Building upon the announcement from earlier this month that it has joined forces with Digico, Fourier Audio is revealing the transform.engine, previously known as codename “Project Core.”
“Housed in a 2U touring-grade chassis with dual redundant power supplies, the new transform.engine is a Dante-connected server designed to run all VST3-native software plugins in a live environment, bringing premium studio software to live sound and broadcast applications,” the announcement states. “Fully compatible with any VST3 plugin that can run on Windows, the new device gives engineers and creatives access to the very best studio-grade processing on a robust platform that is specifically designed for the rigors and complexities of live productions.”
Designed as a turnkey solution for plugin hosting, the transform.engine is controlled by a remote Windows or macOS client application, for a less complex setup. Users can connect to the engine via a standard Ethernet cable, install their plugins, and get directly to processing.
For reliability, Fourier Audio’s patent-pending audio software engine provides a sandbox with plugins ring-fenced from each other. Should a plugin crash, the rest of the system is designed to be unaffected as the transform.engine will immediately restart that plugin, restoring the original integrity of the mix.
Designed to be integrated directly into live audio workflows, transform.engine will soon put control of plugins directly under the fingers of engineers on their own worksurfaces, starting with Digico consoles. However, similar to products from sibling brand Klang:technologies, the new Fourier Audio device is fully capable of operating in conjunction with virtually any professional digital console on the market via Dante, using the Windows/macOS application to control the engine.
The transform.engine can also process audio standalone with no computer required. Controlled remotely by a Windows/macOS application, with plugin user interfaces “teleported” and controlled in ultra-low-latency over the network, the product has been tuned to deliver the lowest-latency solution for hosting VST3 plugins, while preserving the reliability and performance of the server.
Scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2024, the transform.engine will feature an optional software subscription bundle.
“In the meantime, we’re inviting studio software manufacturers to contact us about potentially offering their plugins as part of transform.engine’s ever-expanding open ecosystem of live tools,” says Fourier Audio CEO Henry Harrod. “We want to introduce them to a whole new market segment that they’ve not previously had access to. At the same time, we want to offer live sound engineers not just ‘good’ emulations of various studio plugins, but the absolute best-sounding authentic versions of every plugin they might possibly want from the professional recording world. It’s a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone.”
Fourier Audio CCO Gareth Owen says transform.engine’s reliability will be one of its greatest hallmarks. “There are a lot of other VST hosting approaches out there, but when you have a theater, arena, or stadium full of people listening to your show, there’s no margin for error,” he says. “With the backing and support of Digico, which is celebrated for its decades of designing tourable, reliable, and long-lasting hardware, we are building the ultimate plugin solution.”
Fourier Audio’s team of engineers, led by CTO Peter Bridgman, has followed two years of R&D with a recent collaboration with Digico to deliver a brand new hardware platform for transform.engine. Digico Technical Director John Stadius works closely with the Fourier Audio team, “It has been an exciting challenge for our teams to design a brand-new bespoke hardware platform. The Fourier Audio team reminds me of an early-stage DiGiCo, and that enthusiasm really motivated us all to get it done. I couldn’t be happier with the end result and what it will mean for live sound engineers.”
For more details on the new Fourier Audio transform.engine,
visit www.fourieraudio.com.
