Research direction · September 2026

Open network audio

Dante proves how useful networked professional audio can be, but the core Dante ecosystem is proprietary. Show-Tech can pursue a more open path: standards-based audio transport underneath a simple, open control and patching experience.

The goal is not “copy Dante.” The goal is to make ordinary Linux computers and open hardware useful as interoperable professional audio nodes without requiring one vendor to own the whole system.

Dante

Excellent commercial ecosystem and workflow. Audinate software contains open-source components, but Dante's core technology and products are proprietary/licensed.

AES67

An AES interoperability standard for high-performance audio over IP. It defines common behavior around synchronization, transport, encoding, streaming, session description, and connection management.

PipeWire

Linux already has useful building blocks. PipeWire includes RTP modules with AES67-aware options, making it a natural bridge between desktop/pro-audio applications and network streams.

Open Linux implementations

Projects such as aes67-linux-daemon already combine PTP synchronization, RTP streams, discovery, REST control, and a web interface on Linux.

How it could fit Show-Tech

1. Show-Tech control planeFriendly discovery, device identity, capabilities, patching, cueing, health, and permissions.
2. PipeWire / ALSA audio graphLocal applications, microphones, interfaces, speakers, buses, and software endpoints.
3. AES67 / RTP media transportStandards-based PCM audio streams across the network.
4. PTP clock synchronizationShared network time so samples arrive and play in sync.
5. Interoperability adaptersDante AES67 devices, RAVENNA/AES67 systems, and later other transports can appear as ports in the same Show-Tech patchbay.

What AES67 does not give us

  • A polished Dante Controller-style UX
  • One universal discovery/control workflow
  • Automatic network configuration
  • A guarantee every vendor exposes every feature

That missing human layer is exactly where Show-Tech can add value.

The hard engineering

  • PTP reliability and clock selection
  • Multicast and IGMP-aware network setup
  • Low-latency scheduling and buffering
  • Discovery/session management
  • Simple recovery when a node disappears

Smallest useful experiment

  1. Run two Linux machines on wired Ethernet.
  2. Expose one stereo source and one stereo sink through PipeWire/ALSA.
  3. Transport 48 kHz PCM over AES67-compatible RTP with PTP synchronization.
  4. Make the stream appear as a normal Show-Tech input/output.
  5. Add a Dante device with AES67 enabled and test cross-vendor audio.
  6. Measure latency, clock stability, packet loss, recovery, and setup complexity.

If that works reliably, we have the beginning of an open professional audio fabric rather than just another remote-control feature.

References

AES67 — Audio Engineering Society
Dante AES67 interoperability — Audinate
Audinate software licensing
PipeWire RTP sink
AES67 Linux Daemon