Ravenna is a technology for real-time distribution of audio and other media content in IP-based network environments. Utilizing standardized network protocols and technologies, Ravenna can operate on existing network infrastructures and meets industry requirements of low latency, full signal transparency and high reliability.

First launched in late 2016, the RAV-2-SAP freeware conversion tool was designed to help connect Ravenna devices to other AES67 devices by providing a translation service between RAVENNA and SAP announcements to enable the exchange of SDP data between otherwise incompatible devices. The new release delivers some important new features in addition to some minor bug fixes.

The most significant improvements are enhanced SDP Load & Save options. Single SDP files can now be loaded from or saved to text files of any extension for much greater flexibility. The other major enhancement is the ability to save and retrieve a complete list of locally created SDP announcements in a single operation. This means that complex setups can be saved and restored at any time with just a few mouse clicks. A number of minor bugs have also been resolved, resulting in an even more efficient tool for building fully interoperable AoIP networks.

According to Andreas Hildebrand, Senior Product Manager at ALC NetworX and a vocal Ravenna proponent, the improvements to the software are set to make an already popular tool even more so.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of downloads since it was first launched,” he said. “The last couple of months showed over 300 downloads alone, and the Ravenna Virtual Soundcard was running at nearly 550 downloads for the same period. This clearly proves that people are increasingly deploying Ravenna networks in their IP setups and that tools and resources such as these are highly appreciated.”

To make it even easier for RAV-2-SAP users to access all Ravenna support material— including any future program updates— the new version of the RAV-2-SAP application contains a link to the resources page embedded in the Ravenna logo on the main page for instant, one-click access. The new RAV-2-SAP tool can be downloaded directly from the Ravenna website.

Ravenna is an open technology standard without a proprietary licensing policy. It is fully compatible with the AES67 and ST2110 audio-over-IP networking standards.