Hey all
Let me a announce a by product that was created while working in a research group exploring formats for telematic performances.
tpf-client[1] is a graphical multi-instance jacktrip clone built in Pure Data. It establishes low-latency multi-channel audio connections between two or more endpoints. Unlike the traditional jacktrip utility, it doesn't require any of the endpoints to have public IP address, a requirement that is hard to fulfill in many concert venues.
The client connects to a server - the tpf-server[2] - that keeps track of connected clients and lets client agree on common parameters like samplerate and blocksize. The server acts as a UDP proxy between clients and thus allows clients to send audio among each other even when they are behind firewalls. Alternatively, clients may establish a direct peer-to-peer connection by using a technique called UDP hole punching. This feature is still considered experimental and may not work in certain network environments.
We have been successfully using this setup in a number of concerts with two or three concert venues and the additional latency due to the UDP proxy was small enough for our purposes, since we run the server close to our university. The client comes pre-configured to use our server running at telematic.zhdk.ch. However, we advise other interested groups to set up their own server for productive use, on the one hand to keep latency as small as possible, on the other hand we're still doing experiments and might restart or adapt services. If groups or institutions are interested to use this setup, we would appreciate to get some feedback. Contact me directly.
The client: [1] https://gitlab.zhdk.ch/TPF/tpf-client Standalone-App for macOS: https://gitlab.zhdk.ch/TPF/tpf-client/tags/v1.0.0
The server: [2] https://gitlab.zhdk.ch/TPF/tpf-server
Thank you, Roman