In November 2020, Apple announced both the release of macOS 11 (Big Sur) and new Mac computers that employ Apple Silicon, with the new M1 ARM SoC in lieu of x86 (Intel) processors.

As of this date, we are still finalizing support for Dante applications on Intel based macs running macOS Big Sur. Support for Intel-based Macs running Big Sur is anticipated in early 2021.

We do not recommend installing Dante software (Dante Controller, Dante Virtual Soundcard, Dante Via) on any Macs that use the new M1 ARM SoC. We are working to ensure proper compatibility with these new products, expected later in 2021.

It has come to Audinate’s attention that certain Dante devices (including Brooklyn II-based devices, Broadway-based devices, and PCIe cards) cannot be successfully recovered from fail-safe using Dante Updater on macOS 10.15.7, and possibly also macOS 10.15.6. 

A fix for this issue is currently under development and is targeted for release in early January 2021. 

In the meantime, Audinate strongly recommends that you avoid macOS 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 in production environments where fail-safe recovery may be required, or alternatively ensure there is availability of a backup computer running Windows, or an earlier version of macOS. 

Inclusivity is central to Audinate’s culture and our values include treating each other with respect. We recently developed guidelines on avoiding offensive or disrespectful terminology for our own internal development which we have also distributed to our Dante manufacturers. We are actively updating our software, documentation, web site and training material to remove offensive language, and these changes will occur over the coming weeks and months.

Dante Via ‘License Expired’ suggests that the license ID is still active on another machine.

You can deactivate it remotely using the Recover License tool found under My Account > My Products.

Note that the tool will only work for Dante Via licenses. It is not supported with licenses for the Dante Virtual Soundcard.

If you continue to see problems activating Dante Via, please contact Support.

We have recently been made aware of an issue on Mac OS X where DVS v4.1.0.8 on some machines will present a latency increase issue, which may result in distorted audio.

Should you experience this issue, please install the previous version of the DVS v4.0.4.3 software from the following URL – https://my.audinate.com/content/dante-virtual-soundcard-v4043-macos.

Audinate are actively investigating the issue and will release an update with a fix in the following weeks. If the issue persists with DVS v4.0.4.3 please contact Audinate Support.

No. The Secondary port is used for Dante Redundancy only. To connect multiple Dante devices together, always use a switch.

More info

General Dante Ports

External

Internal

Audinate Servers

Dante Via

Dante Virtual Soundcard

Dante Updater

Dante Domain Manager

Outbound

Inbound

Dante Firmware Update Software

Dante Firmware Activations (Broadway, IP Core)

Due to a change in the OS X networking stack since OS X 10.13, we have found that our multicast clock traffic can be interfered with on some Mac OS systems, resulting in DVS periodically losing sync with the leader clock. We are working on a resolution for this in the next DVS release. We have not observed any impact on the audio.

A workaround for this issue is to use an adapter such as USB or Thunderbolt to Ethernet instead of the built-in network port. Running DVS at a lower sample rate such as 48KHz with fewer channels has also been found to resolve the issue.

Upon booting the machine, DVS may present the error ‘512: Audio Driver Failed’. This is an issue that is currently being investigated internally, and we’re aiming for a fix within the next major DVS release.

Selecting OK in the DVS interface will allow full functionality of DVS, and has not been seen to result in any other issues.

In some Mac OS X and switch configurations (notably in OS X 10.13) IGMP snooping can interfere with PTP traffic to the computer’s network interface. This can prevent DVS achieving PTP sync with the network, which in turn prevents reliable audio transmission.

The easiest solution is to ‘Forward All’ multicast to the Mac. In effect, that disables IGMP snooping for that port. However, assuming the Mac has a Gigabit port, you should be fine.

If, when installing firmware on a Brooklyn II based device (using Dante Firmware Update Manager), you see the message ‘All devices failed to upgrade’ and a status of ‘Error: DNT version unsupported’ (as shown below), this may be beacause your device includes the latest Brooklyn II module design (Rev 4v1) which does not support some legacy firmware versions.

Background

In March of 2018, due to a part obsolescence event beyond Audinate’s control, the Dante Brooklyn II module had to be redesigned to ensure manufacturing continuity. The redesign imposed an unavoidable limitation on firmware compatibility with legacy firmware releases.

To address this issue, Audinate released to manufacturers a range of ‘migrated’ firmware updates, based on legacy firmware versions, which are compatible with the new module design. Affected modules must first be updated to the latest GA firmware release (v4.0.9.1 or later) before they can be downgraded to any of the migrated firmware releases.

Resolution

If you have a Dante device that includes a Brooklyn II module and you are unable to install a legacy firmware version on it, please contact your device manufacturer for information about your device’s firmware compatibility.

To find out if your device includes a Brooklyn II module:

In Dante Controller, open the Device View for the device (double-click the device name), select the Status tab, and check the Dante Model in the Dante Information section.

Dante Firmware Update Manager also displays the type of Dante module in your device (in the Model column) when you scan the network for devices.

Dante Virtual Soundcard licenses are non-portable. When the license is activated, it becomes permanently locked to the physical computer on which it was activated, and it cannot be moved to another computer after activation.

Dante Virtual Soundcard can however be uninstalled, reinstalled and reactivated on the same physical computer any number of times, except in some situations where significant changes have been made to the fundamental hardware configuration of the computer (for example, if an internal hard drive or network interface has been added or removed).

If you are unable to reactivate Dante Virtual Soundcard on a computer which was previously running the software successfully, please complete the support form here.

Yes, all Dante AVIO adapters require a power source. Most Dante AVIO adapters require the use of a network switch with POE (power-over-Ethernet) capabilities or the use of an 802.3af compliant PoE injector device. The Dante AVIO USB adapter also has a third option – it can also receive power through the USB device to which it connects if that device has adequate power output. If using a switch with POE, make sure it is configured to send power. 

In order to transmit multicast flows from Dante Virtual Soundcard on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), the IP address of the Ethernet port must be set to static, and/or the Wi-Fi port must be turned on.

If this is your first installation of DVS on OS X High Sierra (10.13), you may be presented with the following message when running the program:

‘The DVS Manager service is not available, please try again in a few minutes’.

