Dante

Dante® is the industry-standard protocol for transmitting high-quality audio over IP networks. This guide will help you to quickly set up Dante routing between your KLANG devices and other Dante-enabled gear. Whether you’re building a simple monitoring setup or integrating into a complex network, you’ll find step-by-step instructions and best practices to get started with confidence.

In this section, we will guide you through the first steps of Dante routing. As an example, we use a Dante Virtual Soundcard (or a mixing board) and route to :vokal, :vier, :fabrik, :kontroller and the 3D in-ear mixes to :quelle or :kontroller headphone amp.

What you need

1. PC/Mac with Dante Controller (DC)
2. Either Dante-enabled mixing board or PC/Mac with Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS)
3. KLANG processor – :konductor with DMI-Dante, :fabrik, :vier, :vokal
4. [optional] :kontroller or :quelle
5. Please make sure that your network switches are suitable for Dante.

Step 1 | Connect Devices to Network

If you connect a Dante-enabled mixing board, make sure to also connect your PC/Mac running the Dante Controller to the network. In case you don’t have a mixing console at your fingertips, you can also use and configure KLANG equipment with the Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS). The DVS allows you to send and receive audio with your computer. With a DVS, your computer can be routed with the Dante Controller just like any other Dante equipment.

Step 2 | Open Dante Controller

Open the Dante Controller on your PC/MAC and navigate to the Routing tab. Before starting to route audio streams, let’s first make sure that all devices are configured correctly.

Step 3 | Set Sampling Rate and Latency

Make sure to use the same sampling rate for all Dante devices that you want to connect with Dante audio streams. Always choose the lowest latency available if you have a good Gigabit network connection, but choose a higher latency if you feel your network cannot handle the traffic. In this case though, we highly recommend to optimize the network and choose the lowest latency possible.

Step 4 | Route Audio to KLANG Processor

To route audio, click on the square at the crossing. In the screenshot below, this is the position of the green check mark icon. You will notice that a blank square will turn to yellow first and then quickly to green if routing was successful, whereas a red icon signals a problem. Hover your mouse over the icon to get more information on the problem.

If your routing is ‘diagonal’ (Ch. 1 to 1, 2 to 2 etc.) you can also press the ctrl key and click on the minus checkbox between transmitter and receiver.

Step 5 | Route Mixes to a Headphone Amp

In Dante Controller navigate to the Routing screen. In the first example, we route the first 3D in-ear mix of KLANG:vokal to all four outputs of KLANG:quelle. We then expand the KLANG:fabrik channels in the top view (Dante Transmitters, click on the + sign) as well as expand the channels of KLANG:quelle on the right view (Dante Receivers). KLANG:quelle’s output 1 left: Out 1 – L (1) will receive KLANG:fabrik’s Out 1 – L (1) and KLANG:quelle’s right: Out 1 – R (2) will receive KLANG:fabrik’s Out 1 – R (2).

Step 6 | Check Meters

It is always good to quickly check for the status of the devices and the routing at this point, before proceeding to configuring mix settings in the KLANG processor. Click on the Clock Status Monitor indicator (see the green square in the lower right corner in our screen shot below). A history of the last messages and warnings is shown. Click on clear.

Furthermore, by double-clicking on the Dante devices, the Receive and Transmit tab indicate whether audio is send or received on a particular channel. We recommend to check (in this example) if the Dante Virtual Soundcard is transmitting and the KLANG:fabrik is receiving audio. In some cases, the screen view indicates that audio is transmitted and the clock status indicator is green, but there is no sign that audio is received although the routing is correct. If this is the case, we recommend that you check your network switch and see if a device is set on mute.

Step 7 | Routing in KLANG Processor

Signals can be routed inside KLANG processors in a similar manner FROM:source TO:receiver.

Make sure to be in KLANG:app Admin mode and go to CONFIG > ROUTING: Here, route the incoming signals, in our case the Dante channels 1-64, to the 3Diem (3D IEM Mixing Engine inside the KLANG Processor). Afterwards ,you can choose where you want to use the 3D mixes. Always make sure that the clock source is set to Dante and LOCKED.

