Introduction
In 2022 Audinate launched their own product line for small Dante adapters. Not too expensive, rugged, and easy to use were their main design goals. Earlier I tested the Dante AVIO USB-C adapter (see the full review here). This time I test and review the more flexible and powerful Audinate Dante AVIO AES/EBU adapter. Let’s dive in.
What does the Dante AVIO AES3/EBU adapter do?
In the broadcast world there was in the mid-eighties a need for a digital interconnection between different units. A robust protocol that could transfer a stereo signal on a robust hardware connector, the XLR connector. This is a very short version of the history of the AES3/EBU interface you find today on much hardware (digital) studio equipment, recording machines and audio interfaces. It is the number one standard for professional digital stereo interconnect in the world. Providing a digital stereo signal with clocking information via one 110ohm cable terminated with an XLR connector.
The Audinate Dante AVIO AES3/EBU adapter creates a way to connect studio equipment that has a AES3 input/output with the Dante network. Routing its signal to one ore multiple devices in the Dante network. Most likely this will happen without any loss of sound quality because we go from digital to digital. This makes the AES3 adapter maybe the most powerful adapter within their AVIO™ product range.
Set-up of the AVIO AES3/EBU adapter
The adapter has 3 connectors: one XLR male one XLR female and an Ethernet connector. So, no power input? Not needed. The adapter gets its power via the Ethernet connector by using PoE. Of course, your network switch must provide PoE. But when you are already in the Dante network world, you most likely already have taken care of this.
The XLR cables go to the input and output of the studio hardware that you want to integrate into your Dante network.
Let’s first look at the Dante network side. When powered up the adapter will appear in your Dante controller software that manages the Dante network. You need this software to configure the adapter. There is no other way. In the USB-C review we ran into a sample rate issue being limited to only 48kHz. With the AES3 adapter no worries. This one supports all the most used sample rates from 44.1kHz to 96kHz. The bit depth is configurable as well between 16, 24 and 32 bits. Yeah, that’s what we want!
The AES3 Adapter shows up as a two-channel transmitter and receiver in your Dante routing table. Creating a way to connect to any other Dante devise with the same sample rate setting.
Okay, now let’s have a look at the studio equipment side and its AES input and output. I hear you thinking “Garro here comes the problem”.
Yeah, I know that connecting equipment digitally means they all must run on the same sample rate, not to mention the clocking synchronization. So, do I have to set my studio machine to the Dante sample rate (if even possible) or the other way around? Link the complete Dante network to the machine sample rate? Oh no, don’t let this test end up in a horror scenario, please.
Relax
Audinate thought about all this digital headache stuff and fixed it for us. How? Well, there is not a direct digital connection between the AES I/O and the Dante I/O. There is an asynchronous sample rate conversion inside this small adapter. Creating two independent digital worlds, your machine side, and the Dante side. Feel better now? Well, wait. I have seen this approach also in the MuxLab USB adapter, reviewed earlier at All4dante. This one generated some digital noise (see full review here) during this conversion. Yeah, that’s a risk.
Good news!
Audinate did a better job
I could not see or hear any noise
Good news! Audinate did a better job. I could not see or hear any noise.
But be aware. Sample rate conversion is never a good thing so if you could avoid it by running the same sample rate on both the hardware and Dante side, I would advise you to do so. Same applies for the bit depth Dithering. So, if possible, configure the bit depth also the same on both sides.
In the Dante network the AVIO AES3/EBU adapter can support a maximum of 2 flows on both receiving and transmitting side. This means that you can transmit the output of your studio hardware to two receivers at the same time in the Dante network. On the receiving side you could also send a left and right signal from a different Dante transmitter to your hardware.
The adapter in use, my 2 cents
Sometimes you run into equipment that just simply works and has been well thought of. The Dante AVIO AES3 adapter is one of these.
I connected the AES3 adapter to the digital output of my standalone AD converter and to the digital AES3 input of my separate standalone DA converter. So now both converters are accessible via the Dante network. This brings a completely new layer of flexibility into my studio. Connecting my laptop to the DA converter? One mouse click in the Dante controller software and the connection is set. No additional USB cables any more between my laptop and the DA converter. One interface to Dante from my laptop does it all.
I also connected the adapter to the I/O of my Trinnov MC-pro room correction. That gave me the option to skip an AD/DA step by routing my laptop directly via the Dante network into the Trinnov. Not only my laptop but any other device on the Dante network for that matter.
The more I look around in my studio, the more options I see for this tiny little adapter. It’s a connection key between old studio gear and the modern Dante Audio over IP networks. Providing digital routing to all your digital outboard gear in your studio has never been so easy.
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About All4Dante
All4Dante is an independent platform for Dante equipment and networks. We perform tests and reviews of equipment in our own Dante lab and share the results on our platform. We see a future for Dante in the recording and pro-studio environment as well as in the music instrument segment. By addressing audience related topics we want to support the migration to a more AoIP world.
