[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Latham,

Have a look at this recent topic which discussed a similar question: https://community.allen-heath.com/forums/topic/dante-or-xlr-what-is-the-win-for-one-mic

Latency differences are negligible if running Dante at the lowest latency setting. Arguably there is an advantage in keeping the signal digital rather than going through unnecessary DA/AD conversions. AES would have the same advantage, and ultimately lower latency than Dante, but you cannot send AES to the GX4816 preamps.
As other users have suggested in the linked topic, it is primarily a question of convenience and preferred topology.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

All our transport protocols are Ethernet Layer 2 compliant and tested to work with 100m CAT5e (or higher) STP cables.
To the best of my knowledge AES50 (as used by Midas) uses the Physical Layer only, not Ethernet packets, which might explain different cable spec or performance.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Convert mode on the fibreACE card was designed for use between a dLive MixRack and Surface, with both ends equipped with fibreACE. Theoretically, you can have a fibreACE card on one side only, and a third party converter on the other (for example for connecting to a GX4816 or an SLink port), like suggested above, but you would need to match the transfer rate and fibre mode of the fibreACE card as not all converters and SFP modules work the same way.
Typically for these applications, converters are always bought in pairs, with the same specs and performance on both sides of the fibre. So I would say that a pair of third party CAT-fibre converters is the way to go for the scenarios described above.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Avantis and dLive S Class have relay protection on the outputs and if correctly shut down, the outputs will be muted when powering off. dLive C Class racks and surfaces do not have relay protection so will cause pops when powering off.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Tatsuya,

No, you cannot control the AHM local preamps from an Avantis. You can of course use the Digital Trim to adjust the input level on Avantis provided a sensible analogue gain is set on the AHM.
The control network bridge in your picture simply bridges the AHM control network with the Dante network, meaning you can run AHM System Manager to control those AHM preamps from the Avantis location, over the same cable you use for Dante audio.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

It depends on what is feeding the ME-U. If the source is an Aviom A16 stream, then the ME-U and ME-500 are operating in Aviom mode and you will be able to use your A-16ii units. If the source is Dante/MADI/Waves, or a Qu/SQ/Avantis/dLive mixer, then the ME-U and ME-500 are operating in dSNAKE mode and will not be compatible with Aviom mixers.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

@brian
That’s not entirely correct. The Shure receivers can operate in different modes and can indeed merge control and Dante on the same port / network. The convenience in this configuration is that you can run a single Dante cable to the dLive or Avantis. Of course, it requires some attention to IP addresses, network bridge etc. hence my questions.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

@JAK
Can you tell us more about your setup?
– Network topology, switch configuration etc.
– Is the Dante card in redundant mode or switched mode?
– Is the Dante card bridged to the dLive control network?
– IP address of Shure receivers (control and Dante), IP address of dLive, IP address of Dante card

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Peter,

All digital wireless systems will exhibit some latency, even before hitting the Dante network. That said, Dante transport latency is typically higher than a DAC/ADC combination, but if you wish to keep your signal chain digital to avoid multiple conversions, you can experiment with the latency setting for the SQ Dante card in Dante Controller. This can be reduced to 250ns I believe (from the default 1ms) provided you have a direct connection from the Sennheiser receiver to the mixer.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

@chans
Do you have a valid subscription in Dante Controller from the DT168 to the Dante card (a green tick)?
If so, does audio from the preamp get through to the channel?
Is the DT168 connected directly to the Primary port of the Dante card?

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Jimmy,

If you’re running two CDM MixRacks, all channels should behave independently and mutes on one system will NOT affect the other system.
Is it possible that your control network bridge is On on both gigaACE cards and that both Surfaces connected to the same MixRack unintentionally? (It doesn’t matter if the Cat5 cables go direct to each CDM, at a network level each Surface will see both CDMs in this configuration.)
Try switching the bridge Off on both cards as a starter. You could also double check the target MixRack for each in the Surface network settings.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Small correction: with DT168 and DT164-W, multiple A&H consoles can have control of the preamps at the same time, and the audio can be sent direct from the DT boxes to both mixers. In this configuration, there is no single ‘owner’ of the preamps.

Søren is correct that Dante devices can be networked. There are some limitations on number of DT boxes and Dante cards in a system (especially when running Dante Domain Manager), documented in the Dante firmware release notes, but your setup sounds absolutely fine.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

That’s correct. The bus assignment is independent but the ‘main’ channel level applies to all main mixes (LR and M).
I would definitely suggest an Aux for subs if you want to control the send level to the subs for individual channels. I would also place the Aux fader strip next to LR and appropriately name/colour it.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Please see Keith’s response in this thread: https://community.allen-heath.com/forums/topic/noise-at-all-local-inputs

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Director V1.97 has passed testing with Monterey on both Intel and M processors. I will ask the team to update the download link.
Unfortunately compatibility with Ventura remains problematic and still under investigation.

[Author]

Posts