If this is the case, you will need to approve the kernel extension in your Mac’s Security and Privacy settings. Please see https://developer.apple.com/library/content/technotes/tn2459/_index.html for more information.

If you are using a computer that has multiple network interfaces, you may encounter an issue where DVS does not allow the selection of a network interface, or does not acquire an IP address.

The current workaround is to open Dante Controller on the machine running DVS, and in the ‘Configure Dante Interfaces’ dialog, ensure that the checkbox for ‘Use shared Dante interfaces’ is selected. This instructs other Dante software applications (DVS, Via, and Firmware Update Manager) to use the same interface that is currently selected in Dante Controller.

Testing under heavy load conditions has indicated that an Ultimo-based leader clock can support at least 40 follower clock devices before synchronization issues may begin to manifest. Thus, dedicated Ultimo-only networks of up to ~40 devices should operate well under most load conditions.

A range of other network conditions may however affect the performance of the network, such as high multicast traffic, and the presence of non-Dante network traffic.

QoS can be configured on your switches to prioritise PTP clock packets over audio packets. The use of QoS will increase the number of devices that can be supported on an Ultimo-only network (see this FAQ for more information about using QoS for Dante networks).

Also, the inclusion in your network of a Brooklyn II, Broadway, Dante HC, Dante PCIe or Dante-MY16-AUD/2 device to act as leader clock will significantly increase the number of devices that can be supported in the network.

You may also see “Fatal error code 0x80070643 – Fatal error during installation”.

This can be because you are missing a Windows 7 security update which is required for software applications that use the latest Windows certificate signing method.

If you don’t have the required update in your Windows 7 (SP1) installation, you can download and install it to resolve the setup failure issue.

To see if you have the update installed:

1. Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> View installed updates.
2. Use the search field at top right to search for: KB3033929

If the security update appears in the search results, it is already installed, and your problem is probably unrelated.

If it does not appear in the search results, you can download it from: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=46148

Install the update and restart your computer, then retry the installation.

Overview

Dante devices that have been ‘misplaced’ are those that have been configured with a static IP address which falls outside the subnet that the Dante Controller computer is on (or more specifically, the subnet configured on the network interface which is selected in Dante Controller as the primary network interface).

Locating Misplaced Devices

Because Dante devices use MDNS multicast advertising, misplaced devices will always be visible in Dante Controller, if the computer is connected to the same physical network as the misplaced device.

However, the misplaced device and the computer must be either:

• Both using IP addresses inside the Link-Local address range (169.254.1.0 to 169.254.254.255 inclusive), or
• Both using IP addresses outside the Link-Local address range

First, assign a static IP address to your computer which is inside the Link-Local address range. If the device does not appear (as described below), assign an address which is outside the Link-Local address range and try again.

They will not appear in the Routing tab of the Network View, but they will appear (highlighted in red) in the Device Info, Clock Status and Network Status tabs of the Network View:

They will also appear (highlighted in red) in the device drop-down list in Device View (Ctrl + D):

Recovering Misplaced Devices

Note: ‘Recovering’ in this context is not the same as failsafe recovery.

To recover a misplaced device:

1. Ensure the computer running Dante Controller has an IP address outside the Link-Local address range (either set a static address, or use DHCP).
2. Open the device view for the device (either double-click the device in the Device Info, Clock Status or Network Status tabs, or open Device View and select the device from the drop-down list).
   
3. Record the IP address listed in the first line of the Details section (after ‘Resolved device address on Dante interface is’)
4. Configure your computer’s network interface with a static IP address in the same range as the IP address for the device. It is recommended that you use the same values for the first three octets – in this example, that would be 11.12.13 – and then choose a different number for the last octet (e.g. 15). The operating system will provide a suitable subnet mask (the last octet must be zero, however). In Windows, you can tab to the ‘Subnet mask’ field to auto-populate the field.
5. Apply the changes to the computer’s IP address, and return to Dante Controller.
   The device should now appear in the Routing tab of the Network View, and can be configured with a different address (or set to ‘Obtain an IP Address Automatically’) using the Network Config tab of the Device View.
   
6. Set the computer’s network interface to obtain an IP address automatically (or restore it to its previous address).

The misplaced device will now appear in the main Dante network.

Due to a temporary Windows security certificate issue, Internet Explorer may report that the signature of a downloaded Dante Via installer file is corrupt or invalid.

The downloaded file is not actually corrupt, and can be safely installed from your Downloads folder.

The signature validity issue will be resolved in an upcoming release.

No – Dante Via uses device names for audio routing, which means that a nameless computer will prevent Dante Via from functioning correctly.

Dante Via is designed for stereo applications. If you have a requirement to move higher numbers of audio channels between audio software and a Dante network, Audinate also provides Dante Virtual Soundcard, which supports up to 64 x 64 channels of audio. Please note Dante Virtual Soundcard acts as an audio interface only, and does not provide the routing functionality of Dante Via.

For even higher channel counts, a Dante PCIe card supports up to 128 x 128 channels, with ultra-low latency. Dante PCIe cards are currently available from two major manufacturers.

If you see this message, it may be because your local hosts file (located at /etc/hosts) is corrupt. 

If you have edited your local hosts file, please check it for syntax errors.

See this URL for instructions on how to reset your local hosts file.

This may be because your local hosts file (located at /etc/hosts) is corrupt. 

If you have edited your local hosts file, please check it for syntax errors.

See this URL for instructions on how to reset your local hosts file.

Some Windows 10 users may have encountered an issue that prevents the changing of the sample rate for Dante Virtual Soundcard in WDM mode.

This issue is under investigation and hopefully will be resolved in a future Dante Virtual Soundcard update.

Symptoms

On Windows 10, to change the sample rate for Dante Virtual Soundcard, you must first change it in Dante Controller, and then change it for each DVS device in the Windows Playback and Recording device settings.

This is typically done by right-clicking the speaker icon in the system tray and selecting ‘Playback devices’ (or ‘Recording devices’), double-clicking the DVS devices, and changing the sample rate in the ‘Advanced’ tab for each device.

