Blackmagic Design Fairlight PCIe Audio Accelerator

Features

The Blackmagic Design Fairlight PCIe Audio Accelerator is a powerful PCIe audio card that extends DaVinci Resolve with professional real-time audio processing for high-end post-production, broadcast, and immersive audio workflows. The card supports massive track counts, extensive bussing, surround formats, and advanced plug-in processing with ultra-low latency.

Thanks to support for professional MADI connectivity, 3D audio formats, and extensive monitoring capabilities, this accelerator is designed for the most demanding studio, broadcast, and mixing environments.

• Supports up to 2,000 audio tracks with ultra-low latency

• 256 buses and 512 bus elements

• Up to 128 recording channels simultaneously

• 64-channel MADI input/output via BNC

• Support for 44.1, 48, 96, and 192 kHz

• 32-bit floating point audio processing

• Compatible with Resolve FX, VST, and Audio Units plug-ins

• Support for surround and immersive audio formats up to 26.0

• Flexible monitoring with support for 16 speaker configurations

• Half-length PCIe x4 design for easy integration

Operation

The Fairlight PCIe Audio Accelerator processes audio tasks in real-time within DaVinci Resolve and Fairlight workflows. The card relieves the system during heavy audio projects and enables extensive mixing, routing, and processing functionality with minimal latency.

The accelerator supports:

• large numbers of audio tracks

• extensive busing

• real-time plug-in processing

• surround and immersive audio mixing

• complex monitoring workflows

Additionally, the card can be connected to the optional Fairlight Audio Interface for extensive analog and digital audio integration and professional synchronization.

Application

The Fairlight PCIe Audio Accelerator is ideal for:

• Film and television post-production

• Broadcast audio workflows

• Immersive audio and surround mixing

• Major music productions

• Professional recording and mixing studios

• High-end DaVinci Resolve systems

• Cinema and Dolby Atmos workflows

• Complex live recording setups

Limits

• Requires a compatible DaVinci Resolve Fairlight system

• Requires an available PCIe x4 slot

• No standalone audio interface functionality

Key features

Professional audio performance

Supports real-time audio processing for complex productions with:

• up to 2000 mono audio tracks

• 256 buses

• 512 bus elements

• 128 recording channels

Powerful MADI integration

Via the integrated 75-ohm BNC MADI connectors, the card supports up to 64 simultaneous audio channels in both input and output at 48 kHz.

Additionally, the accelerator supports synchronization via:

• Word clock

• AES

• MADI

• HD Tri-sync

• Reference video

Extensive channel processing

Each audio track features extensive processing capabilities, including:

• 6-band EQ

• 4-band clip-based EQ

• Compressor

• Expander/gate

• Limiter

• Elastic wave time warping

• Sample rate conversion

Supported per channel:

• Up to 6 plugins per channel

• Up to 6 clip-based plug-ins

Compatible plug-ins:

• Resolve FX

• VST

• Audio Units

Immersive audio & surround support

Supports virtually all modern audio formats:

• Mono

• Stereo

• 5.1

• 7.1

• 3D audio formats

• Configurations up to 26.0

In addition, the system supports:

• Up to 16 speaker sets

• Flexible fold-up/fold-down processing

• Optional B-Chain processor for cinema installations up to 64 speakers

FlexBus architecture

The FlexBus structure offers extensive flexibility for routing and mixing:

• Up to 512 mono bus elements

• Freely configurable bus formats

• Up to 10 sends per channel or bus

• Independent level control

• Post-fader sends

• Automatic delay compensation

Monitoring & mixing

For monitoring, the system supports:

• Up to 4 simultaneous sources

• Internal and external audio feeds

• Direct out

• In-place solo

• VCA groups

• Extensive automation

All plug-ins can be fully automated via Fairlight.

Limits

• Requires a compatible DaVinci Resolve Fairlight system

• No standalone audio interface functionality

• No analog audio connections without the optional Fairlight Audio Interface

• No Dante, AES67, or Ravenna support

• No built-in network audio functionality

• No wireless connectivity

• No internal storage or recording functionality

• Requires an available PCIe x4 slot