Clock Status

The Clock Status tab provides a network-wide overview of the clocking state within the network.

This view provides a convenient way of quickly scanning the network for clock information. For DDM networks, devices are grouped into their respective IP subnets.

The tabular view presents the following information, in columns from the left:

Device Name

The device name currently associated with the device.

Sync

Indicates the clock sync status for the device.

A green light indicates that the device is currently synced to (or is driving) the network clock
A red light indicates that the device is not currently synced

Mute

Indicates the mute status for the device.

A red mute icon indicates that the device is currently muted (usually due to loss of clock sync)
No icon in the mute column means that the device is not muted (audio should be flowing normally)

Clock Source

Indicates the clock source for the device.

Dante: The device is deriving its clock from the Dante network, or is acting as leader clock (but not deriving its clock from an external source)
External: The device is deriving its clock from an external word clock source

Domain Status (DDM networks only)

Indicates the clock's role for its domain.

Leader: The device is the leader clock for the domain.
Follower: The device is a boundary clock follower (receiving unicast PTP from a domain leader in a different subnet).
Standby: The device is a backup boundary clock.
Disabled: The device does not currently have a domain clocking role.
N/A: The device cannot act as a boundary clock.

See the DDM user guide for more information about domain clocking.

Primary v1 Multicast

Indicates the state of the PTP v1 (Dante audio) clock for the primary interface. Routed DDM networks will indicate a leader clock for each IP subnet.

Leader: Device is the current PTP v1 Leader Clock on the primary Dante network
Follower: Device is a PTP v1 Follower on the primary Dante network
Passive: Device is not using clock synchronization information from this interface
Link Down: The interface is not connected to the network
N/A: Indicates that the device does not support clock status reporting. In the Secondary Status column, can also indicate that the device is non-redundant.
Listening: Usually transient. When persistent, it indicates that the device can not operate as a clock leader (follower only), and is waiting for a clock leader to appear on the network.

Devices that are configured with sample rate pull-up/down are shown with the relevant pull-up/down value against their Clock Status. For example, a device acting as leader clock with +0.1% pull-up will be shown as Leader (+0.1%). See About Clock Domains for more information.

Other transient clock states exist, which are not listed above.

Primary v2 Multicast

Indicates the state of the PTP v2 clock for the primary interface, for AES67 or SMPTE-enabled devices. Possible states are identical to those for Primary v1 Multicast.

Secondary v1 Multicast

Indicates the state of the PTP v1 (Dante audio) clock for the secondary interface. Possible states are identical to those for Primary v1 Multicast.

Secondary v1 Multicast

Indicates the state of the PTP v2 clock for the secondary interface, for AES67 or SMPTE-enabled devices. Possible states are identical to those for Primary v1 Multicast.

Preferred Leader

Raises the priority of the device in the leader clock election.

If only one device on a particular clock domain has this checkbox ticked, it ensures that the selected device becomes leader clock (for that clock domain). When multiple devices have their Preferred Leader checkbox ticked, the leader will be elected automatically from within that group.

If 'Follower Only' is shown instead of a checkbox, it indicates that the device is not capable of acting as a leader clock.

Enable Sync To External

Forces the Dante module to derive its clock from an external source - either from a host device word clock, or from an auxiliary device.

This will also ensure that this Dante device becomes leader clock for the relevant clock domain (unless another device has 'Preferred Leader' selected). It is not normal practice to configure more than one device per clock domain with an external clock source. In this case, the user is assumed to have synchronized external word clock sources (e.g. house clock).

Where the checkbox is present but greyed-out (and inactive), it means that the Dante device can be follower to an external word clock, but it cannot be set directly from Dante Controller - it must be done via the host device user interface, or via some other method (e.g. third-party control software). If the checkbox is greyed out and populated, it means that the Dante device is currently following the external clock.

If N/A is displayed, it means that the device does not support slaving to an external word clock.

Note: If no clock status information is displayed for a particular device, it can indicate a ConMon (Dante control and monitoring service) failure on the device. The device may need to be reset or restored.

About Clock Domains

Dante Devices that are not configured with sample rate pull-up/down operate on the default clock domain, using the default clock. Devices that are configured with sample rate pull-up/down operate on separate 'clock domains', which have their own dedicated PTP clocks, adjusted to account for the pulled up/down sample rates.

Clock domains are not physically separated, they all exist on the network simultaneously. Devices with pull-up/down synchronize to the appropriate clock for their pull-up/down setting, and ignore other clocks. Those devices are shown with the relevant pull-up/down value against their Clock Status in the Clock Status tab.

Dante devices can only transmit media to, and receive media from other devices on the same clock domain. For example, a device with zero sample rate pull-up/down operates on the default clock domain, and cannot transmit media to, or receive media from any devices on the +4.1667% clock domain, or the -1% clock domain, etc.

Up to 5 separate clock domains can be supported at any one time. All clock domains have their own leader clock.

In DDM Networks

In DDM networks, each Dante domain typically uses its own special clocking domain (except in the case of media sharing between domains, when multiple Dante domains will share the same clock domain).

About Leader Clocks

The Dante network leader clock (often also referred to as the 'Primary Leader'), is displayed at all times in the center of the toolbar of the Network View. This is the device that is providing the time sync source for all devices on the network.

If multiple clock domains are in use, the leader clock for each domain is shown, in a comma-separated list.

The leader clock is chosen automatically through an election process, though there are user configurable parameters that allow prioritization of some devices in the leader clock election. Configuring a device to have an external word clock source will force that device to become leader clock, unless another device has 'Preferred Leader' set.

Checking the 'Preferred Leader' flag will always result in that device (or the device with the lowest MAC address, if more than one device has been checked) becoming leader clock for that domain.

Note: If the leader clock device is not directly visible to Dante Controller (for example, if the leader clock device is for some reason only connected to the secondary network, and Dante Controller is only connected to the primary network), the 'Leader Clock' display in the toolbar may show a MAC address string, instead of the device name.