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Natural Systems’ ETH-68 is a Linux Ethernet audio interface with six balanced inputs, eight balanced outputs and support for JACK and PipeWire. The project reports a measured 3.620 ms round-trip latency at 48 kHz with a 64-sample buffer, and says synchronized units can add channels without increasing that latency. Pricing, availability and independent verification are not specified in the supplied report.
Natural Systems has published details of ETH-68, an Ethernet audio interface for Linux that the project says measured 3.620 milliseconds of round-trip audio latency at 48 kHz using a 64-sample buffer. The interface provides six balanced inputs and eight balanced outputs, and is designed to connect with Linux audio systems through JACK or PipeWire.
The device uses a Burr-Brown PCM3168A codec and an STM32H7 microcontroller running custom bare-metal firmware. Natural Systems says the firmware emulates a netJACK1 master endpoint. The rack-mounted unit has a 1U, 19-inch chassis, 1/4-inch TRS connectors for its balanced line-level inputs and outputs, and DIN MIDI connectivity. Supported sample rates are 48 kHz and 96 kHz.
For JACK, the project instructs users to start a server with the netone backend; the interface’s input and output ports appear when the first capture packet arrives. PipeWire users can instead run the project’s pw-eth68 client, which handles the audio streams for a PipeWire session. These are software paths described by the project, not evidence here of compatibility testing across particular Linux distributions or applications.
Natural Systems reports loopback measurements taken with jack_delay. At 48 kHz, reported round-trip latency ranges from 2.288 ms at a 32-sample buffer to 11.621 ms at 256 samples; at 96 kHz, the listed range is 1.148 ms to 5.814 ms. The 64-sample figures are 3.620 ms at 48 kHz and 1.814 ms at 96 kHz. The report compares selected results with an RME HDSPe AIO Pro PCIe card, but some comparison table entries are missing.
Low-Latency Linux Recording Options
The measurements address a practical concern for musicians and audio engineers: the delay between sending audio through a computer-based setup and hearing its return. The project describes round-trip latency as the combined result of buffering in the hardware and software and delay in the codec’s digital filters. It says the 3.620 ms result was measured with a loopback cable, rather than inferred from buffer size alone.
ETH-68 also takes a network-based approach instead of relying on a conventional internal PCIe sound card. That may be useful to Linux users whose studio setups need rack-mounted inputs and outputs or additional channels. However, the published figures are project-reported measurements; they do not establish performance on every host computer or under every workload. A low audio round-trip figure also does not by itself guarantee that a computer will avoid processing glitches, known as xruns.
The multi-unit design is another potential benefit for larger setups. Natural Systems says units can be synchronized and combined while maintaining the same round-trip audio latency as a single unit. That could allow channel capacity to grow without a corresponding increase in the reported audio delay, though setup and software requirements differ between JACK and PipeWire.
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How ETH-68 Connects to Linux Audio
ETH-68 sends audio over Ethernet but is intended to participate in established Linux audio workflows. With JACK, its firmware presents a netJACK1 endpoint, and the project’s instructions use JACK’s netone backend. With PipeWire, the dedicated pw-eth68 client performs a similar role. The report does not describe the interface as a general-purpose network audio device for arbitrary systems; its documented use is through these Linux audio software paths.
For multiple units, the project describes a shared high-frequency clock carried between devices using daisy-chained BNC cables. One device acts as the clock master. A broadcast UDP synchronization command, sent using eth68ctl.py, is used to align sample offsets. Natural Systems says the units receive the command within about one sample time—20.8 microseconds at 48 kHz—and restart their DMA transfers, leaving an offset of minus one, zero or plus one sample.
JACK requires the separate eth68proxy program to merge capture packets from multiple units and split playback data among them, because netJACK is not designed to combine multiple masters. For PipeWire, the project says pw-eth68 manages streams from multiple units without that proxy. The report also describes a rear-panel LATMON output, a 3.3-volt signal intended to help measure processing time and timing variation through the audio path.
Availability and Independent Testing
The supplied project report does not state price, order availability, shipping schedule or whether the interface is a finished retail product. It also does not provide independent test results or enough information to assess performance across different computers, Linux distributions, network configurations and audio workloads.
The comparison with the RME HDSPe AIO Pro is incomplete in the published material: some buffer-size entries are shown as unavailable, while the project says ETH-68 matches the card at 48 kHz and is 0.33 ms faster at 96 kHz. The measurement method and reported numbers are attributable to Natural Systems; independent confirmation is not included. The report also notes that processing latency depends on the host operating system, computer performance and the rest of the signal-processing path, and that excessive processing time can cause xruns.
Next Steps for Prospective Users
The project page provides configuration details and reported measurements, but the supplied source does not announce a product launch date or another scheduled milestone. Prospective users will need further information from Natural Systems about availability, pricing, hardware requirements and support before deciding whether the interface fits a studio setup.
For evaluation, the most useful next evidence would include independent loopback measurements, testing at different buffer sizes on a range of Linux hosts, and clearer details about network requirements and supported configurations. Users planning multiple units would also need to confirm clock cabling and synchronization procedures and, for JACK, account for the eth68proxy step. Until those details are available, the published specifications describe the project’s stated capabilities rather than a broadly verified performance guarantee.
Key Questions
What is ETH-68?
ETH-68 is an Ethernet audio interface described by Natural Systems for Linux audio systems. It has six balanced line-level inputs, eight balanced outputs, DIN MIDI connectivity and a 1U rack chassis.
What latency does the project report?
Natural Systems reports 3.620 ms round-trip latency at 48 kHz with a 64-sample buffer, measured using jack_delay and a loopback cable. It reports 1.814 ms at 96 kHz with the same buffer size.
Does ETH-68 work with JACK and PipeWire?
The project documents both. JACK uses the netone backend; PipeWire uses the project’s pw-eth68 client. The supplied report does not list independent compatibility testing across Linux distributions or applications.
Can multiple ETH-68 units be combined?
Natural Systems says multiple units can be synchronized to increase channel count. Its documented JACK setup requires eth68proxy; the project says pw-eth68 manages multiple units in PipeWire without that proxy.
Is the device available to buy?
The supplied project report gives no price or availability information, so its commercial status cannot be confirmed from these details.
Source: hn
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