Dante; Dante Introduction; Dante Specifications - Crown DCi 8 600DA Operation Manual

Table of Contents

Dante

Dante Introduction

Dante is a licensed technology from Audinate

low-latency audio. Dante runs on inexpensive off-the-shelf computer networking hardware and does not require dedicated network infrastructure; Ethernet switches transmit

Dante digital media streams alongside ordinary data traffic. The physical Dante connections must be made using Category 5e or Category 6 cables when using a Gigabit

network (Category 5 cables may be used for purely 100Mbps networks).

The two Dante (RJ-45) ports on the back of the DCi DA amplifiers can be used to connect to other Dante-enabled devices for transmission and receival of high-resolution

digital audio over standard Ethernet cabling. The Dante protocol supports 24-bit resolution with a sample rate of either 48kHz or 96kHz. All DCi DA amplifiers support 8

Dante input channels and 8 Dante output channels.

Dante Specifications

•

Supports 48kHz or 96KHz sample rates

•

24-bit audio resolution

•

Dante data can co-exist on a network alongside control information and other

standard data traffic

•

Supports high channel counts; maximum channel count varies based on

network speed (e.g., 100Mbps, Gigabit, etc.)

•

Dante protocol based on networking technology standards, allowing the

transport to operate with off-the-shelf networking peripherals

•

100m/328ft over Category 5e or Category 6 cable between devices (Category

5 cable can be used for purely 100Mbps networks)

•

Supports fiber runs using fiber-enabled network switches

Hardware Configuration

Dante devices have two Dante ports. One is the Primary and the other is the Secondary. When using only two Dante devices, the devices can be connected directly

together. When connecting more than two devices, they should be connected to an Ethernet switch using a star networking topology. If using the Secondary Dante ports for

redundancy, the Secondary ports should be connected to a second switch and operated as a separate network.

Fault Tolerance

The DCi DA amplifiers have a Primary and a Secondary Dante port; Dante audio traffic is duplicated to both of these ports. The Secondary port can be connected to a

secondary network switch for redundant operation in the event a primary cable connection or the primary network is compromised.

Mastership

The Dante network requires one device on the network to act as master for the whole network. The master will provide the clock for all the other Dante devices on the

network. This means that the whole network is synchronised to a single audio clock.

In certain cases, it is possible to utilize devices of more than one Ethernet transport type (AVB, CobraNet™, or BLU link) connected within the same Dante network. In other

words, if you're careful, you can design a Harman system which actually includes more than two transports.

For example, it's possible for a Harman system to have CobraNet™ audio being converted to BLU link audio (the BSS Audio BLU-800 and BLU-320 both have the ability to

"bridge" CobraNet to/from BLU link), which is then converted to Dante audio (BLU-806, BLU-326 and BLU-DAN all have the ability to "bridge" BLU link to/from Dante). It

all depends on a given transport's ability to "slave" (AKA "re-clock") to a clock being generated by a separate transport.

Can it be "slaved" to the clock of another transport?

AVB

BLU link Yes

CobraNet No

Dante

Yes

The previous chart has critical implications on system design when combining two or more transports. Any system based on Soundweb London (including Architectural

Media Systems) supports the following five multi-transport combinations:

•

BLU link + AVB (AVB provides the clock)

•

BLU link + CobraNet (CobraNet provides the clock)

•

BLU link + Dante (either BLU link or Dante provides the clock)

•

BLU link + Dante + AVB (AVB provides the clock)

•

BLU link + Dante + CobraNet (CobraNet provides the clock)

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