Grammy Award-winning Engineer, Mixer and Producer Sylvia Massy Anchors Her Studio with DAD AX64 Multi-Format Audio Interface
At her Oddio Shop in the Siskiyou Mountains, Massy says the DAD AX64 "never gets in the way of the creative flow..."
Ashland, OR, September 17, 2025 — Grammy Award-winning engineer, mixer and producer Sylvia Massy will do almost anything to inspire an artist’s creativity, such as famously persuading Tool’s Maynard James Keenan to shoot an upright piano with a shotgun — in time to a click track — and recording the results. At the Oddio Shop, Massy’s recording studio in Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains, there may be a little less gunfire, but creativity is still very much encouraged, with a DAD AX64 multi-format audio interface ensuring that the audio technology never gets in the way of the creative flow of a session.
“I like the idea that I can embrace technology and use it to be creative,” says Massy, whose record credits also include Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, System of a Down, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash and others. “I've managed to surround myself with equipment that doesn't get in the way — unless I want it to get in the way, and some of this really old equipment does take some time to finesse and to cajole to work. But I don't want the interface, or any of the newer recording equipment, to get in the way of the process. So I've set my studio up using the DAD interface so that it's seamless.”
High quality conversion, in multiple formats
Massy’s private facility is as much an audio technology museum as a studio, with new and vintage equipment and the world’s largest microphone collection on full display, and in frequent use, all around the room. The DAD AX64 interface and router, configured with 32 analog inputs and 24 analog outputs and supporting high-quality conversion to and from Thunderbolt 3, Dante AoIP, AES/EBU, ADAT, MADI and DADlink, allows Massy to access any piece of equipment instantly, whether it’s her Dangerous Music summing mixer system, numerous analog consoles, Pro Tools rig or choice piece of vintage outboard gear.
“I'm able to access all the consoles and any kind of line input at the same time while I'm sending out to the headphone system through Dante and driving the summing mixer through ADAT. I'm able to use all these protocols at the same time and do anything that I want to,” she explains. “Everything's happening at once, and there are no hiccups. I work on my workstation, on my monitors, and I have access to everything in the room from my sweet spot.”
Digital Audio Denmark: Occupying "the heart of the system"
The Oddio Shop control room’s sweet spot is in front of a Pro Tools display occupying the center section of a custom-configured Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console, with the input channels and master section split to either side and angled. Arrayed in a U-shape to each side and behind the listening position is a 16-channel Looptrotter 500 Series modular console, a 16-channel WEM live sound console, a 10-channel RCA radio desk, a Western Electric broadcast mixer and a Dynacord Eminent mixer.
“When we say it's the heart of the system that's really what it is, because everything's plugged into it,” says Chris Johnson, Massy’s manager and husband. “For our configuration, with the various outboard consoles and all the outboard gear, the only way to really make that happen is to patch it all on a patchbay, then into an interface. But it can't be an interface with just six ports on it, it's got to be a beast with at least 60 inputs. That's why this interface is super important to us. We just need one thing to plug everything into, so that you can route it out anywhere — and the routing in the DAD system is excellent.”
Focusing on the high end, DAD wins
Of course, it might be possible to put together an interface system using one or more components from other manufacturers. “But the differentiator for us is that we're looking for pro grade equipment. We could build a studio using all kinds of different gear, and it would work. But if you're trying to focus on the high end, that's where DAD wins,” Johnson says, especially with the AX64’s support of multiple protocols and transports, including a built-in Dante interface, and the unit’s high I/O channel count. There may be other interfaces that could support the same type and number of ports and I/O channels. “But by the time you get through configuring and pricing it, it's just unworkable,” he says.
Safe in the knowledge that the DAD AX64 will enable her to capture any idea at a moment’s notice, Massy can focus on inspiring the creative flow — and she is never short of ideas for getting the best out of her artists. “When I'm planning a session, I'll try to think of things that will spur the creativity of the artist. That might be introducing them to some ideas to allow them to be creative, just giving them permission to be creative. Sometimes the ideas work out, and sometimes they don't. And if it doesn't work, who cares? Because sometimes it's just an exercise in getting the flow. It's about crafting a session to be an experience the musician will never forget — a positive experience, I hope —and that the results of the recordings also reflect that feeling.”
For more information on the DAD Core 256, please visit https://digitalaudio.dk/core-256/.
About Digital Audio Denmark
DAD - Digital Audio Denmark (www.digitalaudio.dk), a brand owned by NTP Technology, is renowned worldwide for analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog audio converters delivering outstanding sonic performance. Based in Copenhagen, NTP is part of the Dan Technologies Group, one of Europe's leading suppliers of audio, video, transmission products and digital media solutions.
