Network audio
Dante network diagrams
A Dante system is a network first. Its diagram has to show which switch port each device plugs into, which network it is on and what address it has, as well as the audio. Patchify draws Dante as its own signal on each port and keeps an IP address, subnet, gateway and VLAN for every network port.
Written by Callum Buckley ·
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What should a Dante network diagram show?
Every Dante device, the switch and port it connects to, and whether that link is the primary or secondary network. Add each interface's IP address and VLAN, and the PoE budget for anything powered from the switch. Leave the individual audio routes to Dante Controller; the diagram is for the cabling and the network.
The library has more than 100 devices with Dante ports already mapped, including consoles, stageboxes, amplifiers and interfaces, many with separate primary and secondary ports.
Star, daisy-chain or redundant: which topology?
| Topology | How it's wired | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Star | Every device to one switch | Most installs. Simple to draw and to fault-find. |
| Daisy-chain | Device to device through built-in switch ports | A few devices with two ports in switched mode, where a switch would be overkill. One failure cuts everything after it. |
| Redundant | Primary ports to switch A, secondary ports to a separate switch B | Anything that must not stop. The two networks are physically separate and never joined. |
A device can't do both: when its second port is set to redundant it carries the secondary network, not a daisy-chain.
A worked example: a redundant system
A console at front of house, two stageboxes, a four-channel amplifier and a recording computer, on two switches. The console, stageboxes and amplifier have secondary ports; the computer joins the primary network only. Drawn in Patchify, each port gets its address and VLAN, and the project's Network tab lists them all:
| Device | Port | Switch : port | IP address | VLAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOH console | Dante primary | SW-A : 1 | 192.168.10.11 | 10 |
| FOH console | Dante secondary | SW-B : 1 | 192.168.20.11 | 20 |
| Stagebox 1 | Dante primary | SW-A : 2 | 192.168.10.21 | 10 |
| Stagebox 1 | Dante secondary | SW-B : 2 | 192.168.20.21 | 20 |
| Stagebox 2 | Dante primary | SW-A : 3 | 192.168.10.22 | 10 |
| Stagebox 2 | Dante secondary | SW-B : 3 | 192.168.20.22 | 20 |
| Amplifier | Dante primary | SW-A : 4 | 192.168.10.31 | 10 |
| Amplifier | Dante secondary | SW-B : 4 | 192.168.20.31 | 20 |
| Recording PC | Ethernet | SW-A : 8 | 192.168.10.50 | 10 |
The Network tab sorts the interfaces by address and warns when two of them share an IP, which is easy to do when a device is copied from one job to the next.
How do you document switches, VLANs and IP addresses?
On the ports themselves. Right-click a network device to set the IP address, subnet mask, gateway and VLAN of each of its network ports. A device with two network ports keeps two sets of addresses, so primary and secondary are recorded separately. The IP subnet calculator helps plan the ranges.
Draw the switch as a device and cable each Dante port to a numbered switch port. The cable schedule then says exactly which switch port every device uses, which is what the person patching the rack needs.
How much bandwidth do my flows need?
It depends on channel count, sample rate, bit depth and latency setting, and on unicast versus multicast. Our free Dante bandwidth calculator works it out for a given set of flows. Audinate recommends gigabit switches for Dante, which leaves plenty of room on most systems.
For devices powered from the switch, such as ceiling mics and wall panels, check the switch's PoE budget with the PoE calculator before you buy it.
Mixing Dante with SDI and NDI? See signal flow diagram softwareQuestions
Does Patchify configure Dante devices?
No. It documents the system; Dante Controller sets up the devices and routes. The diagram records what should be plugged where and with which address.
Can I show AES67 or other network audio too?
Yes. AES67, AVB, RAVENNA, AES50 and others are signal types of their own, as are NDI and SMPTE ST 2110 for video.
Can I export the IP address list?
Yes. The project report lists every device's IP addresses, and the cable schedule exports to Excel and CSV.
Do I need a special switch for Dante?
A managed gigabit switch is the usual choice, with Energy Efficient Ethernet turned off and QoS set as Audinate recommends. Check Audinate's own guidance for your switch model.
Try it on your next job
Draw the system once and get the cable schedule, rack and PDF pack from the same project.