However, depending on the version of Windows 10 you have, one of the following conditions may be observed:

• The Advanced tab of the device properties panel is not visible, which prevents the changing of the sample rate for Dante Virtual Soundcard in Windows.
• The Advanced tab is visible, but Dante Virtual Soundcard cannot play or receive audio when the sample rate has been changed.

Workaround

The workaround involves uninstalling Dante Virtual Soundcard and reinstalling it, then setting the required sample rate in ASIO mode BEFORE it is started.

1. Uninstall Dante Virtual Soundcard.
2. Reinstall Dante Virtual Soundcard.
3. Open the Dante Virtual Soundcard control panel.
4. Dante Virtual Soundcard will be currently unlicensed, and therefore not running. Do NOT license Dante Virtual Soundcard yet.
5. Click the ‘Settings’ tab in the Dante Virtual Soundcard control panel and change the Audio Interface to ASIO.
6. Go back to the ‘Licensing’ tab, and license Dante Virtual Soundcard using your existing license ID. It will start automatically in ASIO mode.
7. In Dante Controller, open the Dante Virtual Soundcard device (double-click the device or hit CTRL+D) and select the ‘Device Config’ tab.
8. Change the sample rate to the desired rate.
9. Wait a second or two.
10. Go back to the Dante Virtual Soundcard control panel and stop Dante Virtual Soundcard.
11. Select WDM mode.
12. Start Dante Virtual Soundcard.

Dante Virtual Soundcard should now be operating at the new sample rate.

Yes, you can deactivate Dante Via (using the button in the Activation panel) and reactivate it on another computer.

• To open the Activation panel in Windows, click the settings icon  and select ‘Activation’.
• To open the Activation panel in OS X, choose ‘Activation’ from the Dante Via main menu.

Then log into your Audinate.com account, and go to ‘My Products.’ Copy your Dante Via license ID, and paste it into the ‘Recover license’ field. This will deactivate the license, and allow you to activate another computer.

Make sure you are logged into this website, then go to ‘My Account’ (the link is at the top right) and then click ‘My Products’.

Scroll down to ‘My Dante Via Licenses’, and follow the instructions for recovering a license.

You can start and stop Dante Via using the button on the main window of the user interface, and in the general preferences.

• To open the preferences in Windows, click the settings icon  and select ‘Preferences’.
• To open the preferences in OS X, choose ‘Preferences’ from the Dante Via main menu.

Note that you will need to stop Dante Via if you want to use Dante Virtual Soundcard on the same computer (and vice-versa) – they cannot be used simultaneously.

Dante Via will periodically connect to the Internet to validate its license with the licensing server. In order for Dante Via to remain activated, the computers on which it is installed must be continuously or regularly connected to the Internet.

Dante Via’s network transmit latency is 10 milliseconds. Auxiliary signal paths (such as USB connections to and from soundcards) will add further latency.

Latency is a tiny time delay (10 milliseconds, in the case of Dante Via) that is added by Dante Via to each audio stream. The slight delay gives Via the time it needs to ‘packetize’ the audio from the source and transmit it across the network to the destination before it is due to be played out.

Typically, the 10ms latency should not impact any audio networks you might set up using Dante Via. However, if low latency is your thing, Dante PCIe cards are available, which can deliver extremely low latency (0.15ms).

Dante Via delivers excellent synchronization across the network. However, auxiliary signal paths (such as USB connections to external soundcards) will add delay.

No – Dante does not support Wi-Fi, your networked devices must all be physically connected to the Dante network via Ethernet Cat5e or Cat6 cables across a compatible network switch.

With Dante Domain Manager, yes.

Without Dante Domain Manager, Dante networks must be on the same LAN. However, optical fiber is supported for long cable runs.

Most off-the-shelf switches are fine for use with Dante, apart from unmanaged switches with Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), which interferes with Dante clocking.

This PDF lists some of the switches that are not compatible with Dante.

For best performance you should use managed Gigabit switches with Quality of Service (QoS) functionality.

In Dante Via, a source is any hardware device or software application that can add audio to the computer / network system.

Sources can be physically in the computer, connected to the computer, or connected to the Dante network.

Hardware sources include:

• Internal (built-in) soundcards
• External (e.g. USB or Firewire) soundcards
• Internal and external microphones
• USB headsets
• Video cameras with built-in microphones
• Dante audio devices (such as mixing consoles)
• Hardware synthesizers, and other electronic instruments
• Any Dante Via-installed computers on the Dante network
• ‘System audio’ (the internal audio mix that the computer would usually play to the speakers)

Software sources include:

• iTunes^®, Spotify^®
• Skype^®
• Digital Audio Workstations (Cubase®, Pro Tools^®, GarageBand^® etc.)
• Web browsers
• Any other software applications that produce audio (such as games, Microsoft PowerPoint^®, email clients etc.)
• Software synthesizers

Devices and applications that can add audio to the system and receive audio from the system are both sources and destinations, so they appear in both lists.

Sources can also be a mix of two or more individual sources.

In Dante Via, a destination is any hardware device or software application that can receive audio from the computer / network system.

Destinations can be physically in the computer, connected to the computer, or connected to the Dante network.

Hardware destinations include:

• Loudspeakers
• Internal (built-in) soundcards
• External (e.g. USB or Firewire) soundcards
• Computer monitors with built-in speakers
• USB headsets
• Dante audio devices (such as mixing consoles)
• Any Dante Via-installed computers on the Dante network

Software destinations include:

• Digital Audio Workstations (Cubase, Protools, GarageBand etc.)
• Skype
• Video calling / conferencing apps

Devices and applications that can receive audio from the system and add audio to the system are both destinations and sources, so they appear in both lists.

Microphones receive audio from the physical environment, but not from the computer / network system; they add audio to the system, which is why they are sources.

Loudspeakers add audio to the physical environment, but not to the computer / network system; they receive audio from the system, which is why they are destinations.

Probably because it has built-in speakers and an internal soundcard – which means you can use it to play any audio you like.

To filter sources and destinations by name, type the name (or the first few letters of the name) into the relevant ‘Search’ field. To clear the filtering, delete the text from the search field.

To show or hide a source or destination group, click the arrow ► for that group.

To hide an individual source or destination, right-click the source or destination and select ‘Hide’.

To reveal hidden sources and destinations, from the general tab of the Preferences menu, select ‘Show hidden audio devices’.

