Dante is the product name for a combination of software, hardware, and network protocols that delivers uncompressed, multi-channel, low-latency

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital signal (signal processing), digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical sampling (signal processing), ...

over a standard

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

network using Layer 3 IP packets. Developed in 2006 by the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

-based Audinate, Dante builds on previous

audio over Ethernet In audio engineering, audio and broadcast engineering, broadcast engineering, Audio networking is the use of a Computer networking, network to distribute real-time digital audio. Audio Networking replaces bulky snake cables or audio-specific insta ...

and

audio over IP Audio over IP (AoIP) is the distribution of digital audio across an IP network such as the Internet. It is used increasingly to provide high-quality audio feeds over long distances. The application is also known as audio contribution over IP (ACI ...

technologies. Like most other audio over Ethernet technologies, Dante is primarily for professional, commercial applications. Most often, it is used in applications where a large number of audio channels must be transmitted over relatively long distances or to multiple locations. Digital audio provides several advantages over traditional analog audio distribution. Audio transmitted over analog cables can be adversely affected by signal degradation due to electromagnetic interference, high-frequency

attenuation In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a Transmission medium, medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and ...

, and

voltage drop In electronics, voltage drop is the decrease of electric potential along the path of a current flowing in a circuit. Voltage drops in the internal resistance of the source, across conductors, across contacts, and across connectors are unde ...

over long cable runs. Thanks to digital

multiplexing In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource� ...

, the cabling requirements for digital audio distribution are almost always reduced when compared to analog audio. Dante also provides specific advantages over first-generation audio over Ethernet technologies, such as CobraNet and EtherSound. Technological advancements include native

gigabit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communication. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented as ...

support, higher channel count, lower latency, and automatic configuration.

History

After

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

closed an Australian research facility in 2003, current Audinate CEO Aidan Williams brought a team of researchers to the National Information and Communication Technology Australia (NICTA) research centre in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

. There, with the help of government funding, the team spent three years developing the foundations of Dante. In 2006, Williams founded Audinate and began the process of bringing Dante to the market. Audinate received funding from NICTA until negotiations concluded in 2006, at which point Audinate became NICTA's first successful spin-out company. Since 2006, Audinate has also secured two rounds of A$4 million investments led by venture capital firms Starfish Ventures and Innovation Capital. In 2009, Audinate established an office in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

and also has offices in Cambridge (UK) and Hong Kong. Audinate has licensed 350 companies, which have produced over 3000 products that incorporate Dante technology. Audinate has licensed 550 companies, which have produced over 3800 products that incorporate Dante technology.

Platforms

Audinate offers Dante technology on a number of hardware and software platforms. *Virtual soundcard – software interface for Windows and macOS *Brooklyn II – medium channel count module,

Gigabit Ethernet In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is the term applied to transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second. The most popular variant, 1000BASE-T, is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard. It came into use in ...

*Ultimo – low channel count

microcontroller A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Pro ...

Fast Ethernet In computer networking, Fast Ethernet Ethernet physical layer, physical layers carry traffic at the nominal rate of . The Classic Ethernet, prior Ethernet speed was . Of the Fast Ethernet physical layers, 100BASE-TX is by far the most common. ...

*Dante HC – high channel count FPGA,

*Broadway – low channel count FPGA,

*Dante Domain Manager – network management platform Third-party software and hardware companies that sell Dante solutions must license it from Audinate.

Notes

References

External links

Official Audinate Website

Official Dante Website
{{Digital audio and video protocols Digital audio Audio network protocols Ethernet

History

Platforms

Notes

See also

References

External links