Professional Audio Networking Tech is Featured in New Products from JBL Synthesis, ELAN, and Powersoft
Audinate’s Dante – the AV-over-IP solution that dominates the world of professional audio – is seeing rapid adoption by manufacturers of residential audio equipment. The technology provides an easy solution to route audio over long distances without any signal degradation, making it perfect for higher-end residential homes with multi-zone audio setups.
Dante launched in the live sound market in 2008 followed soon after by integrators in the commercial installed AV market to deliver systems with hundreds of uncompressed audio channels over a standard Ethernet network. Dante’s introduction to the residential market brings cost reductions and installation time savings thanks to the efficiency of leveraging Ethernet cables in lieu of proprietary, single-purpose analog audio cables.
“Our founders had a vision for making a solution that was usable in the real world,” explained Josh Rush, VP of marketing and product management at Audinate. “What that means is recognizing what equipment is out there, both in terms of cabling, the switches that are available, the bandwidth being used in the market. It’s also designed to work on a 1Gig network, which is much more common.”
Dante has become the de-facto leader in networked audio, with more than 2,000 commercially available products from more than 430 manufacturers, all with guaranteed interoperability. This means integrators can pick best-of-breed products for their particular installation with confidence that they will all network together seamlessly, while legacy audio gear can be brought onto the network using cost-effective Dante AVIO adapters. Dante integrates directly with computers using Dante Virtual Soundcard or Dante Via, allowing media streaming applications to playout up to 64 channels of audio using just built-in Ethernet.
In the residential market, Dante will soon be featured in the new JBL Synthesis SDP-55 surround processor, SDR-35 AV receiver, SDA-7120 seven-channel amplifier, and SDA-2200 two-channel amplifier; the new Mezzo AD amplifier line from Powersoft; and the IP Amplifier line from ELAN. Other commercial/residential crossover products from companies such as Atlona, Just Add Power, and others are also supporting Dante.
“Our new JBL Synthesis AV Receiver, AV surround processor, and multichannel amplifiers all include Dante connectivity as a key component of their design,” said Jim Garrett, senior director, product strategy and planning, Harman Luxury Audio. “Dante enables us to provide simplified component connectivity along with advanced audio networking, and to be confident in the performance, reliability, and interoperability.”
Jeff Shaw, ELAN product manager concurs: “Dante is a vital part of our new ELAN IP Amplifier line, which simplifies multi-room audio for residential installations. Our accelerated performance plus Dante networking is a win-win for integrators and their customers alike.”
AudioControl is an official Dante partner and has been working with Audinate for nearly two years. “Dante adds an important level of compatibility for our integrators, addressing their need to create a more effective and efficient way of integrating our Director Series matrixing amplifiers and our CM Series 70-volt amplifiers utilizing audio over IP,” noted AudioControl CEO Alex Camara. “Compatibility with Dante will benefit integrators within our own Director DSP network platform as well as when connecting to other Dante end-points and products.”
