Dante-MY16-AUD User Guide Version 1.41
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ANNEX A: Dante Synchronization and Clocking
All Dante-enabled audio equipment on the same Ethernet network uses the IEEE1588 Precision Time Protocol
(PTP) to automatically and accurately synchronize their clocks with each other to sub-microsecond accuracy.
Use the Dante Controller “Clock Status” tab to view and configure Dante device clock settings for all Dante devices
connected to the network, including Dante-MY16-AUD cards.
Figure 6: Dante Controller "Clock Status" tab
Dante Clock Types
Each Dante hardware device can derive its clock from either its high-quality onboard voltage-controlled crystal
oscillator (VCXO) circuit, or an externally connected word clock. In the case of Dante Virtual Soundcard, the
computer’s clock will be used.
Each Dante device clock has a quality setting associated with it, indicating how accurate a clock it is . The lowest
quality clocks are computer clocks. Dante devices with Gigabit connections will be deemed better tha n otherwise
equal quality clocks with 100Mbps connections.
A Dante device clock can be either a PTP Master Clock or a PTP Slave Clock. A Dante network will always have one
active PTP Master Clock at any one time, and all Dante slave clocks will synchronize their clocks over the network
with the chosen master clock.
The Dante PTP Master Clock
The “best master clock election” determines which Dante device will provide the PTP master clock. The election is
performed on startup, when new devices join the network or a current PTP Master Clock device leaves . The
Master Clock is chosen automatically by comparing the different Dante device clocks, choosing the “best” clock
and designating it as the PTP Master Clock for that network. If a number of “equally -best” clocks are found, the
MAC addresses are used to decide which of them will become the Master Clock.
Once a PTP Master Clock has been chosen, all other Dante device clocks will become Slaves , and lock their on-
board VCXOs to the PTP Master Clock.
Dante Clock Settings
Dante hardware devices, including Dante-MY16-AUD cards, have two optional clock settings that can be selected.
Set “Enable Sync To External ” to use an external word clock (such as the Internal clock of host Yamaha equipment)
to tune the onboard VCXO. When this attribute is set, the Dante device will become PTP Master Clock unless
another Dante hardware device has “Preferred Master” set.
