1 Topic by ras_bassy (edited by ras_bassy 2024-10-06 17:28:47)

  • Registered: 2024-02-03
  • Posts: 11

Topic: Plug and play?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CgFQTc … sp=sharing

The RME USA website has this to say about the Digiface Dante: "Used without USB the Digiface Dante automatically turns into a 64-channel Dante / MADI converter."

The manual confirms this: "The Digiface Dante can be used stand-alone, powered by the included power supply. Alternatively USB bus power from a USB power wall wart or USB battery can be used. When not connected to a computer host the device operates as 64 channel MADI to/from Dante converter. All channels are transferred to the other format unchanged, both ways."

I took my new Digiface Dante out for its first test drive last night. The diagram - link above - shows a CAT 8 Ethernet cable connecting the Dante 64x64 card in the house Allen & Heath Avantis console to the Digiface Dante. The diagram also shows BNC coaxial connections from the Digiface Dante to the MADI card on one of my Cymatic Audio uTrack24 recorders. A second BNC coaxial cable runs from the MADI output on Cymatic card #1 to the MADI input on Cymatic card #2.

(The three Ethernet cables connected to the router enable the two uTrack24 recorders to sync together and enable the Motorola smartphone to display the audio input levels to the recorders, using the Cymatic uRemote app for Android.)

According to the house tech at the venue, the house file for the Avantis has the direct outs of input channel strips 1-64 patched to the Dante card. I hoped and assumed that this would be a plug-and-play setup, but we could not get my recorders to receive any signal using the MADI inputs.

We were forced to switch to Plan B and use the 12 XLR-M analog outputs on the Avantis console to feed my recorders. Fortunately, the portable rig is set up for both MADI and line-level analog audio inputs.

Two questions: Why didn't this work, and how can I make it work?

Thanks for help and advice!

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,476

Re: Plug and play?

Maybe power supply? Unfortunately your setup seems not to include a Dante Controller access. If the DF Dante is used in a Dante network the unit it can be found and configured.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2024-02-03
  • Posts: 11

Re: Plug and play?

Thank you Matthias. The power supplies for the various devices are not shown in the diagram but everything including the Digiface Dante is connected to power, and the LED on the DF Dante was definitely illuminated.

If the interface is connected by USB to a computer running Dante Controller, that can no longer be considered to be stand-alone operation. Was I wrong to think that stand-alone operation was going to work?

Thanks again for your help with this!

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,476

Re: Plug and play?

I wrote: If the DF Dante is used in a Dante network the unit it can be found and configured.

This is a network device, and it can be controlled through network from any device. No USB with DF Dante needed to do so. But the Dante Controller needs to be run on any other device within the network. This would allow you to see that the unit is there at all. And maybe change settings.

Possible issues might come up with the sample rate and clocking. MADI must match the network.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

5 Reply by Carlhynce (edited by Carlhynce 2024-10-06 22:05:54)

  • Registered: 2008-02-05
  • Posts: 16

Re: Plug and play?

Network audio is not a trivial matter and cannot be compared with a point-to-point connection such as Madi.
Even if a 1 to 1 conversion from Dante to Madi via DF Dante is the aim, it must be borne in mind that the DF Dante is located in a Dante network and may need to be patched and configured.
Therefore, in a Dante network it always makes sense to have a laptop with a Dante controller in the network in order to be able to configure the Dante devices. Even if Yamaha consoles, for example, offer the option of configuration from the mixing console, it is better to have a dedicated computer in the Dante network. Even if Digiface Dante without host is only part of the network as Dante Madi Converter, it may be necessary to configure the clock settings of Digiface Dante via Dante Controller. In your case, you could have connected a laptop with Dante Controller via Ethernet to the 2nd primary Ethernet port of the DF Dante to be able to configure the DF Dante from the outside, so to speak.

  • Registered: 2024-02-03
  • Posts: 11

Re: Plug and play?

Thank you for the reply and for the specific information, Carlhynce. I won't get a second shot at recording this performance, but I am hoping to record other shows at the same venue. I will install Dante Controller on my MBP and bring it - and a CAT 5e cable - next time. Thanks again!

Carlhynce wrote:

Network audio is not a trivial matter and cannot be compared with a point-to-point connection such as Madi.
Even if a 1 to 1 conversion from Dante to Madi via DF Dante is the aim, it must be borne in mind that the DF Dante is located in a Dante network and may need to be patched and configured.
Therefore, in a Dante network it always makes sense to have a laptop with a Dante controller in the network in order to be able to configure the Dante devices. Even if Yamaha consoles, for example, offer the option of configuration from the mixing console, it is better to have a dedicated computer in the Dante network. Even if Digiface Dante without host is only part of the network as Dante Madi Converter, it may be necessary to configure the clock settings of Digiface Dante via Dante Controller. In your case, you could have connected a laptop with Dante Controller via Ethernet to the 2nd primary Ethernet port of the DF Dante to be able to configure the DF Dante from the outside, so to speak.

  • Registered: 2008-02-05
  • Posts: 16

Re: Plug and play?

I am a long way from fully understanding Dante in depth. But it has helped me a lot by really practising. Of course, it is helpful to have access to several Dante devices as a test arrangement.

8 Reply by ras_bassy (edited by ras_bassy 2024-10-13 18:52:05)

  • Registered: 2024-02-03
  • Posts: 11

Re: Plug and play?

It's a holiday weekend here in Canada and I have made some good progress. Yesterday, I successfully completed the Dante Level 1 (2nd Edition) course which helped my understanding a lot, and I also installed Dante Controller on a Windows 10 laptop here and installed Dante Virtual Soundcard on my MacBook Pro.

Now, the MBP serves as a Dante transmitter, and the RME Digiface Dante works as a Dante receiver. The DF Dante, as advertised, converts the incoming Dante stream to MADI, and both of the uTrack24 recorders lock onto the clock coming in from the DF Dante. The clocks on the recorders are set to Digital I/O (ext.), and Dante Controller shows Primary Leader Clock: Digiface-Dante.

I'm feeling confident that I will be able to get the Dante 64x64 card in the house console and the DF Dante to talk to each other when my next session happens a few days from now. Here is a diagram to show what the connections will look like: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14GxZXC … sp=sharing

For today's tests, the connections were the same as shown in the diagram except I had the MBP running Dante Virtual Soundcard as the transmitter instead of the Avantis console with its Dante card.

Thanks to RME for a great product, and thanks to Matthias and Carlhynce for helping me make it work with my humble but capable little system.