Dante vs AES67 vs Milan: Which to Specify
What each one actually is
Dante is a proprietary transport from Audinate. It carries audio, clock and control over standard Ethernet, and its commissioning tool discovers devices automatically. Its advantage is not technical elegance — it is that several thousand product models already speak it.
AES67 is an interoperability standard, not a product. It defines a common denominator — stream format, PTP profile, discovery — that lets equipment from different ecosystems exchange audio. It deliberately does not define control.
Milan is a certification programme layered on AVB/TSN. Where Dante and AES67 ride on best-effort Ethernet, AVB reserves bandwidth in the switch itself.
The comparison that matters
| Dante | AES67 | Milan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Proprietary transport | Interoperability standard | Certification on AVB/TSN |
| Clock | PTPv1 (native), PTPv2 in AES67 mode | PTPv2 (IEEE 1588-2008) | gPTP (802.1AS) |
| Switch requirement | Any managed switch with QoS | Any managed switch with QoS | AVB/TSN-capable switch |
| Bandwidth guarantee | No — best effort | No — best effort | Yes — reserved |
| Discovery | Automatic | Manual or SAP/SDP | Automatic |
| Control | Included | Not defined | Included |
| Device ecosystem | Largest | Cross-vendor subset | Smallest |
How to choose
Ask three questions in this order.
- Is the network shared with IT traffic? If yes, Milan is usually out — you will not get AVB switches through a corporate IT department. Dante with correct QoS is the pragmatic answer.
- Do two vendors have to interoperate? If yes, AES67 is the bridge, but budget commissioning time for clock domain reconciliation.
- Is deterministic latency contractual? If yes — broadcast, live production with strict specs — Milan on a dedicated network is the only one that guarantees it rather than approximates it.
The mistake to avoid
Enabling AES67 mode on Dante devices “just in case” changes the clock behaviour of the whole domain. Turn it on when there is a specific device to bridge to, not as a default.
Frequently asked
Can Dante and AES67 run on the same network?
Yes. Dante devices can enable an AES67 mode that exposes standards-based multicast streams alongside native Dante flows, but the network must carry PTP correctly and the two clock domains have to be reconciled.
Is Milan the same as AVB?
Milan is a certification layer built on top of AVB/TSN. All Milan devices are AVB devices, but not all AVB devices are Milan certified.
Which protocol has the lowest latency?
Milan and AVB give deterministic latency because bandwidth is reserved by the switch. Dante can be configured lower on paper, but its latency is only as reliable as the network's QoS configuration.