AVPro Global · Audinate Dante · Networked Audio build v5
Dante is the new audio backbone of the custom home.
Five-hundred-and-twelve bidirectional channels of uncompressed audio, sub-millisecond synchronous latency, every endpoint discovered automatically. The receiver is gone. The patch bay is gone. The audio is on the network.
The audio standard that commercial AV settled on a decade ago.
Dante — Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet — was developed by Audinate in Australia in 2006. The idea was simple: deliver hundreds of channels of uncompressed, sample-accurate audio over standard IT networking with consumer-grade switches and cabling, and discover every endpoint automatically.
It went on to win commercial AV by default. Houses of worship, stadiums, broadcast trucks, theme parks, the entire concert touring industry — all standardized on Dante because nothing else makes routing eighty channels of audio across a venue this trivial.
What's new is that residential is finally catching up. Atmos pushed channel counts past what coax and analog can carry. AV-over-IP won the video distribution war. The cable in the wall is now Cat 6A, not RG-6. Dante just fits.
AVPro Global's portfolio is built around this reality. MXnet 1G carries Dante audio alongside video on the same backbone. The AudioControl Hyperion family is Dante-native end to end — APR-16 processor in, Axis converter at the display, Hepta/Penta/Tetra amplifiers anywhere on the network. One discipline, one set of tools, one map.
From AVPro Global
"Dante operates over standard 1 GbE Ethernet with up to 512 bidirectional channels of uncompressed audio at sub-millisecond latency. It is not compatible with Wi-Fi. It is fully interoperable with AVPro Edge's MXnet 1G AV-over-IP backbone."
The Rapp Take
If you can spec a managed gigabit switch and pull clean Cat 6A, you can deploy Dante. The discipline is the foreign part — clock domains, VLANs, multicast — but the work itself is not exotic. This is a learnable category.
Why Residential, Why Now
Three forces just made Dante the obvious answer.
01 · Channel Count
Atmos broke the receiver.
9.4.6 immersive layouts demand nineteen channels of discrete amplification. HDMI ARC carries eight. The math no longer works on a receiver. Dante carries every channel as a network endpoint and lets you put the amp anywhere.
02 · AV-over-IP Won
Cat 6A is the new infrastructure.
If the integrator is already pulling MXnet for video, the Dante backbone is free. Same switches, same cable, same VLAN discipline. The two protocols are designed to coexist on the same wire.
03 · The Stack Is Ready
Hyperion is Dante-native end to end.
APR-16 in. Axis 10 at every TV. Hepta in a closet anywhere. M6800D pushing whole-home zones. All routed through Dante Controller from one laptop. The product story is finally complete.
Field Scenarios · Four Builds
Pick the job that looks like yours.
Every Dante deployment in residential CI falls into one of four shapes. Topology and bill-of-materials for each.
9.4.6 Immersive · Dolby Atmos
Reference Theater
Nineteen discrete amplifier channels routed from one APR-16 to three Dante amplifiers, each placed nearest its speakers. One Cat 6A from each amp to the rack switch.
Bill of Materials
AudioControl Hyperion APR-16×1
AudioControl Hyperion Hepta (7-ch)×2
AudioControl Hyperion Tetra (4-ch)×1
Managed Gigabit PoE+ Switch (8+ port)×1
Bullet Train Cat 6A (terminated)×4 runs
8 Zones · 16 Channels
Whole-Home Distributed Audio
One AudioControl M6800D pushes eight stereo zones to every analog speaker pair in the house. AVIO adapters bring in any legacy analog or USB source. The Dante network handles routing.
Bill of Materials
AudioControl Director M6800D (16-ch Dante)×1
Dante AVIO Adapter (analog / USB)2–4×
Managed Gigabit Switch (12+ port)×1
Bullet Train Cat 6A backbone1 home run
RTI / ProControl Driver (zone control)×1
Distance > 100 m
Outdoor Expansion · Pool House
The 100-meter Cat 6A limit is solved by hopping through any Dante endpoint. An MXnet EV2 in the middle of the run regenerates the network and adds video to the same backbone — outdoor pavilion done in one cable.
Bill of Materials
AC-MXNET-1G-DANTE-DV2 (intermediate)×1
AudioControl Hepta (outdoor install)×1
Outdoor PoE+ Switch (sealed enclosure)×1
Bullet Train Outdoor Cat 6A (UV jacket)2 runs
AC-MXNET-1G-EV2WP (patio wall plate)opt.