The Default Device in your destinations is the local hardware device to which Dante Via will send all newly-discovered application sources (i.e. software applications that can produce audio).

For example, if your Default Output Device is set as your computer speakers, when Dante Via detects a new software source, such as iTunes, it will automatically send iTunes audio to the computer speakers. It will also send your system sounds to that device, assuming no other sources have been specifically sent to that device.

Your ‘default mix’ – a mix created automatically by Dante Via containing all software applications (except for ASIO applications in Windows) – is also sent to the default output device, unless something else has been specifically sent there. When the default mix is playing to the default output device, you can mute individual sources (hover over the source and click the speaker icon).

You can change the default output device in the General Preferences.

In Windows, you can also specify a default input device. The Default Input Device is the local hardware device which Dante Via will assign to all newly-discovered application destinations (i.e. software applications that can receive audio). For example, if your Default Input Device is set as your USB headset microphone, when Dante Via detects a new software destination, such as Skype, it will automatically send audio from the headset microphone to Skype.

System Sounds is the audio produced directly by your operating system – such as Windows and OS X startup and shutdown sounds, error notifications, and other standard notifications.

System sounds are automatically sent to your default output destination (usually along with any other software sources that are playing audio, as part the ‘default mix’) unless another source has been specifically sent there instead.

To mute system sounds from the default mix when it is playing to the default output, hover over the System Sounds icon in the ‘Now Receiving’ area for the default output destination, and click the speaker icon.

You can also completely replace the default mix by sending another source to your default output.

In OS X, software destinations, such as recording applications, aren’t ever visible in the Dante Via UI.

To send sources to software applications in OS X, you must send them to the Stereo Application Input, or the 16 Channel Application Input, and then configure the application to use ‘Dante Via Stereo’ or ‘Dante Via 16 Channel’ as the recording / input interface.

With ‘Enable Dante’ selected, the application inputs present as receive and transmit channels (named ‘Stereo Application Input’ and ’16 Ch Application Input’) in Dante Controller.

Just drag the source onto the destination. You can choose to replace any source that is already playing to the destination, or add it to the current source to create a mix.

When you drag a source onto a destination, you will be asked if you want it to replace the existing source, or add the source to a mix.

If you choose to add the source to a mix, it will create a (typically stereo) mix of the existing source and the new source. Source volume levels must be controlled at the source.

Yes – if a source is connected to a destination already, and you drag the source to an additional destination, Dante Via will create an additional connection, and the source will transmit to both destinations simultaneously.

Yes you can. Depending on the nature and configuration of the device or application, one or more of a variety of things may happen:

• You will be able to record, hear or process a copy of whatever audio the source is producing
• Feedback
• Nothing
• The collapse of the space-time continuum

Our advice is to experiment and see what happens.

If someone on the network has made a source or a source mix available on the network (using the ‘Enable Dante’ control), it will show up under their computer name in the Via Devices section of your Sources list. To listen to it, just drag it to a destination, such as your headset or speakers (or you can send it to any other destination if you want to use it for other purposes).

The owner of the source will be presented with an access control pop-up, asking them to allow or deny the connection.

Select the ‘Enable Dante’ control for the relevant source.

To hide a source from the network, deselect the ‘Enable Dante’ checkbox.

When a source is Dante-enabled, it will appear in Dante Controller as channels nested under your computer name, and can be routed like any other Dante channels.

In order for someone else to be able to connect to (receive audio from) one of your sources, you must:

1. Select ‘Enable Dante’ for your source (this puts the source onto the Dante network).
2. Proactively allow the connection from the other user.

When another user tries to connect to a source that has been Dante-enabled, you will be presented with an access control pop-up asking if you want to allow the connection. If you click ‘Allow’, the user will receive audio from your source. If you click ‘Don’t Allow’, they will not receive any audio.

Note that the privacy option ‘Network devices require my permission … ’ must be enabled in the Privacy preferences in order for you to receive access control pop-ups. If it is disabled, users will be able to connect to your Dante-enabled sources without your permission. Audinate strongly recommends that you do not disable the ‘Network devices require my permission … ’ option.

Dante Via supports 2×2 channels (2 in and 2 out) for software applications, 32×32 channels for hardware devices, and a total of 48 source channels and 48 destination channels.

This means that you could theoretically run 24 stereo sources into 24 stereo destinations simultaneously, on a sufficiently-powerful computer. However, audio mixes (including the ‘default mix’) require their own additional channels, which deduct from the total supported source channel count.

On OS X, the stereo Channel Application Input occupies 2 source channels, and the 16-channel application input occupies 16 source channels.

Individual computer performance and tuning can affect the number of channels that are practically supported.

By default, Dante Via connects channels sequentially – that is, channel 1 or the source will go to channel 1 of the destination, channel 2 will go to channel 2, 3 to 3 etc. until the channel limit is reached.

For hardware devices, the channel limit is typically the number of channels on the device with the least number of channels. For software, only 2 channels can be connected (inbound or outbound).

For sources and destinations with just stereo capability, the left channel is channel 1, and the right channel is channel 2.

So, for example, sending a stereo microphone to a DAW will connect the microphone’s left channel to channel 1 of the DAW, and the microphone’s right channel to channel 2 of the DAW.

You can use our Dante Controller application (it’s free!) to more precisely control how individual channels are routed.

Dante Via supports one-to-many connections – i.e. you can send any individual channel from a source to multiple channels on a destination.

If you accidentally give someone permission to connect to one of your sources, or you decide that you no longer want them to have permission, you can revoke all permissions (for all users) by clicking the ‘Clear Permissions’ button in the Privacy preferences.

Any new connections to any of your sources will require your permission, and any existing connections will require permission to be re-granted (you will be presented with an access control pop-up for each connection, which can be allowed or denied individually).

‘Listeners’ are other network users who have routed one of your shared sources to one of their local destinations (and you have granted them permission).

There are 3 ways to remove a listener from one of your sources:

1. Disable the ‘Enable Dante’ control for the source – this takes it off the Dante network.
2. Use Dante Controller to unsubscribe the receiver from your source.
3. Click ‘Clear Permissions’ in the Privacy Preferences (this revokes all previously-granted permissions, for all users, and for all of your sources).

