Update #4: my virtual WING (real firmware), now with WING Edit, the console’s own routing, and more headroom

Voices are muted in the demo and I renamed the buses, so no real names show. I recorded with OBS on the same PC again.

Quick recap: this is a software WING that runs the console’s own firmware (WING Rack 3.1.1), all four DSPs included, instead of a re-creation. The goal is still a virtual sound check at home: play a multitrack recording through the real WING processing on my PC, and mix it on the console’s own interface.

**What’s new since last time**

* **WING Edit works both ways.** PC → mixer and mixer → PC both stay connected now, meters included. The console sends its meters over UDP, and my network bridge was mishandling those packets. That’s fixed. * **The console itself runs faster than real time.** The console’s main processor and the front-panel controller now run at about 1.2× real time while the audio runs * **Outputs follow the console’s own routing.** I can map PC sound outputs to any of the console’s output sockets (local, aux, USB, card), and they play whatever the console routes there: buses, mains, matrices, or inputs patched straight through. The monitor bus, solo and the phones knob work too. * **The Rack’s front panel works.** The buttons, the screen knob and the fader knobs go through the panel’s own firmware, just like on the real Rack. * **The RTA works.** The EQ page shows the console’s own analyzer. * **One web page** for the screen, the patch page, the audio settings and the status.

**Speed**

Last time the DSPs used about 86 % of real time. Since then I’ve made the emulated DSP code a lot faster and cut out a lot of overhead between audio blocks:

* With just the four DSPs running (no console), they now need about 120 µs of every 167 µs audio block. That’s about 1.38× faster than real time. * With my full show live (all 16 FX slots, 32-track card playback, WING Edit connected), it’s about 139 µs of 167, so roughly 17 % spare.

**What’s still limited**

* It still needs a strong PC (Ryzen 7 8845HS, 8 cores): each DSP gets its own core. * When Windows Defender scans or another heavy program starts, I can still get short gaps. * Channel and output delays don’t work yet. From the WING service manual I found that the bus DSP has its own memory chip, which it uses for those delays, and I don’t emulate that yet. It’s next on the list. * The XMOS (USB audio) and the FPGA’s audio side still aren’t emulated. My own code moves the audio in and out of the DSPs where the FPGA would.

**What’s next**

* More speed: cheaper handling of the console’s messages to the DSPs, and faster DSP code (I estimate another 10–20 %). * Then hopefully running on less powerful PCs.