’s ability to pack an incredible amount of functionality into a 1RU package, yet still make it simple to use operationally, stood out for us. Their ability to address all the units from a central location and upgrade the firmware seamlessly was another powerful feature. As I say often: we liked it so much we bought 800 of them!”

Looking Ahead: Monitoring Will Continue to Evolve Alongside IP

The pace of change within broadcast technology shows no sign of slowing.

As facilities become increasingly virtualized and cloud-connected, monitoring will inevitably evolve beyond its traditional role. Future monitoring platforms are likely to provide deeper visibility into network health, richer diagnostic information, greater software configurability, and tighter integration with broader network management systems.

At the same time, interoperability will remain a critical priority. Most broadcasters will continue operating hybrid infrastructures for many years, combining ST 2110, Dante, AES67, RAVENNA and legacy technologies within the same facility. Monitoring solutions must therefore bridge these environments rather than favor a single protocol.

Perhaps most importantly, monitoring interfaces themselves must continue becoming simpler, even as the underlying technology grows more sophisticated. Engineers should not need to struggle simply to confirm that the correct audio is reaching air.

The Takeaway

The industry’s transition to Audio over IP is fundamentally changing the way broadcast facilities are designed, operated and maintained. The advantages—greater flexibility, scalability, efficiency and resilience—are substantial, and the momentum behind IP adoption continues to accelerate.

However, successful IP deployments depend on much more than network infrastructure alone.

As signal paths become increasingly dynamic, monitoring becomes the operational reference point that enables engineers and operators to trust what they are seeing and hearing. It provides the confidence needed to manage complex workflows, diagnose issues quickly and maintain the reliability that broadcasters demand.

Projects such as the one described above demonstrate that the most successful implementations are built not only on advanced technology but also on close collaboration between broadcasters and technology partners who understand the operational realities of live television.

Ultimately, while IP has transformed the transport of audio, the objective remains unchanged. Broadcasters still need complete confidence that every signal is exactly where it should be, every channel is correctly assigned, and every program reaches air without compromise. As broadcast infrastructures continue to evolve, monitoring will remain one of the industry’s most important—and increasingly intelligent—tools for delivering that confidence.