The FPGA Audio Platform Behind Spira

When we started working on the concept of a pedal effect based on a Shepard glissando, one of the first things we needed to decide was how many filters would be necessary (or ideal) in its parallel filter bank. This vision, fully realized in the Spira filter modulation pedal, led us to design for up to a maximum of 24 bandpass filters and a maximum slope of 18 dB per octave.

That’s a lot of processing, and we knew we needed a platform to deliver that kind of power with minimal latency. So we are excited to be debuting our FPGA signal processing platform, which makes Spira possible.

For my more technical readers, I’ve gone deeper into the details in a separate tech article. Please feel free to jump over there and get a better under-the-hood look at our experience developing for an FPGA stack.

In this post, here is the news I think everyone will be excited about. Our work on Spira has shown us that the next generation of hardware can be faster, more powerful, and simply do more. With Spira, I think we’ve just scratched the surface. I’m excited about what comes next, and I hope you will be too. I also think a shift is underway throughout the industry, and this isn’t just about what we are doing at Korora Audio.

There have been some interesting announcements recently for products using FPGA in synthesizers, studio gear, and other larger and more expensive products. That seems like a natural place for the wave to start, in products with overall greater processing demands. But we’ve seen firsthand that the numbers now make sense for smaller products at a lower price point. We are excited about the future and the potential for smaller, portable, and price competitive products like Spira.