The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Product decision · 2006–2026
Dante made audio-over-IP the AV standard by using ordinary networks
Audinate's 2006 Dante sends uncompressed low-latency audio over standard IP networks; plug-and-play adoption made it the de facto AV-over-IP platform.
Audinate
The solution
In the mid-2000s digital audio networking meant proprietary cabling, complex configuration and vendor lock-in, so most sound systems still ran analog lines or single-vendor digital snakes.
Audinate, spun out of Australia's NICTA research lab, introduced Dante in 2006: it connects uncompressed, low-latency audio over standard IP networks with automatic discovery and routing, making audio networking as simple as plugging in a cable and seeing the device appear.
The first Dante-enabled device shipped in 2008; by 2012 leading brands — Yamaha, Shure, Harman, Focusrite, Allen & Heath — were building it in. Dante spread across live sound, installed AV, broadcast and education, and is now described by its owner and the trade press as the de facto standard for AV-over-IP, powering millions of devices from hundreds of manufacturers.
Why it worked
- Standard Ethernet and IP meant no proprietary cabling or infrastructure.
- Automatic discovery made installation plug-and-play for technicians.
- Open licensing let hundreds of manufacturers embed the same protocol.
- One ecosystem delivered interoperability across brands and products.
What can be applied
When a market is fragmented by proprietary protocols, the standard that runs on infrastructure everyone has wins: Dante's standard-IP, no-special-hardware design beat rival digital audio networks.
Aftermath
Dante expanded into video, control and cloud management, earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy in 2020, and passed one million manufactured devices in a single year in 2023; it remains the reference AV-over-IP platform.
Sources
- Audinate Marks 20 Years of Dante, Celebrating Two Decades of Innovation that Redefined Networked AV
- Audinate Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Dante
- Audinate Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Dante
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