Audio data communications

Data communications apparatus comprises a master device for processing digital audio data and a plurality of slave devices connectable in a ring network with the master device. Each slave device has a plurality of data channels associated therewith and is arranged for supply, in use, of audio data from the ring network to its associated data channels and/or to the ring network from its associated data channels. The master and slave devices are arranged for serial communication via the ring network in use of digital audio data formatted in frames, each frame comprising a plurality of data blocks which data blocks contain audio sample data corresponding to respective audio signals. The master and slave devices are further arranged for communication via the ring network in use of set-up data comprising set-up commands transmitted by the master device to the slave devices and set-up responses transmitted by the slave devices to the master device, whereby the master device determines the arrangement of slave devices around the ring network and the number of data channels associated with each slave device, and, in dependence upon the said arrangement and numbers of data channels, allocates to any slave device which is arranged for supply of audio data from the network to its associated data channels a sequence of data blocks within each frame of the digital audio data format in which sequence of data blocks audio data will be transmitted to that slave device for supply to its associated data channels.