DiGiGrid DLI provides flexibility at StudiOzz

Sound engineer Mike Osman has invested in a DiGiGrid DLI networking hub for his StudiOzz facility in Brisbane.

Originally working as a young musician 10,000 miles away in his native South Wales, Osman started a small PA company providing audio for a wide range of events, moving to London to work in the West End and with rental companies as front of house or monitor engineer for a wide range of artists. As monitor engineer for Art Garfunkel, Osman became the first engineer to tour with the DiGiCo SD8 console.

In 2012 Osman moved to Brisbane and continued to tour internationally. Creating StudiOzz as a recording and mixing facility to complement his freelance work, he continues to develop its remit which now includes live multitrack recording and streaming for hybrid or virtual events. Osman first encountered DiGiGrid when using an MGB interface with a DiGiCo console, and now uses a DLI as a key part of his setup.

“I use a DLI to interface with the HDX cards in my Avid Profile console,” he explained. “I use it for multitrack recording, virtual soundcheck, and to network several computers to the console at corporate events where I need several sources of playback.

“The key advantage is that I can record 64 channels to several computers simultaneously via a Cat5 cable. It means I can always have main and redundant recording, without having to have extra hardware and splits. With the Profile, I have 16 assignable inputs always available on the HDX card, so I can have up to eight stereo inputs from networked computers, all sharing the DLI patching, all via standard network cables. It's very flexible and makes life easy. With the addition of a DiGiGrid MGB, I can also take inputs and send outputs via MADI, to and from broadcast trucks, without having to swap any cards in the Profile.” 

As live work picks up Osman intends to add an MGB to his setup to keep the same networking infrastructure when working on DiGiCo or other MADI-equipped consoles. For the moment, he remains in the studio mixing an album by the aptly named UK folk band, The Time Stealers.