Mackie DLZ Creator and NDI: How to “Go Pro” With Your Setup

DLZ Creator and DLZ Creator XS ( DLZ Creator Series) is an extremely versatile podcast mixer that opens up new possibilities for podcasters and streamers. With the addition of NDI support in DLZ Update 1.2, those possibilities just exploded. Here’s why NDI is such a huge deal — and how you can use NDI to record and stream anything with DLZ Creator Series. 

Professional broadcasters know NDI as the standard way to send video and audio feeds over long distances and manage them all at the same time. Streamers know NDI as one of the best ways to stream with OBS, using the OBS NDI plugin. If you haven’t used NDI, you don’t know what you’re missing. NDI can streamline your setup, improve your audio and video quality, eliminate latency and more, all over simple Ethernet connections.

 Luckily, DLZ Creator Series makes it easier than ever to start using NDI for your stream or podcast. 

What Is NDI?

NDI is a network protocol that lets you send and receive audio and video over an Ethernet cable at high quality, with near-zero latency, over any distance.

 Lots of professional equipment is compatible with NDI, including a variety of cameras and DLZ Creator Series. Connect these NDI-enabled devices to the same network as your computer, and you can manage all the video and audio feeds with the incredibly powerful NDI Tools software. 

 NDI Tools are wildly versatile. There are tools that let you send NDI audio to your DAW. There’s an OBS NDI plugin that lets you hard-wire a streaming setup to route your game, camera and microphone to Twitch. Get this: you can even use a tool called NDI Bridge to connect multiple NDI setups to the same network, no matter how far away they are, without adding latency. 

 We’re going to say that again: no matter how far away. As far as an NDI network is concerned, thousands of miles are the same as being in the next room. NDI is fast, stable, and uses the same connections we use to connect over high-speed internet. Oh, and another thing — NDI is free and open source. Now you can start to see why broadcasters love it.

Here’s how you can use NDI yourself with DLZ Creator Series.

How to Use NDI With DLZ Creator Series

DLZ Creator Series can send and receive audio in the NDI format using the Ethernet port. Using an Ethernet cable, connect DLZ Creator to your router — the same router connected to your computer. Install the NDI Tools software, and DLZ Creator becomes an audio input and output, along with all the other inputs and outputs in your NDI network.

 From there, you can essentially route anything into anything, with blazing speed and serious reliability. For podcasters, that means rock-solid audio from multiple rooms (or countries!) straight into your DAW. For streamers, it means plugging all your gaming and streaming gear into one router and managing it all with one clean user interface.

 DLZ Creator Series is ready to provide studio-quality audio for any NDI network. Since NDI is so flexible, that means the possibilities for DLZ Creator Series are essentially limitless. 

 Here are a few setups, just to show you what Mackie means.

Recording a Podcast With DLZ Creator Series and NDI

Even if DLZ Creator Series is your only NDI device, using NDI has benefits over USB. It’s a more stable solution than USB, with less latency, and you don’t have to worry about the signal degrading over a distance. Recording your podcast in one room with your computer in another room is basically impossible with a USB cable. With an Ethernet cable, it’s child’s play.

 In the diagram, the podcaster is using DLZ Creator Series to record their microphone, and also using the Bluetooth channel (with Mix Minus) to record a caller on their smartphone. DLZ Creator Series handles the mixing and monitoring, and NDI handles the connection to the computer.

Connecting Two DLZ Creator Series Mixers Remotely With NDI

The answer is remote podcasting. See, you can connect multiple routers to the same NDI network, even if the routers are in entirely different places. All the devices connected to both routers will show up in NDI Tools, and you can route them as if they were all in the same place. See how that changes things?

 In the diagram, one podcaster is recording to their own DLZ Creator Series, while two others are recording to a separate DLZ Creator on the same NDI network. There are also NDI cameras in both locations, capturing video feeds. All these feeds show up in the NDI Tools software on a connected computer. Their producer could be managing it all from a third location!

Streaming Video Games With OBS NDI Plugin

Gaming PCs can be inputs and outputs in NDI Tools, just like NDI cameras and DLZ Creator Series mixers. So, you can run your stream from a separate computer than the video game. In the above example, a streamer has their webcam, DLZ Creator Series and gaming console connected to the same NDI network as a lightweight laptop, which they are using to stream to OBS.

 And the best part, for some: You can tuck all these connections away using durable Ethernet cables that lock in place. No more tangled USB cables with flimsy connectors.

Try DLZ Creator Series for Yourself — and Don’t Forget to Update

DLZ Creator Series makes podcasting and streaming easy for beginners thanks to Mix Agent and other adaptable features. But DLZ Creator Series is also a tremendously versatile mixer for professionals. NDI takes that versatility to the next level, combining with Bluetooth, USB and analog inputs to make DLZ Creator Series the perfect way to record or stream in almost any situation.