Multi-Building · 4 Domains
Compound / Estate
Beyond residential and into Layer 3 territory. Each building gets its own Dante domain. Dante Domain Manager handles security, routing, and isolation. This is a phone call with Evan before bid.
Bill of Materials
Dante Domain Manager (server license)×1
Managed L3 Switch (core, fiber uplinks)×1
Building Edge Switches (per structure)4×
Hyperion + Director stackper building
OS2 Fiber Backbonebuilding-to-building
AVPro Edge · Dante Hardware
The MXnet 1G family with Dante built in.
AVPro Edge's Dante-capable MXnet products route audio and video on the same 1Gb backbone. Three product families cover encoder, decoder, and wall-plate use cases.
Encoder · Dante Audio I/O
AC-MXNET-1G-DANTE-EV2
Evolution II encoder with Dante audio I/O built into the OS chipset. Fan-free, 4K60 4:4:4, M-JPEG codec. Carries video and audio simultaneously over a single Cat 6A.
EV2 · 4K60 4:4:4 · Fan-free · Dante I/O
Decoder · Dante Audio I/O
AC-MXNET-1G-DANTE-DV2
Companion decoder for the EV2 encoder. Extracts Dante audio to analog or sends it onward. Use as an intermediate hop for >100 m runs.
EV2 · Decoder · Audio extract
Wall Plate Encoder
AC-MXNET-1G-EV2WP
PoE-powered wall-plate encoder with HDMI and USB-C inputs. Drop it in a conference room or outdoor pavilion — no rack equipment required at the source.
PoE · HDMI · USB-C · Wall plate
1G Original · Ultimo Chipset
AC-MXNET-1G-DANTE-E
First-generation MXnet 1G encoder with Audinate Ultimo chipset for 2 bidirectional Dante channels. JPEG 2000 video codec. Still shipping for replacement and matched-system deployments.
1G · JPEG 2000 · 2-ch Dante
Standalone Dante Decoder
AC-DANTE-D
Audio-only Dante decoder for the original 1G family. Useful where the audio network has to reach a location without video distribution requirements.
1G · Audio-only · Decoder
Legacy Cross-Compatibility
1G ↔ EV2 Interop
Within a single MXnet 1G domain, original and EV2 products coexist. Plan new builds on EV2; preserve original-gen units in service.
Cross-gen · Same domain
MXnet PoE Switch
AC-MXNET-1G-SW Series
Purpose-built managed gigabit PoE+ switches pre-provisioned for MXnet 1G with Dante. QoS, IGMP snooping, and audio VLAN templates ready out of the box.
Managed · PoE+ · MXnet certified
Dante AVIO Adapter Family
Audinate AVIO Adapters
Compact bridges that bring analog, USB, Bluetooth, or AES67 audio onto the Dante network. The right answer when a legacy source must coexist with a new Dante backbone.
Analog · USB · BT · AES67
Dante Controller
Audinate Dante Controller
Free software (Mac / Windows). The application every Dante system is routed in. One laptop on the audio VLAN — drag and drop channels.
Free · Mac / Win · Required
AudioControl · Hyperion & Director
The first Dante-native end-to-end stack for residential.
Every Hyperion product carries Dante / AES67 on a managed 4-port switch. Combined with Director M6800D for whole-home zones, this is a complete network audio system from one brand.
Processor · Top of the Stack
Hyperion APR-16
16-channel processor. 4-port Dante / AES67 switch. 32-bit ESS Sabre DACs. Seven HDMI in, one out, with Dirac Live + ART. CEDIA / CTA-RP22 compliant. The brain of the system.
eARC-to-Dante endpoints behind every display. Axis 2 — 2 ch, every other room. Axis 10 — 10 ch with Atmos / DTS-HD decoding, the primary theater. Axis 16 (NEW May 2026) — 16 individual Dante / AES67 channels from one eARC source, commercial-scale endpoint. All three PoE-powered. CEC volume passes through on every model.
7-, 5-, and 4-channel amplifiers with native Dante / AES67 and LightDrive anti-clip. Place them anywhere on the network — one Cat 6A in, speakers out. Multiple amps coexist transparently.
7 / 5 / 4 ch · LightDrive · Dante
Whole-Home Workhorse
AudioControl Director M6800D
16-channel Dante matrix amplifier. 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms. Drives eight stereo zones from a single unit with full network routing flexibility through Dante Controller.
