About Connections
3. About Connections
3.1. Daisy Chain Network
There are two ways to connect this product to a Dante network: daisy-chain connection and star connection.
NOTE
A daisy chain connection is suitable for a simple system with a small number of devices.
Use a star network if a large number of devices are connected.
A daisy chain is a wiring scheme in which multiple devices are connected together in sequence. In this way, networking is simple and requires no network switches.
If you connect a large number of devices, you must set a higher latency value to avoid skipping audio that could be caused by an increased delay in signal transfer among the devices. Also, if a connection is broken in a daisy chain network, the signal flow is interrupted at that point and no signal will be transferred beyond that point.
NOTE
This explanation uses an illustration of the RUio1608SB-D. The illustration can be replaced with that of the RUio0804-D or RUio16FLX-D.
3.2. Star Network
There are two ways to connect this product to a Dante network: daisy-chain connection and star connection.
NOTE
A daisy chain connection is suitable for a simple system with a small number of devices.
Use a star network if a large number of devices are connected.
In a star network, each device is connected to a central network switch. Using a GbE-compatible network switch enables you to configure a wide-band, large-scale network. We recommend a network switch that features various functions to control and monitor the network (such as QoS, the ability to assign priority to data flows - e.g., clock synchronization or audio transmission on certain data circuits.)
With this topology, it is common to configure a redundant network so that an unexpected network problem will not affect any audio or otherwise stable communications.
3.2.1. About redundant networks
A redundant network consists of two circuits, a primary circuit and a secondary circuit. Normally, the network operates on the primary circuit. However, if the primary connection is broken, the secondary circuit will automatically take over communications. Therefore, using a redundant network with a star topology would increase communication stability relative to a daisy chain network.
NOTE
This explanation uses an illustration of the RUio1608SB-D. The illustration can be replaced with that of the RUio0804-D or RUio16FLX-D.