Sennheiser has announced the availability of its Dante card for the EM 9046 receiver, enabling the top-of-the-range Digital 9000 wireless microphone system to be integrated into Dante audio-over-IP networks.
Also available, as free downloads, are the associated new Digital 9000 firmware version 3.0.3, and the new Wireless Systems Manager 4.2 with a set of optimised monitoring functions.
Dante works with existing network infrastructure using IP and Ethernet standards and offers hundreds of channels of high-quality audio. The networking solution is currently used by more than 155 pro audio manufacturers worldwide.
The EM 9046 DAN extension card is simply inserted into the expansion slot of the EM 9046 eight-channel receiver. Internally, the card features sixteen audio inputs to send the digital audio and command signals over the Dante network. Connection is via two Gbit RJ45 sockets that serve to either establish two redundant network circuits or daisy-chain the signals. The card works with sampling rates of 44.1/48/88.2 and 96 kHz at a resolution of 24 bits.
The new firmware version 3.0.3 for Digital 9000
can be downloaded free of charge here. With this firmware update, the receiver’s clock menu will be expanded to include a 'MAN' (multichannel audio network) option, enabling the receiver to synchronise to the word clock of the Dante network.
Additional benefits of the new firmware version include the monitoring of up to four daisy-chained receivers via any of the receivers’ monitoring outputs and the automatic assignment of frequencies after a scan. Engineers are now also able to scan just a 24 MHz portion of the spectrum instead of the entire booster range of 168 MHz. This increases speed in critical frequency situations.
Sennheiser has adapted its Wireless Systems Manager software to include a monitoring function for the Dante card. The new version 4.2 allows users to monitor the EM 9046’s Dante audio streams from any point in the network, and to listen to the headphone monitor audio stream of connected EM 9046 receivers without any additional hardware.
WSM (Sennheiser Wireless Systems Manager) Software Version 4.2 is available from the same download address as the Digital 9000 firmware.