Dante obviously is not for everyone…and because it is a pretty small segment of the audio pie…I don’t think it benefits from economy of scale for component pricing (Audinate kind of screws manufacturers on this IMO). I just happened to find myself at a point where I was upgrading my studio and it offered the best ergonomics and most flexibility for what I wanted to achieve. My studio is a small project space, but even so I hate having to crowd around an interface for headphones, or being forced to put all the rack gear right beside each other and the computer because of cabling…or run multiple cables all over the place to route signal and power…
(For me) Dante seemed like the best option to get non-homogenous gear integrated at the digital level with the best possible latency and with the greatest amount of expandability and flexibility for routing. Look at the price of a RME MADI router / patchbay….3500 bucks. I knew I wanted PCIe-level performance (RTL under 3.9ms @64 sample buffer / 48k….2ms RTL @64 sample / 96k), and although my motherboard supports TB3, it seemed like a gamble to go that route. I have owned UA Apollo’s in the past, and they have their own kinds of limitations (stereo insert on a mono channel….nope. Put more than one Lex 480 on an AUX channel….nope. Have more than two Aux channels with effects in the UA mixer software…..nope. Still introduce latency for plugs….yep) PCIe is a known and stable entity for audio regardless of platform (Mac / Win).
I look at Dante as investment in an audio SYSTEM. From this point on, no matter what I add to or take away from the system….performance stays the same and cabling is universal and cheap. (20 meters of MADI optical cable is 89 dollars on Amazon. ADAT is limited in the length you can use without some sort of repeater. AES / SPDIF is only 2 channels. 13 bucks gets you 20 meters of CAT6 which is less delicate / more robust than MADI AND it carries power too.)
The H9000 serves as my main source of AD/ DA conversion and effects. Considering how well it does both of those things (Symphony level conversion, and the best effects around), it really is a bargain. I mean…Symphony 8×8 Dante is 4400….that is just conversion and no Eventide effects….add 4x Eclipse racks to get the same amount of DSP performance and there is quite a bit more expense.
Sounds like I am trying to justify my purchase decision…but I promise you I am not….what works for me may not work for you….and any way you slice it….Dante is NOT a cheap alternative. I just want to show that for the right situation, Dante is a viable choice worth considering, and on a per-feature basis can be a competitive alternative.
