digital notes
digital notes
digital notes
digital notes
digital notes
digital notes
DANTE VIRTUAL SOUNDCARD
Audinate’s Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS) is a software application that turns your
computer into a Dante-enabled device, allowing Dante audio to be
transmitted and received using its standard Ethernet port, either directly or
through an Ethernet switch, ideal for multitrack recording and playback.
M-DANTE is shipped with a free DVS licence token to activate one computer. You
can purchase more licences from Audinate if you need to run DVS on more than
one computer.
Detailed information on downloading and activating the Dante Virtual Soundcard
are included in the Getting Started Guide AP8340 shipped with the M-DANTE mod-
ule. Please also read Audinate’s Dante Virtual Soundcard User Guide for
information describing how to install, configure and operate the software.
MULTITRACK RECORDING
Top-spec desktop workstations are often the way to go for professional, reliable audio recording and playback. Nevertheless, the following
best practices should help to improve your overall I/O capability and get better audio performance.
The Dante Virtual Soundcard is a kernel-based driver. It can be set for latency values of 4, 6 or 10ms. Lower settings require greater re-
sources from the host computer, and so should be used only with machines that exceed the minimum requirements. Some device drivers,
including wireless adapters and FireWire interfaces, can hold the CPU for a long time, with spikes of several milliseconds, causing dropouts
on playback and recording. Tools are available on-line to check and monitor your Deferred Procedure Call (DPC) latency. Make sure that you
have installed the latest version of each driver. Disable the advanced visual effects in Windows. To prevent installed protocols and services
interfering with the streaming, disable all non-essential options for your Network Interface from device properties in Windows Device Manager.
Disable any unused Network Interface and any installed antivirus or firewall software. Some of these applications need complete removal from
the system in order for the Dante Virtual Soundcard to work at its best. Audinate can provide more information on system requirements.
Direct recording data to a non-system, separate, fast hard drive, either internal or external. Multiple drives are recommended for recording
more than 32 channels. Quit any unnecessary applications or services you may have running. It is always advisable either to run as few sim-
ultaneous applications as possible, or to have a completely separate dedicated machine for recording.
M-DANTE and the Dante Virtual Soundcard FAQ
Q:
Do I need an audio interface to record with Dante?
A: No. One of the main benefits of Dante Virtual Soundcard is that it replaces expensive multichannel soundcard hardware. It works with any
audio application that supports ASIO drivers (Windows) or the Core Audio interface (Mac). These include nearly all currently available profes-
sional level audio workstations such as Nuendo, Cubase, Reaper, Sonar, Logic, Pro Tools 9 and many others.
Q:
Can I install a single licensed copy of Dante Virtual Soundcard on all my computers?
A: No. Dante Virtual Soundcard is licensed to one machine per license. Additional full licenses or temporary low-cost ones are available from
the Audinate Store.
Q:
Can I use the Control Network port
for recording?
A: No. The Control Network port isn’t
intended for playback and recording
purposes. It should only be used for
connecting a computer running Dante
Controller.
Q:
Can I playback audio files into the Dante
network and iLive/GLD system using
iTunes or Windows Media Player?
A: In a Mac OS, all major applications including iTunes and QuickTime support the Core Audio interface and will recognize properly the Dante
Virtual Soundcard. However, Windows Media Player doesn’t support ASIO drivers. A suitable media player for the Windows environment is
Winamp with the ASIO plugin installed.
Virtual Soundcard
DANTE
iLive
Controller
DANTE
iLive