16 ch · 100 W · 8 Ω · Dante matrix
Calibration · Built In
Dirac Live + ART on APR-16
Dirac Live with Active Room Treatment runs natively on APR-16. Run the six-step measurement workflow once. The processor handles every Dante endpoint downstream.
Dirac Live · ART · Per-output
Resource Hub
AudioControl Across the Site
Per-product resource pages with wiring diagrams, Dante channel maps, troubleshooting trees, and ordering.
Adjust the sliders for the project on your desk. The calculator returns total channels, network bandwidth, headroom on a 1 Gb backbone, and the right tier of design effort.
Audio Sources 3
Audio Zones 8
Channels per Zone 2
Sample Rate 48 kHz
Result · Live
Total Dante Channels
16
Bandwidth (approx.)
28 Mbps
1 Gb Backbone Headroom
97 %
Standard residential job. A single managed PoE switch on a dedicated audio VLAN with QoS and IGMP enabled carries this load comfortably. Dante Controller from a laptop will manage the routing in under an hour.
Network Discipline
Eight rules that make every Dante job easier.
01
Managed Switch Only.
Unmanaged switches can carry Dante in trivial cases, but real systems need QoS and IGMP. Pay the $200 for a managed switch.
02
Dedicated Audio VLAN.
Isolate Dante from the client's main LAN. Same switch is fine — different VLAN. Multicast stays where it belongs.
03
QoS Always On.
Audio traffic gets DSCP priority over best-effort. Dante Controller documents the exact QoS classes — copy them.
04
IGMP Snooping On.
Without snooping, multicast floods every port and chokes the network. With it, multicast goes only to listeners. Non-negotiable.
05
Cat 6A Shielded.
Cat 5e works in spec but leaves no margin. Cat 6A shielded is the residential default. Bullet Train terminated runs save site time.
06
Never Wi-Fi.
Dante does not run on Wi-Fi. Period. If a client asks why their pool speakers can't be wireless, that's a Sonos conversation — not a Dante one.
07
Document the Routing.
Save the Dante Controller preset. Screenshot the channel map. Hand both to the next tech who walks into the rack.
08
Don't Mix Sample Rates.
Lock the entire Dante domain at 48 kHz / 24-bit unless a specific source demands 96. Mixed rates cause clock-master fights.
End-to-End Path
Source to speaker in one analog cable.
The only analog interconnect in a complete Hyperion + Dante system is the speaker wire between the amplifier and the driver. Everything else is on the network.
Source
Apple TV NAS · Streamer
►HDMI►
Encoder
MXnet EV2 1G + Dante
►Cat 6A►
Switch
Managed Gb PoE+ · VLAN
►Cat 6A►
Processor
APR-16 Dirac · 16 ch
►Cat 6A►
Amplifier
Hepta 7-ch · Dante
►Speaker Wire►
Speaker
L / C / R + Surrounds
Read it Again
The only analog cable in the entire chain is the speaker wire at the very end. Every other connection is digital, networked, and routed in software. This is the whole point.
Get Certified · Audinate
Three levels. Free. AVIXA-credited.
Dante 3rd Edition certification (released October 2025). Online, self-paced, three-year validity. AVIXA RUs apply toward CTS, CTS-D, CTS-I, and ANP renewals.
Level 1 · Foundation
Dante Fundamentals
What Dante is, what it isn't, basic Dante Controller routing, how to build a simple two-device system. 5.5 AVIXA RUs. Required before Levels 2 and 3.
Online · Free · 5.5 RUs
Level 2 · Intermediate
Network Design & QoS
VLANs, multicast, clock domains, managed switch configuration, troubleshooting common discovery and clocking issues. 8.0 AVIXA RUs.
Dedicated course for the IT-grade management server. Required for compound and estate deployments, and for any commercial-adjacent residential job that crosses Layer 3.
In-Person · Dante Mastery
Four-Day at Audinate HQ
Paid in-person intensive at Audinate's Portland, Oregon office. Networking, AES67 interop, large-system commissioning, and direct access to Audinate engineering. The capstone.
Eight symptoms you will encounter. Direct answers to each.
Check VLAN. Your laptop must be on the same VLAN as the audio network. If you ran a dedicated audio VLAN (you should have), your management station needs an interface or trunk port on that VLAN.
