Topics covered in this article:
- Associated software and configuration on Dante RMWs
- Synchronization options and configurations
Introduction
Dante RMWs use additional software specific to the Dante I/O. Workstations will be supplied configured and tested by an authorized Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite reseller.
In most cases these don’t require user intervention. However, it is important to understand the configuration of these applications.
Drivers and Applications
The RMW will come with the proper Focusrite Rednet drivers and firmware installed.
The Dante RMW will come with two additional software applications:
- The Audinate Dante Controller:
- Used to route signals between the DAW, RMW, and Monitoring System
- Can be run from either the RMW or the DAW
- Sets the clock source and sample rate for the Dante network
- The Focusrite Rednet Application:
- Will be aware of other Focusrite Dante devices on the network, if any are present
- Should be set to follow settings from the Audinate Dante Controller
- Requires verifying sample rate and clock settings
Clock in a Dante Environment
Installations will vary, but in most cases one device (typically a DAW audio interface) receives WC from an external master clock (MC). In the Dante Controller, the audio interface is set to clock to an external source and is set as the MC for the Dante Network. All other devices should be set to slave. It is important that there be only one MC source in a Dante network.
Alternatively, if a facility has a master network Precision Time Protocol (PTP) clock, that should be used as the network master, with all other devices set to slave.
Additional Information
On a Windows-based RMW, the Focusrite Rednet PCIeR settings panel will also be available to set the buffer size. The buffer size should be set to 512 samples. This setting is accessed from the Rednet Control application as shown below.
On a Mac-based RMW, the Focusrite Rednet PCIeR card will appear as an Audio Device in Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI setup. The Input and Output Format must be set as follows:
- 128-Ch 32-bit Float 48kHz
Dante and Other Networks
The Mac DAW and Dante RMW will often exist in an environment with two or more networks. It is important to keep these segregated, with all Dante devices on a dedicated switch or subnet separate from regular network traffic.
The same switch/subnet can be used to route both Dante audio and panning/size metadata from the DAW. Alternatively, the communication between the DAW and RMW can be established using a separate network connected to an additional network interface card on the RMW.
Configuring Synchronization on Dante RMWs
The LTC source for an RMW can be a synchronization peripheral or the Dolby LTC generator plug-in can be used as an alternative on DAWs without a synchronization peripheral.
LTC and Dante RMWs
On both Mac-based and Windows-based Dante RMWs LTC is received using an audio channel. In the Dolby Atmos Renderer, the External Sync Source set is to LTC over audio, and the input channel is specified.
With Dante systems using a synchronization peripheral, the LTC analog audio signal must be converted to Dante using an analog-to-Dante converter. This requires some extra steps in the Audinate Dante Controller.
The analog-to-Dante converter carrying the LTC needs to be routed to the desired audio input. Typically, this is receive channel 128 on the Focusrite PCIeR card. In order to retain use of Renderer inputs 125–127, a multicast flow must be set up on the last eight transmit channels of the Dante device, used for Renderer inputs 121–128, so that the analog-to-Dante converter used for LTC can be routed without occupying receive channels. (See the image below.)
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