BS EN 60958-4-4:2016

What is this BS EN 60958-4-4 - Professional applications for digital audio about ?  

BS EN 60958-4-4 discusses digital audio interface with a focus on professional applications. BS EN 60958-4-4 is the fourth part of the BS EN 60958 multi-series on the digital audio interface that specifies the physical and electrical parameters for different media. 

BS EN 60958-4-4 applies to circuits where balanced equipment is adapted to coaxial cable. Other standards call for more stringent figures where conventional video equipment is used for digital audio signals (SMPTE ST 276:1995) or less stringent figures where consumer equipment is connected over short distances using the screened audio cable. 

Who is BS EN 60958-4-4 - Professional applications for digital audio for ? 

BS EN 60958-4-4 on professional applications for digital audio is useful for: 

• Manufacturers of products that provide audio output (televisions, phones) 
• Audio equipment manufactures  
• Audio programmers  
• Music producers 
• Sound technicians 
• Recording and dubbing studios 

Why should you use BS EN 60958-4-4 - Professional applications for digital audio ?  

The two-channel digital audio interface has been widely used in a variety of professional audio applications that have reached beyond the vision of the original standard. In particular, applications using increased sampling frequencies and alternative physical media. BS EN 60958-4-4 specifies the physical signals that convey the bitstream specified in IEC 60958-1. The transport format is intended for use with shielded twisted-pair cable of conventional design over distances of up to 100 m at frame rates of up to 50 kHz. Longer cable lengths and higher frame rates may be used, but with a rapidly increasing requirement for care in cable selection and possible receiver equalization, or the use of active repeaters. Provision is made in BS EN 60958-4-4 for adapting the balanced terminals to use 75 Ω coaxial cable. Transmission by fibre-optic cable is under consideration. 

Together with IEC 60958-1, IEC 60958-4-2, and IEC 60958-4-4, BS EN 60958-4-4 specifies an interface for serial digital transmission of two channels of periodically sampled and linearly represented digital audio data from one transmitter to one receiver. 

What’s changed since the last update? 

BS EN 60958-4-4:2016 supersedes IEC 60958-4:2003, which is withdrawn. BS EN 60958-4-4:2016 includes some technical changes with respect to IEC 60958-4:2003.  

These include: 

• Support for a wider range of physical media 
• Support for a wider range of audio sampling frequencies 
• Deprecation of “minimum implementation” of channel status data