Device not shown

If a device shows in the Device Info tab in red, but not in Routing:

• Check the IP address. It may be outside your computer’s range.
• Reassign it or use DHCP.
• If it’s part of a Dante Domain, isolate it and clear domain credentials.

No Audio

A green Dante routing checkmark doesn’t guarantee sound.

1. Start at the audio source in Dante Controller.
2. Look for Signal Presence (green loudspeaker) in Transmit tab.
3. Go to the receiving device, choose the Receive tab and check for signal presence (green loudspeaker), too.
4. Check Status tab for Muted status or a toggling sync status and check for network errors.
5. If the audio chain is longer, proceed with step 2 and so on.

Dropped Audio or Glitches

Hearing dropouts? Increase the Dante latency and ensure your switches support QoS. Keep the devices under 10 switch hops and verify network config.

Open Dante Controller > Clock Status and check for sync.

Open Dante Controller > Network Status and check that Latency Status and Packet Errors remain green after a refresh.

Multiple Clock Leaders

If several devices become clock leaders, multicast traffic may be blocked. Try turning off IGMP Snooping and check switch settings.

If a Dante device is not receiving multicast traffic, it will not receive the Dante PTP clock from other Dante devices and therefore become clock leader itself.

Use Managed Switches

For long-term stability, always go with managed switches. They give you full control and avoid problems like Energy Efficient Ethernet or misconfigured multicast settings, which might be caused by unmanaged switches. Furthermore, managed switches also offer remote control and monitoring for troubleshooting. Even smaller networks will benefit.

Choose a Star Layout

Build your network using a star topology with a central switch, where all devices connect to a central switch. This reduces latency, prevents signal drops, and makes troubleshooting much easier.

IP Addresses

Use DHCP

DHCP is the easiest and most reliable way to assign IP addresses. Most managed switches can act as a DHCP server, thus simplifying setup and reducing the chance of human error. By design, all devices with a DHCP IP address in the same network have the same subnet mask and default gateway.

Avoid Static IPs

Static IPs can work—but they’re prone to typos and harder to reconfigure. Use them only if absolutely necessary, and double-check every entry; especially the subnet mask.

Link-Local / Zero-conf

If no DHCP is available, all Dante devices (and also all KLANG processors) fall back to link-local addresses (169.254.x.x/16). This works well; although it is harder to spot whether or not devices are in the same VLAN.

Dante secondary networks automatically use 172.254.x.x/16.

Label Everything

Clearly label or color cables and ports with e.g.:

• VLAN, e.g. Primary or Secondary Dante or Control
• Connected device

Always provide clear Dante device names. Remember that Dante uses names for subscriptions, so changing names might break the subscription.

Use VLANs for Separation

If you run Dante alongside video, lighting, or control data, VLANs help separate the traffic. This reduces the risk of interference and keeps audio performance consistent.

Build-in Redundancy

Use Dante’s Redundant Mode for failover protection. In case one cable is unplugged, audio still keeps running smoothly. Just make sure the primary network works first, then bring the secondary online afterwards.

Automatic Clock Leader

Dante automatically selects the best clock source using its built-in algorithm. In most systems, there’s no need to set a Preferred leader.

Sync to External if Needed

If you’re syncing to external gear (like MADI or Word Clock in a KLANG:vokal), enable Sync to External on this Dante device and set it as the Preferred Leader: The entire Dante network will now sync to this clock.

Before the show, power up the full system and check:

1. Open Dante Controller and leave it running.
2. Make sure clock monitoring is enabled.
3. Check the bottom row first:
   • Primary/Secondary green?
   • Number of devices as expected?
   • Multicast Bandwidth as expected?
   • Check Event Log and Clock Status Monitor are green.
4. Go to Network View > Device Info
   • Are all Dante devices discovered?
   • Is the IP address range as expected, e.g. 192.168.1.x/24 or is it link local although you are running a DHCP server?
5. Are all Dante subscriptions green?
6. Is there only one clock leader?
7. Are audio signals actually present and sounding clean?