SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – At the AES show, Fairlight (www.fairlightau.com) introduced its new Crystal Core (CC-1) audio production engine, which enables 200+ channels of audio recording, editing, mixing, I/O and plug-ins, with extremely low latency and full processing capability on every channel.
Incorporating Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) silicon technology from Altera Corporation, Crystal Core technology is considerably more powerful than DSP/Time Slice Bus architectures and delivers these performance gains in a single, purpose-built media processing chip.
Older DPS-based systems perform all processes at a single resolution, even if some processes would sound better with more resolution, or just as good with less. The flexibility of FPGA chips allows the company to run different processes at different bit depths. With Dynamic Resolution Optimization (DRO), Fairlight engineers can choose the best processing for each system task, increasing both efficiency and audio quality.
The first audio production products based on the Crystal Core engine will be capable of delivering 230 channel paths - each with eight bands of EQ, three stage dynamics processing, floating insert point with return, on board Pyxis HD video, 12 auxiliary sends and up-to 72 user definable mix busses. Crystal Core technology will support the DREAM II family of Fairlight controllers and mixing surfaces. Those using DREAM QDC powered systems can upgrade to the new engine without purchasing a new surface.