Working on my Dante Level 3 Certification

[kmitchell]

Hi All,

I've completed my Level 1 & 2 certifications and I'm working on Level 3. I have a lot of networking experience so feel free to ask me any questions. Please ask on the forums vs. private message so others can benefit and I don't have to answer the same question several times.

Ken

[Roblof]

I also know a dante thing or two, should you have any questions.

[GaryH]

I only know one thing not 2 So I can help totally confuse the issue as I often like to do....but Lets talk Wing and Dante internal and external, I suspect a few beta testers of Wing-Dante are out there with lots of exciting info (hint hint wink wink)

[curtbl]

Hi All,

I've completed my Level 1 & 2 certifications and I'm working on Level 3. I have a lot of networking experience so feel free to ask me any questions. Please ask on the forums vs. private message so others can benefit and I don't have to answer the same question several times.

Ken

Have fun with that Ken! have 1, 2 & 3 for awhile.. but done awhile back

I think the biggest thing I can say to people is it's not rocket science and keep it simple,Along with the guys here, utilize Audinate's suggestions for products on the network side. Both Shure and Yamaha have some great technical information. A lot of people have suggested that Unifiy switches are not a problem, they are indeed an issue and after several months of struggling with multiple inquires and VLANS and continuing changing multiple clock issues that kept us from expanding beyond the main auditorium I finally scrapped all the Uni switches and went back to Cisco and separating the Dante Network from the Corporate network as simple as that was the issues have all gone away.

Today it is a completely hardware and cable isolated system from the corporate network around the facility. Also a secondary completely isolated hardware and cable from the Primary, and it has been months since we have had any issues.

And now the expanded systems as mentioned below includes 10 different switches cover the facility with Dante. 1 central switch so the further-est switch is 2 hops from the main switch. Secondary only 4 switches as we only deal with the "main" systems for backup
The facility, so far, does not use Dante domain manager just using Dante controller but may have to add domain controller as the facility expands beyond just internal sites.
The facility today has Multiple DVS installed on PC and Macs
Digico FOH console with DRack (this console is limited in what we need, changing to Yamaha but waiting on Wing Dante to give it a shot, and also Waves....
Allen&Heath ME1 IEM system
Netrix I/O for main stage rehearsal PA and Music Director PA
Shure 4 channel Mic POE pre for main auditorium Crowd Mics Hanging
Digiface 64x64 for Audio Production Ableton DAW system
X32 in Video Production
Yamaha TF series in Chapel
M32 in the Youth Center
Shure 4 channel dante mic pres in the studio
Nuetrix I/O for studio playback system
Portable systems with AVIO units can be added at different points through out the facility as needed.
Multiple Sound Tube and Yamaha POE Speakers for Lobby, cafe etc and outside entrances

Will be upgrading Sennheiser Wireless mic systems to Shure Dante enabled.
The video and audio productions suites can then take Dante audio from any of the facilities for streaming of sessions and record.
The lobby etc.... speakers are all routed based on which facility is in use Chapel, youth, main auditorium or portable system
For Easter and Christmas we had large video walls out side the facility for drive up guests that didn't want to venture inside (Covid) That said one Dante connection added outside for the FM transmitter and local speakers.
And now with Dante Video coming of age we are looking at solutions to route all cameras and video sends over Dante.
Our biggest issues, which really are nothing but leaves us a bit open for potential issues is no master clock, so will be adding the studio technologies Master Clock.
We also have only ONE location for Dante Controller, why? I'll explain if someone is interested.
Dante is great when it is setup correctly, not rocket science if kept simple. Having network knowledge, even simple knowledge certainly helps in trouble shooting.

Sorry for long response Ken especially since I was intending to say have fun with level 3.

[GaryH]

I have 1 and 2, 3 this week (I think Wed) but must say I forgot a lot of it as 1 and 2 were done a few years ago! I had not used Dante for a long while there and it all went quickly south! Mostly all back plus now. I know enough to be, how do they say it, dangerous! You sound like THE guy with a system that involved, impressive. FYI I have several Ubiquiti routers, no switches, but the routers work great, rock solid. I also just have a very small Dante network, soon to be expanded to include the Wing-Dante card. Looking forward to all of it!

