Question:  What new functionality does the E-MADI card provide with the release of ECS 5.2.4?

Answer:  The E-MADI64 is a MADI (Multi channel Audio Digital Interface) card, providing up to 64 duplex channels of AES3 digital audio over a coaxial cable or fiber pair between compatible devices.  You can limit the quantity of channels to 32, 56 or 64 channels in ECS. Each E-MADI64 card set comprises:
• A front card with pin reset and various status indicators (including channel quantity, sample rate, power and diagnostic (active and error) indicators).
• A rear card with a MADI multi mode fiber connector, MADI input and output coaxial cable connectors, and a coaxial Video / Word clock input.
The standard maximum cable length is 2km, using fiber cable, or 50m using coaxial cable.  E-MADI64 cards must be fitted to the frame directly after the MVX-A16 cards, and before the E-QUE, IVC-32, LMC-64 and E-FIB cards. Up to three E-MADI64 cards can be fitted to the Eclipse Median.
MADI was developed by the professional audio industry. Its advantages over other audio digital interface protocols and standards such as AES/EBU (AES3), ADAT (Alesis Digital Audio Tape), TDIF (Tascam Digital Interface) and S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format) are: first, support of a greater number of channels per line; and second, the use of coaxial and optical fibre media that enable the transmission of audio signals over 100 meters and up to 3000 meters.