As InfoComm 09 launched this morning, I immediately ran into an old friend, Marc Lopez of Yamaha. Marc pointed out how big a deal digital audio networking is to a manufacturer like Yamaha, and said as of InfoComm 09, that most new Yamaha hardware is now networkable with Audinate‘s Dante protocol. A formal press conference at the Audinate booth (5842) Wednesday will have more details, but Yamaha will start distributing a new Dante nework format card in September. It’s a format Marc says Yamaha “sees a lot of potential in. We are now fluid in the langauge of Dante.”

As is Yamaha with all other legitimate network protocols. And Yamaha has a variety of other software news going on this year, such as its new DME software update (DME v. 3.5). The boys in Yamaha’s labs, he admits, spend much of their time these days on software design and development even though the company will always be known first and foremost as a hardware manufacturer. These days, those two missions are hopelessly, and permanently, intertwined.

“The industry is becoming more demanding,” Marc told me. “Blame it on the computer industry. Software must be more flexible. But our end users are professionals, so constant hardware changes each year upsets their plans for stability. So, instead, the creation of solid hardware platforms and flexible software features that are constantly evolving make more sense for them.”

Especially in the current economic climate, where end users have to make existing hardware last longer than ever before.

“Lots of shifting going on, lots of substitutions,” Marc pointed out. “But that just means (installers and end users) need our help more than ever before. Wallets are tightening, but on the install side, projects are still moving forward. We need to help them be as flexible as possible.”

—MG