I’m particularly feeling my age lately, not only because my Gen-Z colleagues use words I don’t understand like rizz, no cap, and bussin’, but also because I’ve mostly lived in analog or analog-adjacent audio land until the last month or so. By which I mean that I understand audio signal in an analog context—input signal from a mic or instrument travels by a mono or stereo cable into a stage box that’s connected to a snake of analog cables that runs to analog inputs on the back of a mixing console and returns via said snake to amps and their cables and finally to speakers.
For the last seventy years or so, audio professionals have just dealt with the general inconvenience of heavy copper snakes and bulky cable management. Those days have been coming to an end over the last ten years, however, as manufacturers started pioneering digital audio transport, which eliminates snakes for one Cat5e, or better yet Cat6e cable. And this opens up a completely new world of delivering audio from the stage to the mixer, and to virtually anywhere on earth. Different manufacturers use a variety of protocols for that transport offering convenience, but not always compatibility.
And then in 2006, the folks at Audinate introduced the Dante and the possibilities for digital audio networking exploded.
What is AVoIP and Dante?
AVoIP is a simple acronym that denotes Audio & Video over Internet Protocol. That does not necessarily mean sending AV signal over the global internet (although that’s possible), it just means that we’re taking audio inputs, using some hardware and software to convert that signal into a digital signal that can travel over category cable, and then de-converting that signal down the chain to make sound.
Most console manufacturers have some version of this technology that eliminates the need for snakes between their stage boxes and consoles, replacing analog snakes with one or two Cat5e or Cat6 cables which offer high-bandwidth and bi-directional signals and control. Category cable can send signal over much longer distances than analog TRS cables, often up to 100 meters with high-quality cable and properly terminated connectors, and there’s no chunky snake(s) to deal with. The cable is easy to handle, hide, and even repair.
The beauty of Dante is that you can start small with no networking hardware, but then expand as you have the budget and time.
Dante, looking to make a better solution, is designed to take the signal from any manufacturer's stage box and make it available to as many other devices in your audio ecosystem as needed. As the technology has grown to almost industry-standard use across the AV industry, many manufacturers are now building Dante hardware right into their machines or certainly making space for a Dante audio card slot.
Dante is so popular because it works with off-the-shelf networking hardware, is compatible with basically all major manufacturer consoles and stage boxes, and can easily be controlled with Mac, Windows, or Linux computers. You can even integrate those machines into the Dante network with the Dante Virtual Sound Card software or the Dante Via or Dante AVIO adapters.
Dante is more than just a simple audio transport option. Now there’s Dante AV, making the Dante ecosystem into an entire solution to AV distribution.
How Does Dante Work?
For our purposes today, we’re sticking to audio over Dante. While Dante is an audio and video (Dante AV) solution, we don’t have time for the video side. That will be another article at another time.
Again, Dante works over off-the-shelf networking equipment. Each input and output in your audio ecosystem need Dante hardware, whether that’s a Dante card in your console or stage box, Dante adapters on your computers, or the Dante Virtual Sound Card. Once you’ve outfitted your machines with Dante, you can daisy chain them together (for smaller systems) or connect them all into a managed network switch—all with Cat5e cabling or better—and that’s it. You’re using Dante which can deliver your audio signals almost anywhere. Want to get an audio mix to your overflow space? What about your cry rooms or youth location? Want to send a mix to the lobby or café area? These are all great solutions for using Dante for audio distribution.
Dante is so popular because it works with off-the-shelf networking hardware.
That seems too good to be true, but it isn’t. Dante uses DHCP to find itself and assign IP addresses across your audio LAN, populates those devices into Dante Controller, and you’re ready to go. As long as the devices are powered on, it will work. Inside of Dante Controller, you can then create “subscriptions,” what Dante calls connections for routing between devices, and you’ll start hearing sound.
Obviously, for larger systems, you’ll need to be very thorough about creating subscriptions, but Dante Controller is wildly customizable. You can name devices and channels, set manual IP addresses, set sample rates, and a host of other options, all from within the Dante Controller software.
Just for clarity, here’s a step-by-step breakdown of that process:
- Outfit your machines in your audio system with Dante cards, adapters, or Dante Virtual Sound Card (for computers)
- Connect them together with Cat5e
- This can be a daisy chain connection
- You can also connect them into a managed network switch (recommended for larger systems)
- Download and open Dante Controller
- Name your devices and their channels
- Start creating subscriptions.
Now, you will need to familiarize yourself with some networking fundamentals, but Dante sets you up to win that ballgame. Keep reading to find out how.
Notes for Nerds
I’m sure some of you have lots of questions. It can’t be this simple, right? Well, it sort of is. Like any equipment we work with, the devil is in the details, but Dante really sets us all up for success by providing three levels of training, completely free of charge, to become certified in Dante. I completed the level one certification before writing this article because our church is making the move over to Dante in a couple of weeks. This training includes those networking fundamentals I was talking about. The whole thing takes a few hours and four short quizzes. If you’re a good note-taker, you’ll do just fine. Shure and Yamaha also offer excellent training on setting up and maintaining a Dante network.
That being said, here’s a couple of things you’ll want to know immediately if you’re considering making the switch to Dante—
- All devices in your audio LAN must be set to the same sample rate.Dante can handle differing bit depths, but the sample rates have to match. It can handle sample rates as high as 192 kHz. You can add conversion hardware to your signal chain if you need to tweak your sample rates.
- Use a gigabit switch.While Dante can work on systems as low as 100 mbps, a gigabit connection is recommended. Dante also recommends using a managed switch with PoE (power over ethernet) for complete ease of use.
- You’re not limited to a single gigabit link. You can use as many gigabit links as your network switch can handle. However, if your devices are daisy-chained without a switch, that’s when you are limited to a single gigabit link, which can handle up to 512x512 channels of 24-bit audio at 48 kHz.
- Don’t use all the bandwidth on your switch.Dante recommends the networking standard of a 20% bandwidth buffer to keep the network stable.
- Dante does not transport over WiFi, but you can use Dante Controller over WiFi.Simply put, WiFi doesn’t maintain the stability or speed required for delivering reliable audio or video. However, you can connect to your LAN via a wireless access point to run the Dante Controller to remotely change routing and destinations.
- Keep Dante separate from your facility network.Save yourself and your IT guy the headache of splitting switches and all that nonsense. Since Dante won’t carry anything needed on the facility network, you’ll be able to troubleshoot at will without needing to cross-resource solutions, the system will be more reliable, and you’ll know it because you built it.
- Not all network switches are equal.While Dante will work with virtually any off-the-shelf network switches, you have to use switches that can disable EEE mode. This Reddit thread over at r/livesound recommends some particular hardware designed for ease of use with audio networks. Here’s what they like—
The Bottom Line
While once just a convenient perk, AVoIP is quickly becoming the standard for all AV integrations. Dante, and now Dante AV for video, are a great bet for any church looking to upgrade long-term and “future-proof” their AV system. The beauty of Dante is that you can start small with no networking hardware, but then expand as you have the budget and time. It grows with you, making it a great investment in the long run for any church’s AV infrastructure.