Using the first two methods, the listener will be able to reconnect to the source (assuming it is back on the network) without your permission, unless you revoke their permission using the ‘Clear Permissions’ button in the privacy preferences.

To monitor specific channels on a multi-channel Dante device, first Dante-enable your headphones or speakers (click the ‘Enable Dante control for the headphones or speakers destination), and then use Dante Controller to send the required transmit channels from the Dante device to your headphones’ receive channels.

Dante automatically discovers devices when they are connected to the Dante network, so you just need to plug your new device into your computer, or connect it to the network switch (or in some cases, you can daisy-chain it to another device). It will appear in Dante Via within seconds.

In Windows, Dante Via automatically discovers audio-capable sources and destinations when they are actively playing or recording, respectively.

Note: Some audio applications will need to be configured to use Dante Via as their input and/or output device before they will appear in Dante Via.

In OS X, software sources are discovered as soon as they are running. Software destinations are not displayed, and sources must be sent to software applications via the 2 Channel Application Input.

You can rename Dante devices using Dante Controller. You can also rename Dante Via computers using the standard operating system methods. You cannot however rename software applications or local devices in Dante Via.

To send a source to a networked Dante-enabled device (i.e. a remote hardware device that is not connected to a computer – such as a mixing console) you must use Dante Controller.

First expose your source to the Dante network, by selecting ‘Enable Dante’ for the source. Then launch Dante Controller. Your source will appear in Dante Controller as transmit and receive channels, nested under your computer name.

Then subscribe the hardware device to your source’s transmit channels, like you would any other Dante device. See the Dante Controller user guide for information about routing audio.

Yes – the current release of Dante Via for Windows supports ASIO hardware interfaces.

Dante Via also supports ASIO software interfaces (e.g. from Dante Via to Nuendo).

Note: For ASIO devices to present in the UI, the ‘Show ASIO compatible audio devices’ checkbox must be selected in the General Preferences.

This usually indicates that Dante Via is not activated. Use the Activation panel to activate Dante Via.

• To open the Activation panel in Windows, click the gear icon    to open the main menu, and select ‘Activation’.
• To open the Activation panel in OS X, go to the Dante Via menu > Activation.

When Dante Via is not activated, it displays a message in red text at the botton of the user interface.

If Dante Via is definitely activated but the user interface is still empty, double-check that Dante Via is actually running.  When it is running, there will be a button at the top of the user interface labeled ‘Stop’. If it’s labeled ‘Start’, Dante Via is not currently running. You can also check in the general preferences.

If Dante Via appears to be running (i.e. the UI is showing devices and applications) but you can’t hear the audio you’re expecting to hear, check the operating system sound settings to make sure Dante Via is selected as the default sound device for your operating system, for both playback/output and record/input.

Further steps: Windows

• Check the volume level for the Dante Via device in the Windows mixer settings (it may just be turned right down).
• Check your services to see if the dantevia.manager service is running, and restart it if necessary (see ‘Checking and restarting the Dante Via service in Windows’ below).
• If everything looks correct, and the dantevia.manager service is running, but you’re still not hearing the audio that you think you should be: Stop Dante Via (using the button, or in the general preferences), stop your audio applications, restart Dante Via, and then restart your audio applications.
• If that doesn’t help, in the general preferences menu, click the ‘Clear Configuration’ button, acknowledge any system dialogues, then close and restart the Dante Via application.
• If all else fails, restart your computer.

Checking and restarting the Dante Via service in Windows

1. Open Task Manager (hold Ctrl + shift + Esc).
2. Click the Services tab.
3. Look for the Dante Via Manager service (dantevia.manager). If it is stopped, right-click the service and select Start. If it is running, right-click the service and select Restart.

Further steps: OS X

Check to see if the Dante Via service is running:

1. Open Activity Monitor (Apps > Utilities > Activity Monitor).
2. Click the CPU tab.
3. Sort by Process Name.
4. Look for the DanteViaDaemon process.

If it is not running, to reset the process:

1. Go back to Dante Via and open the Dante Via main menu.
2. Hold down the ‘Option’ key (or the ‘Alt’ key for non-Mac keyboards).
3. Select ‘Quit and Restart Audio’.
4. Enter the computer (admin) password in the Terminal window, and press Return.
5. When the process has completed, close the Terminal window.

This may crash Dante Controller, if it is running – just acknowledge the error message and restart it.

The Windows device volume control for Dante Via may be turned down or muted.

To adjust the device volume in Windows:

1. Left-click the speaker icon in your system tray.
2. Select ‘Mixer’.
3. Adjust or un-mute the Dante Via volume.

In Windows, software applications will not appear in the Local Applications areas until they are either actively playing audio (sources), or actively recording or receiving audio (destinations).

Some applications may also need to be configured to use Dante Via as the default input and/or output in order for them to appear in the Dante Via UI.

It is recommended that you start applications after Dante Via is already running. If when you start Dante Via, a running application isn’t visible in the Dante Via UI, quit the audio application and restart it. You may also have to play or record audio using the application before it appears in Dante Via.

iTunes may be in ‘Windows Audio Session’ playback mode. For compatibility with Dante Via, iTunes must be set to ‘Direct Sound’ playback mode.

To change the iTunes playback mode to Direct Sound: 

1. Open the iTunes Preferences.
2. Click the Playback tab.
3. Change the selection for ‘Play Audio Using’ to ‘Direct Sound’, and click OK.

Then:

1. Close iTunes.
2. Stop and close Dante Via.
3. Open and start Dante Via.
4. Open iTunes, and play some audio.

iTunes should now appear in your Sources list, and audio should flow correctly.

On Mac OS X, audio-capable software destinations are not visible to Dante Via.

To send audio to a software destination:

1. Drag and drop the source onto the 2 Channel Application Input in the Destinations list.
2. Manually configure the destination application (i.e. using the application’s own preferences panel) to use Dante Via as its audio input.

On Windows, applications may not be properly ‘discovered’ if they were already running when the Dante Via service was stopped and restarted.

To ensure that application sources can be successfully connected to destinations, it is recommended that you close all audio-capable applications before you either update Dante Via, or stop and start Dante Via for any other reason, such as switching to Dante Virtual Soundcard. Then restart the applications once Dante Via is running again.

