NetAudio — unofficial Dante Controller alternative

NetAudio is an unofficial Dante Controller alternative for discovering, routing, configuring, and monitoring Dante network audio devices. The project provides open-source command-line tools, a web interface, a persistent daemon, and a protocol library for Linux, macOS, and Windows, alongside a native iPhone and iPad app for iOS and iPadOS.

NetAudio is a native Dante Controller alternative for iOS and iPadOS, available now for iPhone and iPad through TestFlight. The app communicates directly with Dante devices for live discovery, audio subscription routing, device and channel configuration, live device metering, clock and status monitoring, and diagnostics. Local direct-device control runs on the phone or tablet without a separate computer, remote desktop session, or NetAudio daemon. The app also supports Dante Domain Manager (DDM) networks and connections to a NetAudio daemon.

Website and iOS app · Install the CLI and web interface · Documentation

Interfaces and architecture

NetAudio serves both interactive device control and software automation. A shared Rust protocol core implements Dante packet encoding and parsing for the Python application and native iOS client.

The CLI and daemon run on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Automated checks cover all three platforms, including native libraries and installed Python packages.

Capabilities

• Discovery and routing: discover Dante devices and their receive/transmit channels, inspect subscription status, and add or remove audio subscriptions.
• Device configuration: device and channel names, sample rate, encoding, latency, analog gain, device locking, preferred clock leader, AES67 settings, and primary/secondary network configuration on supported devices.
• Audio flows: inspect receive and transmit flows, plan and manage supported native Dante multicast transmit flows, discover external RTP flows through SAP/SDP, and subscribe compatible receivers to them.
• Device metering and monitoring: live signal levels, clock status, interface statistics and errors, device diagnostics, monitoring issues, and event history through the CLI, API, and browser.
• Dante Domain Manager: discover managed inventory and control supported settings on DDM-enrolled devices using configured credentials and operation permissions.
• Presets and automation: save and apply device/routing presets, map device identities, inspect application results, and consume structured output from scripts and other control systems.

Device capabilities and the selected control transport determine which operations are available. The linked documentation describes specific support, including multicast flow authoring and managed-device operations.

Installation

iOS and iPadOS (iPhone and iPad)

Install the native NetAudio iOS/iPadOS app through TestFlight. See netaudio.app for app information and support.

Linux, macOS, and Windows

Install the CLI, daemon, and web interface from PyPI:

uv tool install netaudio

Or with pip:

pip install netaudio

Arch Linux

Install the netaudio AUR package.

From source

A source checkout requires Python 3.9 or newer, uv, and a Rust toolchain:

uv sync
uv run netaudio --help

Quick start

Start the daemon and open the web interface:

netaudio daemon start
netaudio daemon web --open

Use netaudio --help for the command list and netaudio COMMAND --help for individual commands. From a source checkout, use uv run netaudio.

For example, inspect a device by name and request JSON output:

netaudio -n avio-usb-1 device show
netaudio --json -n avio-usb-1 device show

Use your device's name in place of avio-usb-1. See the CLI guide for selection syntax, channel references, subscriptions, and presets. Generate the command reference with make man from a source checkout.

Documentation

• Daemon, HTTPS, and DDM operation permissions
• CLI device selection and command examples
• External RTP discovery and interface statistics
• Monitoring event journal
• Transmit-flow lifecycle and supported operations
• Flow performance and configuration storage
• Presets and monitoring issues

Development

The project develops an independent implementation and understanding of Dante control protocols. Protocol work is recorded in reviewed source, focused tests, and evidence records identifying observed behavior and remaining unknowns. Research tooling is separate from normal application use.

Run the offline Python and Rust tests:

uv run pytest -q
cargo test --manifest-path packages/netaudio-core/Cargo.toml

Run Python lint checks or the broader source-quality checks:

uv run ruff check .
make quality

The CI workflow also runs browser tests and checks package installation across supported platforms.

Project background

NetAudio is an independent interoperability project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Audinate.

The project grew out of packet capture replay and modification experiments first written up in a Gearspace discussion.