Some might say I’m obsessed with this topic… the one about what happens when ISDN disappears. It will go away…although the reports of its demise are quite likely grossly accelerated.
Let’s not get into that. Let’s just say the first cracks are showing in the monolithic façade of ISDN’s stranglehold on production studio heads, and the smart money is on finding a suitable alternative now.
I’ve written on this a lot, and the short list goes something like this for ISDN alternatives/substitutes (no particular order):
You can do a search for any of those terms using the search box in the top right of my blog’s main page, and find a lot of material.
But now, there’s a new offering, and my thanks to my friend Dan Hurst for posting the link in my Voice-Over Friends FaceBook Group about this. Dan’s mention points to Rachael Naylor’s Blog.
Click here to read Rachael Naylor’s blog about the new service.
The new service has the catchy name of ipdtl.
Click here to go to the website.
Ipdtl is free, and runs on a Mac or Windows machine, but ya gotta be using Google Chrome. It also works on a Laptop using a USB Mic…handy for remote.
Bottom line, though, is that ipdtl, like all the other alternatives, depends on reliable, big-bandwidth internet connection… and we all know that can lead to drop-out, and is subject to vagaries between systems, providers, nodes, carriers, Wi-Fi access points, cables, and more. This is why Source-Connect is so big on configuring static ports for their connection.
SoundStreak actually puts a unique twist on that IP demand that is an innovative workaround. See SoundStreak website for sign-up and more info.
I asked SoundStreak’s Dan Caligor about ipdtl, and he said (paraphrased) that SoundStreak uses a codec that has a higher bit rate configuration, and that the OPUS codec used by ipdtl is comparable to the level of a phone patch in quality.
Let me know of your experience with ipdtl?
CourVO
