Dante
Dante is Audinate's licensed audio-over-IP platform and the dominant networked-audio operating layer in professional AV. It routes audio between devices over standard Ethernet using software-managed subscriptions in Dante Controller, with native audio unicast by default and multicast used deliberately for one-to-many, `AES67`, and Dante video workflows. Native Dante clocking is historically `PTPv1`, while Dante interoperability modes use `PTPv2` in specific `AES67` / `ST 2110` scenarios. It is not natively interoperable with `AES67` or other protocols without explicit interoperability modes or bridging, and the `PTPv1` / `PTPv2` split is something to design deliberately rather than hand-wave into either "automatic" or "impossible."
By Audinate
Audio TransportLicensed Opensub ms, low latencylocal lancampus
Infrastructure Requirements
- Managed switch with QoS/DSCP
- dedicated audio VLAN recommended
- deliberate clocking policy when interoperating with `AES67` / `ST 2110`
- Dante Domain Manager for enterprise deployments
Network Ports & Requirements
| Port(s) | Transport | Direction | Purpose | DSCP | Multicast | Config. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14336–15359 | UDP | Both | The actual audio data travelling between two specific Dante devices. Each active audio channel between a sender and receiver uses a port in this range. Blocking this stops audio flowing between devices. | — | — | No |
| 4440 | UDP | Both | Device management and channel routing — this is how Dante Controller software tells devices which audio goes where. Blocking this means you can't change routing or configure devices. | — | — | No |
| 4444 | UDP | Both | Device management and channel routing — this is how Dante Controller software tells devices which audio goes where. Blocking this means you can't change routing or configure devices. | — | — | No |
| 4455 | UDP | Both | Device management and channel routing — this is how Dante Controller software tells devices which audio goes where. Blocking this means you can't change routing or configure devices. | — | — | No |
| 8800 | UDP | Both | Control and monitoring traffic — used by Dante Controller to watch device status and receive alerts. | — | — | No |
| 8700–8708 | Multicast | Both | Network-wide control and monitoring using multicast (broadcasts to all Dante devices at once rather than each individually). | — | 224.0.0.230 | No |
| 4321 | Multicast | Both | Multicast audio streams — used when one Dante device is sending the same audio to many receivers simultaneously (one-to-many). | — | 239.255.0.0/16 | No |
| 5004 | Multicast | Both | AES67 multicast audio — Dante's implementation of the AES67 interoperability standard, allowing Dante devices to talk to non-Dante AES67 equipment. | — | 239.69.0.0/16 | No |
| 319 | Multicast | Both | Clock synchronisation — all Dante devices on the network sync their internal clocks via these ports so audio stays perfectly timed. If blocked, audio will have clicks, dropouts, and timing errors. | — | 224.0.1.129 | No |
| 320 | Multicast | Both | Clock synchronisation — all Dante devices on the network sync their internal clocks via these ports so audio stays perfectly timed. If blocked, audio will have clicks, dropouts, and timing errors. | — | 224.0.1.129 | No |
| 5353 | Multicast | Both | Device discovery (mDNS/Bonjour) — how Dante devices announce themselves on the network so Dante Controller can see them. If blocked, devices won't appear in Dante Controller even though they're physically connected. | — | 224.0.0.251 | No |
| 9875 | Multicast | Both | SAP (Session Announcement Protocol) — devices use this to broadcast what AES67 audio streams they have available on the network, so other devices can find and subscribe to them. Only relevant when using AES67 interop mode. | — | 239.255.255.255 | No |
| 9998 | Multicast | Outbound | Logging — devices send diagnostic and event logs to this address. Not required for audio to function; useful for troubleshooting. | — | 239.254.1.1 | No |
| 8028 | TCP | Both | Dante Controller's graphical interface (GraphQL-based) — used when Dante Controller communicates with devices through its UI. | — | — | No |
| 8029 | UDP | Both | Dante Controller audio-over-IP device communication — a secondary channel used alongside TCP 8028 for device interaction in Dante Controller. | — | — | No |
| 8000 | UDP | Both | Dante Domain Manager (DDM) device port — used when DDM is deployed to manage Dante devices across multiple network segments or sites. Only required if DDM is in use. | — | — | No |
| 8001 | TCP | Inbound | DDM controller communications — the DDM server uses this port to talk to Dante devices it's managing. Only required if DDM is in use. | — | — | No |
| 8443 | TCP | Inbound | DDM controller login — encrypted HTTPS login to the DDM management interface. Only required if DDM is in use. | — | — | No |
| 80 | TCP | Inbound | DDM web interface — the browser-based admin panel for Dante Domain Manager (HTTP and HTTPS). Only required if DDM is in use. | — | — | No |
| 443 | TCP | Inbound | DDM web interface — the browser-based admin panel for Dante Domain Manager (HTTP and HTTPS). Only required if DDM is in use. | — | — | No |
| 69 | UDP | Both | Firmware updates — used when pushing firmware to Dante devices over the network. Only active during update operations. | — | — | No |
| 6969 | UDP | Both | Firmware updates — used when pushing firmware to Dante devices over the network. Only active during update operations. | — | — | No |
| 9005 | UDP | Both | Firmware updates — used when pushing firmware to Dante devices over the network. Only active during update operations. | — | — | No |
Gotchas & IT Notes
- ⚠Native Dante audio is unicast by default; do not describe every Dante job as multicast-heavy. Enable and validate `IGMP` when multicast Dante audio, `AES67`, Dante video, other multicast video, critical control systems, or constrained `100 Mbps` segments are present.
- ⚠PTP (ports 319/320) must not be blocked — loss of PTP causes audio dropout across all Dante devices.
- ⚠mDNS (5353) does not cross VLANs — if Dante devices and Dante Controller are on different VLANs, mDNS proxy required or use DDM.
- ⚠Do not expose Dante ports to the internet — Dante is a LAN protocol. Isolate on dedicated VLAN.
- ⚠Native Dante clocking and `AES67` / `ST 2110` clocking are different modes. Supported Dante devices can participate in `PTPv2` interoperability scenarios, but only with an explicit domain / grandmaster plan.
- ⚠Current enhanced `ST 2110-30` / `AES67` configuration is implementation- and firmware-specific. Check endpoint Dante model, firmware, Dante Controller version, sample rate, packet time, `PTP` settings, multicast address support, and `SDP` workflow before treating a device as interoperable.
- ⚠If the team cannot state that plan cleanly, separate the workflows by VLAN / domain instead of hoping default behavior will save the job.
- ⚠If using Dante Domain Manager (DDM): additional outbound TCP 443 to Audinate cloud servers for licensing.
- ⚠If using Dante Director, schedule it separately from local Dante media. Current Audinate support says Dante Controller-to-Director traffic consolidates to `TCP 443`, while Dante devices enrolled in Dante Director or `DDM` still use `UDP 8000`; some OEM desktop software may still require older login ports until updated.
- ⚠DDM redundancy is not cross-subnet redundant audio. Audinate's current DDM guidance says redundant audio is supported only within a subnet, cross-subnet redundant subscriptions are filtered/disabled, different primary subnets may not share a secondary subnet, and the secondary network is link-local.