Dale Pro Audio Event Underscores Networked-Audio Awareness

Dante and other technologies, case studies highlighted the discussion

Retailer Dale Pro Audio held its first Networked Audio conference last month at its Jamaica, Queens, store and showroom. The event featured informative overviews of Audinate’s Dante and other networking technologies, protocols, and platforms, as well as real-world case studies provided by keynote speakers.

More than 50 industry professionals attended Date Pro Audio’s conference on networking audio.

The event was co-sponsored by Ashly, Audio-Technica, Clear-com, Focusrite, Mackie, Soundtube, Stewart Audio, and Symetrix. The summit attracted more than 50 attendees from various parts of the industry, including integrators, engineers, and other industry representatives.

Says Dale Technology Development Manager Joel Guilbert, who envisioned the event, “We were happy to educate our valued customers on the latest technologies and, hopefully, demystify networked audio and show them how to integrate this solution into their signal chains.”

The Jamaica location, which opened in 2014, is now the company’s sole outlet, its Manhattan offices having closed in November.

In addition to viewing products and solutions, attendees also heard from Joe Shalhoup, audio engineer and mixer for NBC Olympics, and Dave O’Brien, broadcast-systems engineer for NBC’s Washington, DC, news bureau. They provided an in-depth overview of how they used the Dante audio format to set up NBC’s broadcasts of event-type programs, including the 2016 Democratic National Convention and the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. Other presenters offered solutions, tips, and presentations of microphone and mixing solutions that feature networking applications.

Symetrix’s Jim Latimer (at keyboard) gets a hands-on demo as NBC’s Dave O’Brien, a presenter at the event, looks on.

Fittingly, the event was streamed live on Dale’s Facebook page, with a reported 1,500 people tuning in. One fortunate attendee, CJ Wachter, won a raffle prize: a Focusrite RedNet AM2 Dante-compatible stereo monitoring unit.

For Director, Marketing and Brand Development, Eric Eldredge, the event underscores how rapidly audio networking has became a major factor in broadcasting and other pro-audio verticals. “We wanted to raise awareness about networking in general and also to contribute to building the knowledge base around it for our clients.”

A positive turnout, he says, is spurring Dale to consider sponsorship of future networked-audio events. “Networking is becoming pervasive very quickly,” he notes, citing its arrival as an industry inflection point potentially as significant as the transition from analog to digital more than two decades ago. “We want to help get professionals up to speed on it.”

Dale’s co-owner Valerie Lager agrees: “We can’t stress enough the importance of being on the cutting edge in our markets, and I’m elated we had such a fulfilling and engaging event that reinforces our position as a leader in this exciting field.”