The clear advantages of OSC over MIDI

We like MIDI. It has been a dependable tool for decades. For certain jobs, though, OSC is simply more practical, and three things make the difference for us.

1. Reach and flexibility

MIDI is traditionally a point-to-point system. Longer distances, several rooms or servers outside the auditorium quickly make it complicated.

OSC runs over the network without trouble, even when the server is in the basement or playback is on stage while the operator sits at FOH. To reach several devices at once, you simply address several targets. That’s how we trigger two QLab machines redundantly, for example.

2. More precise messages

OSC can carry values and parameters, for example /opacity 0.75. MIDI can do that too, but not nearly as easily.

3. The network is already there

Every show has a network these days anyway: Art-Net, sACN, remote views, timecode, IP-based media servers. OSC just uses the same infrastructure. We’ve described how to set up a show network properly separately.

When MIDI is still the better choice

If the QLab laptop sits right at FOH, MIDI over USB is often the shortest route. QLab understands MIDI Show Control without any setup, and a plug-and-play controller works straight away.

Why the FrenschPress does both

These points are exactly why we decided that if we’re building hardware like the FrenschPress, it should also talk directly to remote systems, not only to the laptop over a cable. OSC was the obvious addition.