The Missing Link: Key Questions & Answers About Dante Audio Networking

Via also connects audio applications to a Dante network, but in a different fashion. DVS presents a single audio interface to applications (just like a physical sound-card) and displays only numbered channels in Dante Controller; any user or device on the network cannot “see” what audio applications are being used with DVS, only the channels.

With Via, applications can be specifically Dante-enabled, and those applications will appear as labeled channels on the Dante network. This makes it easy to expose several applications simultaneously, and each will have their own independent networked audio channels.

In addition, Via allows users to route audio internally on a computer. Anyone wishing to send audio from “application A” to “application B” will find it very difficult if not impossible to do using operating system tools. With Dante Controller, one simply drags a source application to a destination for instant connectivity.

DVS is usually the best choice for multi-channel recording of Dante networked audio, while Via is a more flexible tool for users who wish to extend audio networking to non-networked devices, and who need to “break out” separate audio applications from one computer onto a Dante network. A good example is media playback in public spaces – with Via, one can set an application to supply background music, knowing that any other system audio will not be passed to the network.

ML: In your view, what are some of the advantages of a Dante system over a standard analog system?

BP: Where to begin? The first advantage is an obvious one – Dante is all-digital transport, immune to analog noise, hum and grounding issues. Since nearly all new audio products are digitally-based, maximum fidelity is maintained by keeping everything in the digital realm during transport and processing, only converting to analog at a final endpoint, such as a loudspeaker. Many first-time users are surprised by the low noise of Dante systems; it can be a dramatic difference.

Screenshots of Dante Controller, Via and Virtual Soundcard.

Network transport overcomes the distance and weight problems of analog. Those two items may not at first appear related, but in analog systems an awful lot of copper is devoted to single-purpose cables carrying microphone and line-level signals. Anyone who has dealt with multi-channel snakes from stage boxes knows well how heavy and difficult to manage those cables can be, and that weight really adds up in larger systems.

Further, analog cables introduce losses and noise that worsen with distance, limiting deployment options and scale. In contrast, a Dante AV-over-IP network can span miles of distance, carrying hundreds of bit-perfect audio channels over a single lightweight Ethernet cable or fiber with absolutely no degradation. Expensive snakes are replaced by Cat-5E cable for pennies per foot.

Next up is a somewhat less obvious advantage: the replacement of point-to-point connections with networked connections. In analog systems, audio always goes from device to device, usually using devoted cables to chain one device to another. This means that the system design cannot be altered without moving cables and changing device settings – a problem that can prove daunting when the cables are buried in walls and ceilings.

Networked AV is fundamentally different. On a network, all devices are equally present and connectable at all times, not subject to the analog “daisy chain.” Changes to signal routes and system design can be made in seconds with a few mouse clicks, sending channels wherever they need to go. This allows for entirely new thinking about AV installations, and gives end users a vastly improved experience.