This may be because Dante Via is not properly optimized for your computer. Go to Preferences > Performance, and change the Performance Optimization setting to ‘Low’. Note that this will increase Dante Via’s latency.

We recommend that you avoid using multiple user accounts when using Dante Via on Windows 7.

System sounds (for example, error and email notifications) – along with all other running applications – are automatically sent (as part of the default mix) to the default output device destination, assuming no other sources have been specifically sent to that device. Your default output device is the one with the text ‘Default Device’ under its name in the Destinations panel.

Try removing the source or sources playing to the default output device (hover over the source/s in the ‘Now Receiving’ area for the default output device, and click the red x icon) – that device will then revert back to playing the ‘default mix’, which includes your system sounds.

The default output device is set in the General Preferences.

To mute your system sounds, hover over the system sounds icon in the ‘Now Receiving’ area of the default output device destination, and click the speaker icon. Click the icon again to un-mute system sounds.

Click the ‘Clear Configuration’ button in the general preferences. This will reset all routing, permissions and preferences back to the ‘fresh install’ configuration. Requires administrator privileges for the computer.

This icon indicates that your computer does not have an active wired network (Ethernet) connection, which is required by Dante Via (Wi-Fi is not supported). Make sure your computer is physically connected to an Ethernet network.

If you think you are physically connected to a network, you may have a broken or faulty cable, or a faulty network switch, or the network connection may be disabled in your computer’s network settings.

  This icon indicates that you have two or more active wired network connections to your Dante network.

You should only ever have one active wired connection to your Dante network.

If you see it when you have a wired and a wi-fi connection to the same network, it can be ignored.

Check the sample rate: Dante devices must be set to 48 kHz in order for them to appear in the Dante Via UI.

No – if you do, you will have to reinstall Dante Via. Just click No, then restart Dante Via using the button in the main UI or in the general preferences.

You will need to manually restart the trial:

1. In Dante Via, open the Activation panel.
2. Click ‘Activate’, and then ‘Enter a License ID’.
3. If the License ID field is pre-populated with your existing license ID, just click ‘Activate’ again. 

If the License ID field is not pre-populated: 

1. Make sure you are logged in to this website.
2. Go to ‘My Account’ (the link is at the top right), and then ‘My Products’.
3. Copy your Dante Via trial license ID from the ‘My Dante Via Licenses’ section.
4. Go back to the Dante Via application, and paste the license ID into the License ID field in the Activation panel, and click ‘Activate’.

Layer 3 refers to the logical layer of networking technology which is concerned with addressing, routing and prioritizing data. Because Dante uses the Internet Protocol to manage the way audio is moved around the network, it is referred to as a layer 3 solution.

In order to reserve processor resources for time-sensitive multimedia applications (including Windows audio applications), Windows implements a network bandwidth control called ‘network throttling’, which restricts the processing of non-multimedia network traffic when audio applications are running.

Network throttling can interfere with Dante audio traffic when Windows audio applications are running. For this reason, you can let Dante Via manage the network throttling setting on your PC, to prevent it from interfering with your Dante audio.

If network throttling is configured on your PC, Dante Via will detect it when it is run or installed, and ask you if you would like Dante Via to manage network throttling for you. Changing the setting will require a restart of your PC.

For more information, see this Microsoft knowledgebase article.

If you haven’t done so already, download Dante Via.

Installing Dante Via

Mac OS X: Open the Dante Via DMG file downloaded from Audinate. Double click the file Dante Via.pkg contained in the DMG and follow the on screen instructions.

Windows: Double click the Dante Via EXE file downloaded from Audinate and follow the on-screen instructions.

Activating Dante Via

1. Run Dante Via (using the relevant method for your operating system).
   If this is the first time it has been run, an Activation Panel will appear, with buttons for Purchase, Activate or Start Trial. If no activation window appears when you run Dante Via, choose “Activation…” from the Dante Via main menu.
2. Click Activate.
3. In the window that appears, enter your Audinate account information.
4. Click Activate.

That’s it! Your copy of Dante Via is ready to use.

Unfortunately you cannot run multiple instances of Dante Virtual Soundcard on the same computer.

For high channel count applications, Audinate recommends a Dante PCIe hardware soundcard, which natively supports up to 128 channels, with ultra-low latency.

They are currently available from two leading manufacturers.

Audinate has completed the process of validating Dante software on OS X 10.11. The following Dante software applications are compatible with OS X 10.11:

• Dante Controller v3.6.2.4
• Dante Virtual Soundcard v3.7.4.3
• Dante Firmware Update Manager v1.4.16.6
• The latest Dante PCIe card drivers for OS X

Yes, Dante Controller has been fully validated on Windows 10.

Yes, Dante Virtual Soundcard has been fully validated on Windows 10.

Currently only in a subset of universes, of which (unfortunately) this is not one.

As a rule of thumb, total bandwidth utilisation (including multicast and unicast) on any given link should not exceed 70% of the supported bandwidth for any link.

Utilisation above 70% of supported bandwidth can adversely impact clock synchronization (especially if there is also non-Dante traffic on the network).

There are a range of network conditions that can interfere with a device’s clock stability. These include:

• A switch on the network is configured to use Energy Efficient Ethernet (‘Green Ethernet’) functionality
• A 100 Mb switch or link is present where a Gigabit connection is required
• One or more switches are incorrectly configured
• A ‘problematic’ external word clock is being used as the leader clock

Clock instability is often a result of overloaded network links. As a rule of thumb, total bandwidth utilisation (including multicast and unicast) on any given link should not exceed 70% of the supported bandwidth for that link. Utilisation above 70% of supported bandwidth can adversely impact clock synchronization (especially if there is also non-Dante traffic on the network).

Your average Windows PC has a wide variety of hardware devices and software drivers from many sources – some of which may behave in undesirable ways if your goal is low-latency audio streaming.

This guide describes some tools and techniques you can use to improve the performance of your PC for audio applications. Although every system is different, the techniques described below will help you to diagnose problems and suggest various changes to improve performance.

Note: Some recommendations in this guide can have potentially hazardous results. We recommend you back up all of your data before embarking. You must understand the implications of each change before making it. Windows may warn or request your permission for some tasks.

