Tech Notes from the Field

I have mentioned Audio over IP (AoIP) in posts and on my site. I have been using AoIP for years to do remote broadcasts, normally using Tieline codecs, but have used others. I was one of the early adopters. I also decided years ago to run our studio to transmitter audio over IP. Due to space constraints and other factors I decided on the Worldcast/APT codecs. All have worked very well. When the stations had to move I wanted my AoIP platform to be Dante. I am glad I did.

There are three notable choices for AoIP on the broadcast industry: Dante, LiveWire, and WheatNet. Two of these are proprietary and do not have to pointed out. Only one, Dante, is an industry standard most notably in the audio/video industry and live sound. It is used worldwide in major venues. The list goes on and on. Just visit the Audinate Project Gallery. If you need devices and interfaces, why there are a whole slew of choices. Any time you need to interface, just check out their Product Catalog where you can research what you want, but do not pass over Audinate’s own devices, the AVIO adapters. Though I have not needed one, I think next year I will pick up a couple to have for the rainy day emergency! How could I pass on choosing Dante for my platform of choice?

Overall, the installation was a breeze. In my next post I will detail our basic installation, but for now just an overview. Though Audinate is designed to run on your existing Ethernet network, I am a strong believer in keeping mission critical separate, so I installed a completely separate network just for Dante. This makes life super easy as all you need to install is a good core switch and home run all your connections. At this point, as Dante will automatically configure its own IP addresses you can just let it happen. I actually manually assigned all IP addresses. Once you have a couple devices installed, you will see them populate in the Device Manager software. Using the Device Manager, make your audio connections and you are off to the races.

I am a Sierra Automated Systems (SAS) plant. With the new KDL modules and Rio Bravos, interfacing Dante to the routing system is quite easy. Again, you need to make your routes in the Dante Controller first, but once you have them available, that audio is not available in the SAS routers just like any other audio. SAS is working with Audinate such that they can control Dante routing through their system from my understanding. Seems like a complex challenge, but if anyone can do it, SAS can.

Stay tuned from my next post about the details of installing Dante, the devices, and configuration. Being an industry standard makes for easy integration with many devices. Mackie comes to mind. As for up-time, I have not had any issues with our AoIP setup. It works, and that is what counts.