Reason Rack Extensions In Hardware?

US Propellerhead teams up with MIND Music Labs and their ELK system to make it happen 10/01/19

Propellerhead Software has announced a partnership with MIND Music Labs, enabling manufacturers to run Rack Extension plugins on instruments and music hardware products with ultra-low latency. They say that this provides hardware manufacturers with an incredibly scalable, powerful and cost-effective way to incorporate Propellerhead’s future-proof Rack Extension platform into hardware synthesizers and effects using widely available ARM & X86 processors

Ernst Nathorst-Böös, CEO, Propellerhead, told us, “Propellerhead is thrilled to partner with Mind Music Labs to help manufacturers build groundbreaking hardware products in the most cost-effective and scalable way. We believe that together, we can bridge the gap between music creation software and hardware, and help manufacturers bring the next generation of incredible synths and effects to market.”

Since its release in 2012, Propellerhead’s Rack Extension platform has emerged as a powerful audio plug-in format, with over 180 developers and more than 530 instruments and effects now available. Rack Extensions integrate seamlessly into the Reason rack, combining excellent sound, smooth workflow, and rock-solid stability with intuitive routing, automation, editing capability, and flexibility.

The Rack Extension format also gives developers unique benefits over other plug-in formats. Rack Extensions are compatible with desktop, mobile, and web platforms, and developers can easily reach customers through the Propellerhead Shop, which provides a direct distribution path to Reason’s large global network of users.

Mind’s ELK is a Music Operating System, which delivers the ultra-low latency performance of dedicated DSP chips on more powerful and cost effective ARMs and X86 processors. Now, hardware manufacturers can develop exciting new products by taking advantage of the huge library of Rack Extensions already available, ranging from synthesizers and sampled instruments to creative effects and boutique studio processors. ELK’s flexibility also allows users to upgrade their instruments and audio processors with new plugins, connect their devices to external controllers and much more.

Michele Benincaso, Founder, MIND Music Labs, had this to say, “While a key value proposition of the ELK OS is support for all popular plugin formats, we are particularly excited about our close partnership with Propellerhead. The 'middleware' nature of their Rack Extension format means hundreds of titles from dozens of developers become instantly available to ELK customers.”

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