Select the High-Performance Power Plan

If your computer is set to conserve energy, the CPU may not be running at full speed all of the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer’s audio performance.

As well as setting your PC to high performance, in this process you can disable automatic sleep and hibernation.

1. Go to Control Panel > Power Options.
2. Click ‘Show additional plans’.
3. Select ‘High Performance’.
4. Click ‘Change plan settings’.
5. Make sure both power options are set to ‘Never’.

Disable System Sounds

System sounds can interrupt audio applications. To disable them:

1. Go to Control Panel > Sound.
2. Select the Sounds tab.
3. Under Sound Scheme, select ‘No sounds’.
4. Click ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’.

Disable Visual Effects

The visual features in Windows 10 can use resources that could otherwise be used for audio processing. As a start, it is good idea to disable some of the visual features by doing the following:

1. Click the Windows button and type ‘performance’ to open the ‘Performance Options’ dialog.
2. In the ‘Visual Effects’ tab, select ‘custom’.
3. Deselect ‘Animate windows when minimising and maximising’. You can also experiment with disabling other visual effects to see if they affect audio performance.
4. Click ‘OK’.

If you wish to generally optimise your Windows 10 graphics for the best performance, use the ‘Adjust for best performance’ option.

Set Processor Scheduling to ‘Background services’

This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this:

1. Go to Control Panel > System.
2. Click ‘Advanced system settings’ and select the ‘Advanced’ tab.
3. Click on ‘Settings…’ to open the ‘Performance Options’ dialog.
4. Select the ‘Advanced’ tab.
5. Set Processor scheduling to ‘Background Services’.
6. Click ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’.

Note: If application delays become apparent in after changing this setting, revert to back to best performance for ‘Programs’ option.

Disable Windows Background Apps

Windows 10, by default, runs a number of Apps in the background (regardless of whether you are using them) which can consume system resources.

1. Select ‘Settings’ from the Windows Start menu.
2. Select ‘Privacy’, and then ‘Background Apps’ from the left-hand menu.
3. Switch off the apps that you do not believe you are using, or that you do not wish to run in the background when you are not using the program.

Disable ‘Windows updates from more than one place’

This Windows feature enables your PC to share Windows updates with other PCs on the local network and the Internet, and can impact your network bandwidth.

1. Select ‘Settings’ from the Windows Start menu.
2. Select ‘Update & Security’ > ‘Advanced Options’ > ‘Delivery Optimization’.
3. Move the slider to ‘Off’.

Disable Automatic Windows Updates

It’s advisable to ensure your PC is running the latest Windows and BIOS versions (unless a specific update is known to interfere with your audio software or hardware).

Windows 10 will automatically keep your PC up to date. However, due to Murphy’s law (‘anything that can go wrong will go wrong’), automatic updates often occur at the worst possible times, hogging vital resources and bandwidth, and unexpected system reboots following an automatic update are usually catastrophic for audio sessions.

There are many resources on the Internet describing how to disable automatic Windows downloads, installations and updates (for example: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10).

If you choose to disable automatic updates, you should instead perform manual updates at least every month.

Disable Windows Firewall, Anti-virus and Spyware Software

If you’re able to run your system without connecting to the internet, then these should all be disabled to ensure that no interferences occur during audio recording or playback, and to ensure that maximum resources are available.

To remain secure while your firewall and antivirus disabled, it is advisable to disconnect from any Internet connections when working with audio.

Disable Windows File Indexing

File indexing can use valuable processor resources. If you don’t need your PC to be fully indexed, you can disable it for all or selected drives.

To disable file indexing:

1. Use the Windows key + R to open the ‘Run’ dialog.
2. Enter: control.exe srchadmin.dll
3. Click ‘OK’.
4. In the Indexing Options dialog, click ‘Modify’.
5. Deselect the locations that you don’t want to be indexed.
6. Click ‘OK’ and then ‘Close’.

Manage Startup Applications

There may be software applications on your PC that start up automatically when Windows is started, but are not actually required for everyday or audio-related usage of the PC.

You can prevent applications from starting automatically via the Startup tab of the Task Manager.

To open Task Manager, hit Ctrl + Shift + Esc, then select the Startup tab.

Right-click an application and select ‘Disable’ to prevent it from starting automatically.

Turn off Fast Startup

With fast startup enabled, choosing to shut down your PC might look like you’re completely shutting things down, but in reality, your PC is entering a mix between a shutdown and hibernation.

This can interfere with Dante’s PTP clocking. To turn it off:

1. Go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Power Options.
2. Click ‘Choose what the power buttons do’.
3. Click ‘Change settings that are currently unavailable’.
4. Deselect ‘Turn on fast startup’.
5. Click ‘Save Changes’.

Configure Flow Control and Input Moderation

‘Flow Control’ and ‘Interrupt Moderation’ can reduce the performance of your Ethernet interface and cause packets to be delayed. This is often the cause of late audio measurements on the Latency graph in Dante Controller for connections in and out of DVS, for example. To configure Flow Control and Interrupt Moderation:

1. Go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections.
2. Right-click the network adaptor you use for Dante traffic, and select ‘Properties’.
3. Click ‘Configure’.
4. Select the ‘Advanced’ tab.
5. Click ‘Flow Control’ and set the value to ‘Disabled’.
6. Click ‘Interrupt Moderation’ and adjust for best performance (reduced latency vs. CPU usage).
7. Click OK.

Configure your Paging File

If you need a paging file, increase the virtual memory (swap space). A rule of thumb is to set your virtual memory to twice the size of your RAM, but there are other considerations.

If you’re sure you do not need a paging file, switch it off entirely for all drives. Search for a good resource on swap space / virtual memory / paging file optimization for more information.

Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup provides a simple interface to clear out old files from your computer.

1. Click the Windows button and type ‘disk cleanup’.
2. Select the drive you want to clean and click ‘OK’.

If you are recording, consider defragmenting your drives regularly. Another approach is to use a separate drive for recording, which is regularly reformatted (and thus also defragmented).

Advanced Configuration

We recommend creating a Windows restore point before making any changes to Windows services or drivers.

