Just me, rambling. I have Dante-enabled all the Macs in the studio.

Babbling audio to Alan Finkbeiner (Sweetwater)

I see the PreSonus has joined the ranks of “personal” monitoring stations — EarMix — with the whole AVB thing. A bit pricier than Behringer, but maybe more versatile? Anyway.

One of the keys to the PowerPlay P16-M ($300, Ultranet) and the EarMix 16M ($400, AVB) is the Power-Over-Ethernet (POE) so you don’t need all the nasty power cords. The EarMix wants a PreSonus SW5E ($400) , the P16-M wants a Behringer P16D ($100). Bear with me here…

Focusrite has the nifty RedNet AM2 ($400, Dante) which also uses POE.

I fully expect that the P16D can power any of the devices plugged in, but not sure which network protocols get passed along (can’t believe that the cheap box would actually block things, I think it’s a simple hub).

The question to be answered is, could one use the P16D connected to a Dante network to drive multiple AM2 devices, and or EarMix — with the caveat that AVB devices might not play well on a shared network.

Further questions that come to my mind…could I use a Yamaha Tio1608-D box as remote pre-amps and outputs directly connected to my Mac? Everything I see says if I have Dante Virtual Soundcard (DVS) on my Mac I could route Tio1608 pre-amps and outputs easily. Remote control of gain and HPF things might require the use of R-Control software, kind of a pain, and would be stunningly useful if Logic could remote control the preamps.

Meanwhile, getting back to my reality of XR18 and the possibility of doing live shows with a friends group, a P16M would make a very handy delivery system for a PA system (powered) like Turbosound iP1000/2000, or a stereo “wedge” mix with a pair of wedges carefully placed…I think a “real” mixer on stage for wedge control may be a lot nicer than trying to use a tablet computer and software.