Even uncompressed and being extremely generous with the bit depth/rate: 32 ch * 24 bits * 96 kHz = 73 Mbps. That's a drop in the bucket on an 18Gbps connection

Even uncompressed and being extremely generous with the bit depth/rate: 32 ch * 24 bits * 96 kHz = 73 Mbps. That's a drop in the bucket on an 18Gbps connection. As mentioned, this is probably aimed at theaters. Also consider that you could send four separate 7.1 audio programs simultaneously over the same link, which would let any audio program switching happen at the receiving end instead. Actually, the Engadget article isn't very specific about "32 audio channels". Possibly they mean 32 separate audio programs instead? Audio is so cheap bandwidth-wise that it's practically free these days.