Disable Windows Services

To free up resources for audio processing, you can disable unnecessary Windows 10 services. We recommend that you visit this site for more information:

• http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-10-service-configurations/

Note: Disabling Windows services can impact your PC’s core functionality, and should only be done by advanced users.

Check Device Driver Latency

Misbehaving drivers for non-audio hardware are often the cause of audio glitches. Any device driver on the system is a privileged piece of software, and if it is delayed while completing a task, it may delay or prevent other tasks on the system from running. This is bad news for audio software and drivers that need to run at regular intervals to ensure low latency glitch-free operation.

To check if your system is suffering from DPC (Deferred Procedure Call) latency issues, we recommend the use of LatencyMon (http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon).

Note: Be very careful if you decide to disable any of your PC’s hardware devices (especially USB host controllers).

Yes, the latest versions of Dante Controller and Dante Virtual Soundcard operate on Macs running OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

Dante Controller requires Java on OS X. Java is installed automatically with OS X 10.7 and 10.8, but not with OS X 10.9 or 10.10.
If Java is not present when Dante Controller is first started, your machine should automatically install Java. If for some reason this does not occur automatically, please visit www.audinate.com/dc-macosx-java.

Go to the Dante Controller page for a link to the latest version.

Yes, the latest versions of Dante Virtual Soundcard and Dante Controller operate on Macs running OS X 10.10 Yosemite. 

Go to the Dante Virtual Soundcard page for a link to the latest version.

Windows only

In order to reserve processor resources for time-sensitive multimedia applications (including Windows audio applications), Windows implements a network bandwidth control called ‘network throttling’, which restricts the processing of non-multimedia network traffic when audio applications are running.

Network throttling can interfere with Dante Virtual Soundcard audio traffic when Windows audio applications are running. For this reason, you can let Dante Virtual Soundcard manage the network throttling setting on your PC, to prevent it from interfering with your Dante audio.

If network throttling is configured on your PC, Dante Virtual Soundcard will detect it when it is run or installed, and ask you if you would like Dante Virtual Soundcard to manage network throttling for you. Changing the setting will require a restart of your PC.

For more information, see this Microsoft knowledgebase article.

As of July 2013, the Dante-MY16-AUD product box includes updated documentation. The Dante-MY16-AUD card itself is unchanged. As part of this update, we have changed the way you redeem the Dante Virtual Soundcard License bundled with your Dante-MY16-AUD purchase.

If your product box contains a ‘Download Your Software’ card (like the one shown below) with a DVS token label on it, you can redeem the DVS token for a Dante Virtual Soundcard license ID here: Redeem DVS Token

As of this date, we no longer record or track the serial numbers of the Dante-MY16-AUD cards.  If the card above was missing from your product box, or if you have misplaced the card, we do not track which DVS Tokens were included in each Dante-MY16-AUD product box.  Yamaha provides exclusive distribution and support for the Dante-MY16-AUD card. Support information can be accessed by contacting your authorized Yamaha Pro Audio Dealer.

If your product box contains a DVD like the one shown below (and no ‘Download Your Software’ card), you will need to contact support (see below).

To proceed, you will need to know your Dante-MY16-AUD card serial number.  You can find your Dante-MY16-AUD serial number:

• On a label on your Dante-MY16-AUD card
• On a label on your Dante-MY16-AUD original packaging

You can submit your serial number using the form at the bottom of the Dante Software Support page (be sure to select ‘Licensing & Registration’ as the Case Reason).

The AES67 standard provides interoperability recommendations for professional quality audio networking in the areas of synchronization, media clock identification, network transport, encoding, streaming and session description.  The Audio Engineering Society published the AES67 standard in September 2013.  You can obtain a copy of the standard here.

Dante is a complete media networking solution designed for high quality AV streaming. The A/V industry has embraced Dante because it is easy to set up, delivers a rich and robust feature set and is the most interoperable networking solution available. From the beginning, Audinate has incorporated standards to create the Dante product suite, and AES67 provides another standards-based transport choice within Dante for Layer-3 / IP-based audio networks.

While AES67 does not provide performance improvements beyond what Dante already delivers today, the inclusion of AES67 in the Dante solution enables interoperability with other AES67 implementations by other compliant vendors.

Today, Dante provides interoperable audio networking between hundreds of products developed by our licensees. Dante already implements an IP Layer 3 transport, but AES67 will provide an alternative open standard within Dante for transport using the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

To achieve interoperability, AES67 mandates a specific RTP payload format for delivering audio over IP networks, as well as methods for exchanging information about audio streams. RTP is already used extensively in communication and entertainment systems that involve streaming media, such as VoIP telephony, video conferencing, and IP television.  AES67 offers the potential for lower cost network transport built on mature standards when compared to other less widely adopted industry standards.

AES67 can exploit Ethernet switches supporting the IEEE-1588 precision time protocol and Quality of Service (QoS) but, unlike some other network standards, does not depend on specialized switches in order to operate.

Like Dante’s transport layer today, AES67 is by nature a routable IP protocol.  This allows for audio over IP solutions to scale beyond simple local area networks, passing through routers as well as switches.  This potentially opens broad new markets for audio over IP solutions.

The fact is there will always be new standards. AES67 is based on mature IETF standards, such as RTP,  that have existed for some time, so in many respects the underlying protocols can be thought of as mature and widely deployed, rather than new.

No. AES67 is an interoperability specification that could potentially provide an RTP-based transport in an AVB Layer 3 solution. The AVnu Alliance is responsible for defining the future specifications of the AVB Layer 2 and ultimately IP / Layer 3 transports.

Audinate does not see networking protocols as competing technologies. Neither AES67 nor AVB are competitive equivalents to Dante. AES67 and AVB are both a collection of standards, which are not actual implementations. Dante is a commercially supported solution, and more than just a standard. It is important to emphasize that AES67 will be incorporated as an option within Dante, rather than an alternative to it. Our OEMs recognize the benefit we provide to enable them to develop their products quickly and benefit from our expertise.

Video: The Role of AES67 in Audio Networking and a Dante Environment

No.

No. Unlike some other network standards, it does not depend on specialized or modified Ethernet switches in order to operate. AES67 was designed to operate on existing Ethernet infrastructure.