The DARK1616 is a versatile break in/ out box for sending/ receiving both analogue and digital (AES3) audio to/ from a network utilising the Dante audio over IP (AoIP) protocol.

In total there are 16 channels of audio sent from the Dark1616 into the network. The Dark1616 has 8 of AES3 inputs and 16 of analogue inputs, but they cannot be used at the same time.   The AES3 inputs take priority over the analogue (if an AES3 input is receiving a valid AES3 signal then it will turn off the equivalent analogue input pair and route its output to the network).

Simultaneously there are 16 channels of audio being received from the network by the Dark1616 and these incoming circuits are provided as outputs from the Dark1616 in both AES3 and analogue.

The AES3 inputs have sample rate converters on them and can accept input frequencies up to 192kHz.  The incoming AES3 circuit is always sample rate converted to match the Dante network frequency.

The AES3 outputs are locked to the sample frequency of the Dante network.

For ease of cabling audio I/O is presented on D25 sockets to the AES59 standard (Tascam wiring convention) for which there are a number of reasonably priced break out cables available from multiple suppliers.

Being designed for resiliant broadcast applications the Dark1616 features both redundant power supplies and redundant Dante network links with link status GPOs (general purpose outputs (solid state relays)). Both primary and secondary network links are provided with both magnetic (copper RJ45) and fibre (SFP) interface connections. The Dante system itself provides a completely transparent redundant link system which means that if the Dark1616 lost its primary link circuit the secondary link would automatically take over with no loss of audio.

The primary and secondary network interfaces are routed internally via a network switch.  It is possible to set this switch to work as a traditional network switch instead of the default redundant mode.  This means that there would be just one link to the Dante network, and the other connections of the switch could have other Dante or network devices connected to them. As with all Dante devices, once set up, Dark1616 units can be directly connected with each other with no external network hardware.

On the front panel 4 bright LEDs indicate the status of the 2 power supplies and the primary and secondary local network links. In parallel to these 4 indicating LEDs there are 4 solid state relay outputs for connecting to external alarm systems for failure notification of a power supply or link fault.

Features Include

• 8 of AES3 audio inputs and 8 of AES3 audio outputs
• 16 of Analogue audio inputs and 16 of Analogue audio outputs
• Redundant Network connections
• Network link status GPOs
• Connection to Dante / AES67 network for control and configuration
• 1u 19” rack
• Redundant Power Supply