BeBoB 2.0 breakout box

BridgeCo has begun shipping its , which includes full support for Mac OS X. "The Mac has long been one of the most popular composition tools for musicians and other creative types," explained BridgeCo CEO Angelo Ugge. "By supporting Mac OS X drivers on our BeBoB 2.0 platform, BridgeCo helps OEMs quickly develop breakout boxes that musicians can connect via plug-and-play to their Macs. The BridgeCo architecture is scalable, permitting the same platform to be used for breakout boxes that satisfy the demands of professional users, as well as the sub-$200‚ price requirements of the consumer market."

"Mac OS X Core Audio integrates a wide range of audio functionality directly into the operating system, delivering extremely low latency and ease of use to musicians, audio pros and music educators," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "BridgeCo's BeBoB platform allows developers to easily create plug-and play audio devices for Mac OS X, saving the additional cost for driver development, and creating a seamless experience for end users."





BeBoB 2.0 uses the FireWire (IEEE 1394) audio drivers built into Mac OS X and implements the latest version of the applicable AV/C (Audio Video/Control) standard adopted by the 1394 Trade Association. BridgeCo said that it worked with Apple to enhance the AV/C standard based on their collective real-world experience. According to the company, the BeBoB 2.0 solution is capable of low-latency mixing, which allows users to record new tracks while simultaneously playing back previously recorded ones. The BeBoB 2.0 design also enables multiple breakout boxes to be daisy-chained together, allowing consumers to combine an almost unlimited number of discrete audio inputs.





Breakout boxes enable musicians to record audio from multiple sources--instruments, microphones and audio samples--by converting these audio sources into a digital format and transferring them to a computer. Once the raw audio tracks are recorded and stored on a computer, they can be played back, arranged and edited to complete a total musical or audio experience. BridgCo says that nearly a dozen leading OEMs have adopted its silicon and software platform to design cost-effective breakout boxes that offer musicians and content creators flexible connectivity options and easy FireWire interface to Mac OS X.

by MacNN Staff