Check link lights. Power to every Dante endpoint, every switch port lit, every Cat 6A terminated correctly. Three places to start before anything more exotic.
Check the routing. Dante Controller routes are explicit — channels must be subscribed from transmitter to receiver in the matrix view. Discovery is automatic; routing is not.
Check mute and gain. Devices ship muted on outputs. Verify in Dante Controller and on the device's own web UI.
One clock master. Dante elects a master automatically — typically the most stable device. If a second device thinks it's the master, you have a conflict.
Lock the master manually in Dante Controller's Clock Status tab. Set "Preferred Master" on your most reliable wired device (usually the APR-16 or M6800D).
Hop through any Dante endpoint. An intermediate decoder or switch regenerates the link. Plan repeaters every < 90 m to leave margin.
Fiber for > 200 m or for buildings. SFP+ uplinks on managed switches handle it cleanly. Use OS2 single-mode for runs over 300 m.
Wrong sample rate. Devices on different sample rates accumulate drift. Lock the whole domain to 48 kHz / 24-bit unless a specific source demands higher.
Check Dante latency setting. Default is 1 ms. Increase to 2 ms or 5 ms only if specific endpoints require it.
IGMP snooping must be enabled on every switch the audio VLAN traverses, not just the core. A single non-snooping switch defeats the entire system.
IGMP querier required. If your audio VLAN has no router, the switch needs to act as the IGMP querier. Set this in the switch's VLAN config.
Perception, not power. Hyperion amps measure flatter at full output than nearly any AVR on the market. Some clients miss the bloom that AVR amps add at their limits.
Show the meter. Have Dante Controller open during the demo. Show the actual channel level. Then turn it up and let the room speak for itself.
Sum the wattage. PoE budget is a hard number on the switch's spec sheet. Axis 10 draws ~ 8 W; AVIO units draw 3-5 W; managed APs can draw 30+. Add it up.
Add a second switch for high-PoE endpoints rather than overload one. PoE+ (Class 4) and PoE++ (Class 6) switches exist for a reason.
Tips From the Bench
Six small things that save hours later.
1
Label Cat 6A on both ends.
Before you crimp. Both ends. Future-you will not remember which run went to the patio. Future-you will be in the attic.
2
Save the Controller preset.
Dante Controller exports the entire routing as a preset file. Save it to the client's project folder. If the network ever gets nuked, you load this and walk away.
3
Name every device.
Default names like "AVPRO-MXNET-A1B2" make routing miserable. Rename them: "HeptaTheater," "M6800Whole," "AxisLivingTV." Do this once.
4
Lock the clock master.
Set "Preferred Master" in Dante Controller on your most stable wired device. Sync churn vanishes.
5
Leave a Cat 6A spare.
In every closet and every wall plate. You will need it. Pull two and terminate both, or pull two and leave one capped — it's $30 of cable that saves a service trip.
6
Take a switch screenshot.
VLAN ID, QoS classes, IGMP settings — screenshot the switch UI before you leave site. Tape it inside the rack door. Service trip insurance.
Two New Dealer Tools
Take the conversation to the walk-through.
Decision Tool
Spec Dante or pass? Five questions.
An interactive pre-sale walk-through. The architecture question leads — whether the install is a single-room PAT theater or an eight-zone hillside, the tool lands on the recommendation a Dante-certified rep would give, with reasoning and tailored next moves. Built for the tablet in your hand at the client’s kitchen table.
Print-friendly dealer handout covering the 30-second take, when to spec and when to pass, six field talking points, line card mapping across the AVPro Global brands, and two ready-made client frames for the conversation. Browser print mode produces a clean handout.
Specify a job, plan a switch, get certified, troubleshoot a call. The Rapp Firm is the working bench. AVPro Global is the product story. Dante is the discipline that makes it all sit on one wire.
512 channels over 1 Gb · Audinate Dante is the de facto commercial AV audio standard.✦Hyperion APR-16 ships with a 4-port Dante / AES67 switch on board.✦Axis 10 · PoE-powered, hides behind the display, the receiver is gone.✦MXnet 1G Dante EV2 · audio and video on the same Cat 6A.✦Director M6800D · 16-channel Dante matrix amp · 8 stereo zones, one rack unit.✦Audinate Level 3 is free, online, AVIXA-credited.✦512 channels over 1 Gb · Audinate Dante is the de facto commercial AV audio standard.✦Hyperion APR-16 ships with a 4-port Dante / AES67 switch on board.
