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Thread: Does Anyone Here Use Dante?

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    Does Anyone Here Use Dante?

    I am in the process of buying a Crown 4/1200 amp with Dante to use with my M2 clones. Would I be able to eliminate my DAC and pre-amp if I use Dante? I know Audinate makes an adaptor that plugs in to the back of my USB port on my computer. What would I use for a volume control? There is a little volume control in I-tunes and Spotify, but I would like something physical.
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    Do a search for the term "monitor controller for DAW".



    Quote Originally Posted by robertg View Post
    I am in the process of buying a Crown 4/1200 amp with Dante to use with my M2 clones. Would I be able to eliminate my DAC and pre-amp if I use Dante? I know Audinate makes an adaptor that plugs in to the back of my USB port on my computer. What would I use for a volume control? There is a little volume control in I-tunes and Spotify, but I would like something physical.

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    I researched monitor controls and only found analogue devices. A lot of them did stuff that was way over my head and they were out of my price range. It seems like Dante is not too common for home audio.

    I found that BSS Soundweb makes a controller that plugs in to the back of the Crown DCI amps. The model is EC-V. It's wall mount, not desk mount, but I can fix that. It's just a simple volume control.
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    Senior Member christo's Avatar
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    I found that BSS Soundweb makes a controller that plugs in to the back of the Crown DCI amps. The model is EC-V. It's wall mount, not desk mount, but I can fix that. It's just a simple volume control.
    Hi Robertg

    I’m going to throw my 2 cent in here and I’m also as new as you are to this stuff, trying to get my own M2s up and running.

    I think you have miss-interpreted the implementation of the “Soundweb Contrio EC-V”. This is a device which sits on the network and has its own IP address. You would use Audio Architect software to associate the EV-C controller to the amplifier to allow it to control the volume.

    The EV-C device uses PoE – “Power Over Ethernet” and as such you will need at a minimum a device to supply the “Power” to the controller hence the “midspan Ethernet powering devices” outlined on page 12 of the manual.

    In the manual on page 13 the diagrams only show connectivity to BSS Devices across a network. The EC-V device is not plugged in to either device directly. The first diagram is misleading as both the EV-C and the DCi amplifier must visible on the network, the EV-C could never be directly plugged in to the ethernet port of the amplifier.

    I also wonder why you would be looking at Dante as this is not really suited for home Hi Fi. Dante is a communication protocol that runs on top of TCP/IP on the network with built-in capabilities to support 1024 channel of sound (recording studios), live sound environments providing redundancy via primary/secondary connections and able use existing network infrastructure. It will work in the home but is over kill to be sure.

    Chris

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    The amp that I am buying has Dante, so I'm trying to figure out how to use it. If the one amplifier can replace my DAC, preamp, DSP and two amplifiers, I think it's a win situation.

    Hopefully I can use a midspan between the EC-V and the amplifier to make it work. A midspan is only $50.00 and I would prefer to have a real knob to control the volume.

    I should be able to connect my computer to the amplifier without an ethernet switch from what I have read. From what I know it isn't required for a simple Dante system.

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by robertg View Post
    I should be able to connect my computer to the amplifier without an ethernet switch from what I have read. From what I know it isn't required for a simple Dante system.
    I believe you will need to know enough about network configurations to setup a DHCP server on your computer to manage the connections and I can't see how it will work without a switch if you have more than a single device connected.


    Widget

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    I believe you will need to know enough about network configurations to setup a DHCP server on your computer to manage the connections and I can't see how it will work without a switch if you have more than a single device connected.


    Widget
    The DHCP server should not be an issue as the device your ISP provider installs in your house is a switch/DHCP server.

    What you have to watch out for is how many physical Ethernet ports are on the device. In this age of wireless this number has shrunk and in my case the unit that was provided only has four.

    With the DCi amplifier and the EV-C Controller you’ll need 2 physical Ethernet ports to connect these devices to the network.

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    _IF_ all of your playback takes place from a computer simply buy a copy of Dante Virtual Soundcard from the Audinate site, install it on the playback machine , select DVS as your audio out, connect your ethernet port to the amplifier and you have a Dante networked audio system with D to A taking place one time in the amplifier. There are no hardware level controls for Dante as it's not a DSP protocol, it's a transport protocol. If you want a physical knob to have level control then your want to control it at the playback device - the computer thus my suggestion for a DAW controller. Yes, this will all be more convoluted for control than simply having separate DAC and preamp but if eliminating a D to A / A to D step is essential to your plans that's what is needed.


    Quote Originally Posted by robertg View Post
    The amp that I am buying has Dante, so I'm trying to figure out how to use it. If the one amplifier can replace my DAC, preamp, DSP and two amplifiers, I think it's a win situation.

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by christo View Post
    The DHCP server should not be an issue as the device your ISP provider installs in your house is a switch/DHCP server.
    Of course, but then he has a router and switch in the system. I thought he wanted to avoid these... perhaps you are right, he just didn't want to buy another switch.


    Widget

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    I have an Actiontec GT784MNV modem/router coming in to the house, it has four ports. One of those ports are connected to a Linksys WRT1900AC router that sits in the middle of my house. It has four ports also. I don't think either one has poe? I thought i could use a poe injector anyway? That's only if I want to use the EC-V controller anyway.

