Dante Network
With hundreds of professional audio manufacturers now supporting Dante, it is an easy way to route multiple channels of high quality audio at a very low latency between two or more pieces of equipment (including directly out of a PC or Mac using only its Ethernet port.) Dante (Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet) is a standard audio-over-Ethernet protocol developed and supported by Audinate Pty Ltd.
Please note that we did not develop the Dante protocol. We are simply an end-point. In this manual, we just barely scratch the surface of Dante's capabilities. The creators of Dante know their protocol better than anyone!
Please visit www.audinate.com for a vast wealth of training videos, example setups, and documentation.
Our Switch Back M8RX connects four channels of simultaneous
audio input and output with other Dante enabled equipment
using a standard Ethernet network connection and unshielded
Cat6 cabling. Dante will work with standard network switches
and routers and is safe to combine with your existing computer
network, if necessary. 100BaseT network speed is supported.
The M8RX supports four channels of inputs and outputs at
sampling rates of 44.1kHz or 48kHz and two channels of inputs
and outputs at sampling rates of 88.2kHz or 96kHz.
A Dante network requires at least two devices that support the Dante protocol and a single unshielded Cat6 network connection between the two devices. Before you can send audio over the Dante network, you must first connect a Windows PC or Mac running the Dante Controller software (download from www.audinate.com) in order to configure audio channel routing. You must choose what you want to send to each of the four channels of the M8RX and also if you want to route any of the audio from the 4 inputs of the M8RX to any other Dante device. Whatever is assigned to channels one through four in the Dante Controller software is what will show up on channels A, B, and C on the M8RX. A and B are mono channels and C is a stereo channel.
After configuration, the computer can be disconnected. To connect the PC or Mac, you can connect the computer's Ethernet cable directly into the M8RX (using an in-line PoE+ power injector to power the M8RX) or into a PoE+ network switch to which the other Dante devices are also connected.
Channels Transmitted to Dante
| Transmit Channels | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Description | Headphone Volume Control |
| 1 | Input "A" Balanced XLR or 1/4" | Analog Input Level "A" Knob Tip |
| 2 | Input "B" Balanced XLR or 1/4" | Analog Input Level "B" Knob Tip |
| 3 | Input "C" Unbalanced 1/8" Line Left | Analog Input Level "C" Knob Tip |
| 4 | Input "C" Unbalanced 1/8" Line Right | |
Channels Received from Dante
| Receive Channels | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Type | Headphone Volume Control |
| 1 | Mono Dante Channel "A" | Dante Input Level "A" Knob Ring |
| 2 | Mono Dante Channel "B" | Dante Input Level "B" Knob Ring |
| 3 | Stereo Dante Channel "C" Left | Dante Input Level "C" Knob Ring |
| 4 | Stereo Dante Channel "C" Right | |