[MJKlein]

I replaced my USB card with the X-Dante card. Eventually I'm going to get a Tascam 32 channel converter and put my Soundcraft Ghost console on the network for tracking. Dante just makes so much sense. I can use the networking cabling in the house if I want.

[kmitchell]

Have fun with that Ken! have 1, 2 & 3 for awhile.. but done awhile back
<trim>
Sorry for long response Ken especially since I was intending to say have fun with level 3.

Thanks Curt for the great info. If you weren't having fun, you would not have typed all of that out for me. None of the installations I've been involved with so far have been too complicated. I guess that's really the point of Dante. One thing both you and GaryH mentioned and that was that it's been a while since you got your certification. Starting in 2021, Dante certs expire after 3 years and need to be renewed. The reasoning is that a lot of Dante has changed/is changing and they want us all to stay current.

As for Unifi, I'm about to add Dante to my home network which has 4x APs and 7x Unifi switches. I'm comfortable with VLANs and tagging/trunking but I'll let you know how it goes. If my wife starts having problems with lighting or the Plex server, I'm sure I'll hear about it. VLANs only go as far as separating the Dante traffic so without VLAN prioritization there still could be issues. I have a love/hate relationship with Ubiquiti and Unifi. I love the ease of installation and configuration but hate the lack of tuning and troubleshooting tools. The lack of scriptability is also something I miss vs. Cisco or Juniper.

One thing to note about secondary networks and that is that they cannot be shared with other traffic like primary networks can. All the traffic on a secondary network must be Dante.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Ken

[curtbl]

Have fun with that Ken! have 1, 2 & 3 for awhile.. but done awhile back
<trim>
Sorry for long response Ken especially since I was intending to say have fun with level 3.

Thanks Curt for the great info. If you weren't having fun, you would not have typed all of that out for me. None of the installations I've been involved with so far have been too complicated. I guess that's really the point of Dante. One thing both you and GaryH mentioned and that was that it's been a while since you got your certification. Starting in 2021, Dante certs expire after 3 years and need to be renewed. The reasoning is that a lot of Dante has changed/is changing and they want us all to stay current.

As for Unifi, I'm about to add Dante to my home network which has 4x APs and 7x Unifi switches. I'm comfortable with VLANs and tagging/trunking but I'll let you know how it goes. If my wife starts having problems with lighting or the Plex server, I'm sure I'll hear about it. VLANs only go as far as separating the Dante traffic so without VLAN prioritization there still could be issues. I have a love/hate relationship with Ubiquiti and Unifi. I love the ease of installation and configuration but hate the lack of tuning and troubleshooting tools. The lack of scriptability is also something I miss vs. Cisco or Juniper.

One thing to note about secondary networks and that is that they cannot be shared with other traffic like primary networks can. All the traffic on a secondary network must be Dante.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Ken

About to go back and revisit the certs, especially with the advent of video. Actually exciting times.
Have fun on 3!
Curt

[GaryH]

I had to redo both 1 and 2. I did them so long ago they were not registered as being completed. I also did the elective AV. Currently working on 3 but find it to be NOT much fun, it’s fairly tedious and well, I would have to say, boring so far. Lots of background info. I have been doing it in chunks because of how it hits me this way. I need to stay at it though, determined to get through! I’m a bit over 1/3 completed in level 3 so maybe it gets more interesting and useful later on. I hope.

[curtbl]

Yes, level 3 is fun, never expected to worry much about networking as production was my mainstream, but with today's technology and going back to my days with cobranet and video conferencing over segmented DSL circuits, Dante is a welcome technology... With video coming it even becomes more a more welcome technology. So bottom line my networking knowledge has really helped with configuring Dante..... Always a changing world so keeping up is interesting to say the least. One of the facilities I'm currently working with has a network that is growing like crazy since we first implemented Dante. We are facing putting in a Master Clock, however it is stable as a rock. Thankfully!

Gary have fun!
Curt