    What I have read agrees with what Riley Casey said. I can just connect my computer's ethernet port to the amp and have my own network. This would require me to use Dante Virtual Soundcard. I think Virtual Soundcard has a volume control also.

    Can I connect a Dante device directly to my computer?


    Yes. Simply connect your Dante enabled devices to an Ethernet switch, using Cat5e or Cat 6 Ethernet cable, and then connect your computer to the same switch. If you have only one Dante-enabled device to connect to your computer, you may eliminate the switch and simply connect the two with a Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cable

    Is it possible to make direct connections between Dante-enabled equipment?


    Yes. Once routes are established with Dante Controller, a simple network of two Dante devices will work in a stand-alone fashion.

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    Senior Member christo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    Of course, but then he has a router and switch in the system. I thought he wanted to avoid these... perhaps you are right, he just didn't want to buy another switch.


    Widget
    Looking at the DCi amplifier manual it does state that volume control is available through the GPIO port but then no mention of compatible devices.

    The physical connection to the DCi’s (GPIO) Control port is a 6-position RJ-11 while the physical connection with “Contrio EC-V” is a RJ-45 - not going to work.

    I think Robert can do what he wants to but not with the “Contrio EC-V” device.

    And I found them - Part Description: Crown: 1VCAP or JBL: CSR-V

    Both look the same to me

    Google “DCiN GPIO – VCA Configuration” to find the following documents on how to hook them up.

    Crown Field Support Engineering
    Issue Date: 24 September 2013
    Ref. No: DCiN #0001
    Subject: DCiN GPIO – VCA Configuration

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    Quote Originally Posted by christo View Post
    Looking at the DCi amplifier manual it does state that volume control is available through the GPIO port but then no mention of compatible devices.

    The physical connection to the DCi’s (GPIO) Control port is a 6-position RJ-11 while the physical connection with “Contrio EC-V” is a RJ-45 - not going to work.

    I think Robert can do what he wants to but not with the “Contrio EC-V” device.

    And I found them - Part Description: Crown: 1VCAP or JBL: CSR-V

    Both look the same to me

    Google “DCiN GPIO – VCA Configuration” to find the following documents on how to hook them up.

    Crown Field Support Engineering
    Issue Date: 24 September 2013
    Ref. No: DCiN #0001
    Subject: DCiN GPIO – VCA Configuration
    That is interesting. Here is the email that I got from Harman support asking if I can use an analogue volume control, AC-V, through the GPIO port. Maybe the amplifiers changed, that document is from 2013.

    Robert,
    The GPIO on the DCI amps is very limited, it is only suitable for high or low states of control. For example, mute on/off could be controlled via one of the input pins. It can't do any ramping functions as needed for volume control.
    EC-V is the only way to go for direct control of the amp.



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    Quote Originally Posted by robertg View Post
    I have an Actiontec GT784MNV modem/router coming in to the house, it has four ports. One of those ports are connected to a Linksys WRT1900AC router that sits in the middle of my house. It has four ports also. I don't think either one has poe? I thought i could use a poe injector anyway? That's only if I want to use the EC-V controller anyway.

    What I have read agrees with what Riley Casey said. I can just connect my computer's ethernet port to the amp and have my own network. This would require me to use Dante Virtual Soundcard. I think Virtual Soundcard has a volume control also.

    Can I connect a Dante device directly to my computer?


    Yes. Simply connect your Dante enabled devices to an Ethernet switch, using Cat5e or Cat 6 Ethernet cable, and then connect your computer to the same switch. If you have only one Dante-enabled device to connect to your computer, you may eliminate the switch and simply connect the two with a Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cable

    Is it possible to make direct connections between Dante-enabled equipment?


    Yes. Once routes are established with Dante Controller, a simple network of two Dante devices will work in a stand-alone fashion.
    Correct PoE would not be found in most home modem/routers.

    The PoE injector will be fine one cable from your existing modem/router to the PoE injector then the other cable out to the EV-C with power.

    Once you install Dante Virtual Soundcard on your PC it then becomes a Dante enabled device.

    The EV-C is not a Dante device, it would be connected directly to your network with its own IP address and associated to the amplifier through Audio Architect.

    That's my understanding from the manuals I looked at.
    Last edited by christo; 03-05-2022 at 02:36 PM. Reason: typo

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    So the perfectly working Crown amp with Dante that I bought off Reverb exploded right after I plugged it in. Parts are expensive and they are on backorder anyway. It needs a power supply board.

    I ended up buying another Crown with Blu-link, it is a DCI4x2400N. I also bought a BSS BLU-USB that converts the signal from my computer to Blu-link. This really simplifies everything, no DAC, DSP, or preamp, just one single amplifier that does everything. I control the volume with my keyboard, easier than using a remote. I just have one cat 6 cable going to the amp from the BLU-USB box. I can't notice a difference in the sound quality either.

    The DCI 4x2400 does have really noisy fans that I am going to have to do something about. Either replace the fans, or mount the amp in my basement. The problem is this amp doesn't have remote turn off capabilities, it just goes in to a light sleep. I might have to wire up a wall mount switch to disconnect the 30A cable that goes to that amp.

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