Back to the console, in the Routing window in the Card Out tab, by default the card's outputs are already routed to the Local inputs on the console, which means that the direct outputs of the input channels are sending to the XDante card, 1 to 1, sending to the laptop via Dante Virtual Soundcard and into Tracks Live. Sounds pretty simple right? Well.....I still wasn't getting any audio...nothing when I record enabled the tracks and nothing when I enabled the channel monitor on Tracks. WEIRD. WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!

Well, I look back onto the console and all my gains are are at a nice level. I then go to the Set up Menu and then to the Card tab and it was there that I saw something that said use Dante Controller software when using XDante card with DAW (that's not verbatim...). Maybe that would help me. Soooo off to Audinate.com I go to download the Dante Controller software. Once downloaded and opened, I see that the software sees my laptop (aka the Dante Virtual Soundcard) and the XDante card. Both have an assigned IP address from the switch and show the sync setting, configuration menus and just details of the two devices. I see that there aren't any patches enabled between the two devices. Channel one of XDante should be able to patch to Channel one of Dante Virtual Soundcard but for some reason I can't patch them. When I hover the mouse over the patch block, a note pops up and says that the sample rates are mismatched. Well that's pretty important so now I go aaaaallllll the way back to the console (I actually just turned to my left a little...), look in the configuration menu to make sure the console is either at 44.1khz or 48khz...it was at 48khz, then within the Dante Controller software, each device's sample rate can be adjusted, so I adjust the XDante card as well as the Dante Virtual Soundcard to 48khz AND THEN I go to Tracks Live software, to the preferences window to adjust the software's sample rate to 48khz.

Back in the Dante Controller software, I can now patch channels 1-8 from the XDante card to the Dante Virtual Soundcard, that way whatever audio I'm sending from my console (that I have properly routed) can now send to Dante Virtual Soundcard which is the ASIO driver for Tracks Live. Now, I decide to also patch channels 1-8 FROM Dante Virtual Soundcard TO XDante for when I want to test the playback from Tracks Live back to the X32, which will be later down the post.

Back on topic...

Holding my breath, I record enable the tracks in Tracks Live and BAM, I'm getting signal. I do a celebration dance and then get to recording. I only record onto 4 tracks out of the 8 that were available to me (because remember, I'm using a non-gigabit switch, so I can only have 8 Dante channels)...literally unplugging my microphone from channel 1 input to channel 2 input, then to 3 then to 4 on the X32 because that's all I had to test this out. I successfully record gibberish and randomness onto all 4 of my Tracks Live tracks, but only half of my goal has been completed.