Dante with more that 64 inputs

[mharperParticipant]

Working with a Church Client, on upgrading to a dLive system. They currently run 2 separate iLive 80 surfaces one for FOH with and IDR10 and the other for Recording with an IDR0. They want to be able to do multi tracking and I was thinking that Dante would be the easiest option for that. Is it possible to do Dante with more than 64 inputs, maybe 2 Dante Cards? They Don’t need more than 64 right now but they are currently running 60 inputs, and we would like for them to have room to expand.

Thanks
Mike Harper
Output unlimited

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Mike,

Yes, you can fit 2x M-Dante cards to a dLive system to get 128 channels over Dante. Remember the Dante Virtual Soundcard is limited to 64 channels, so you would need two computers for recording beyond 64 tracks, or you can invest in the Focusrite PCI Dante card which does 128.

[mharperParticipant]

Awesome, That should work out perfect.

Thanks
Mike Harper
Output Unlimited

[mharperParticipant]

Thinking about this more. Would I run the from each Dante card to a switch, then connect the multi-tracking PC to the switch? How would the combining of the 2 cards work on the network to give 128×128?

Thanks
Mike Harper
Output Unlimited

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

The M-Dante card can be set to switched mode, where the two ports (Primary and Secondary) are switched ports on the same network. So you can connect the two cards together using their built-in switch, e.g. Secondary to Secondary, and one of the Primary ports goes to your Dante PCI-equipped computer.

[boluponaParticipant]

Look into the Waves3 card. https://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/waves3/
It’s the same point as the Dante card, 128 inputs, connect via Cat5 or 6. Easy set-up and you can record either at 48kHz or 96kHz.

Great card.

[mharperParticipant]

I thought about the Waves card, but was told by our rep that the Waves card was for plug ins only? I didn’t think that was right. Does Waves require any other special hardware/software other than the DAW.

Another thing, which would be more universal for this set up Waves or Dante? I was thinking Dante would be more universal, and easier for someone else to patch into if needed. The church has had some recording companies use their space in the past, which they had to use an Analog split at the time. I would like to provide the most universal option for a Recording company to come in with their equipment to get up and running.

Thanks
Mike Harper
Output Unlimited

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

You can use the Waves card to record straight into a DAW via Cat5, as you would do with Dante. As bolupona says above, the difference is you get 128 channels at 96kHz with a single card.
Dante is typically a better choice for interconnecting with third party equipment, but for pure recording purposes, I would go with Waves.

[ddff_lvParticipant]

Btw, are there any dedicated HW Waves recorders in the market such as Tascam or JoeCo for Dante?

ddff

[boluponaParticipant]

In terms of anything additional, you’ll need to create a Waves account, download Soundgrid Studio. Set-up was a breeze for me. I initially had the Dante card but switched out with the Waves3 card, purely for more channel counts, if and when I do need it. If you’re sticking to 64 inputs or less, with the Waves3 card, Soundgrid DSP server, multirack soundgrid software, and any DAW you could literally run your plugins on one computer and record on another.

That was also another reason I got the card. I’m personally on big on using plug ins while mixing live, which is why I love the D-Live coz everything I’ll need, it’s literally got it. But I got the waves3 card for that option that someone does rent the church and they wanted to run their plugins in conjunction with the console.

Hope this helps!

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