AV Networking and IT Management – Dante for IT Professionals

What is Dante AV Networking?

Dante is AV networking technology built by IT people for IT people. Dante transports high quality audio and video signals on a traditional IP network with incredibly low latency, without the need for bespoke AV-specific cabling. Because Dante is built on IP standards by network engineers, it’s easy to deploy and maintain, and takes the hassle out of installing and managing AV equipment. With robust monitoring and user access controls, Dante integrates into your existing IT infrastructure and processes, and keeps your AV systems secure. With over 1700 interoperable products from over 430 manufacturers, it is the de facto standard for networked AV.

AV that works like IT

Dante is designed by networking specialists to be efficient and sensible, with highly predictable behaviors and performance that allow data and AV traffic to easily coexist.

  • Multicast used for discovery (mDNS, DNS-SD) and clocking (IEEE1588)
  • Media transport defaults to UDP unicast, multicast optional for one-to-many connections
  • IGMPv3/v2 support
  • Signals controlled with Dante Controller software or Dante API
  • Fully routable transport with Dante Domain Manager
  • Complete user access control with Dante Domain Manager

Real media networking from real network engineers

Dante’s wide adoption is driven by Audinate’s dedicated engineering team of network experts who see IP as a means to standardizing connectivity between all types of devices, allowing people to easily do more with media. We work with our partners to ensure that Dante is a solid network citizen, thoroughly tested and built entirely on well-implemented standards while meeting the needs of the most demanding AV users. Dante takes the complexity out of point-to-point AV systems and delivers coherent, consistent performance that works like networking should.

Resources to Help You Understand and Manage Dante

Whitepaper - Implementing Audio-over-IP from an IT Manager’s Perspective

IT managers increasingly expect AV systems to be integrated with enterprise data networks, but they may not be familiar with the specific requirements of audio-over-IP systems and common AV practices. Conversely, AV professionals may not know the concerns of IT managers or know how best to achieve their goals. This whitepaper helps both sides understand each other's needs.

Dante AV-over-IP for IT Pros

Information Sheet - Dante AV-over-IP for IT Professionals

If you've wondered what Dante technology is, and how it fits into your network, this 2-page document will quickly bring you up to speed on the basics. Learn how the IT standards-based approach developed by experienced network engineers has led to Dante's place as the de facto AV-over-IP standard.


Network and Analog Application Diagrams for AV Systems

System diagrams showing some of the most common scenarios of AV applications, comparing analog and networked setups. Many applications also include diagrams showing how large implementations are controlled and secured using Dante Domain Manager. 

Application Diagrams for AV systems - three examples


Questions?