https://audio.dev/ -- @audiodevcon​
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ESP32-based Open-Source Audio Platform, CTAG-TBD - Robert Manzke - ADCx Copenhagen 2026
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CTAG-TBD is an open-source embedded audio platform for low-latency real-time DSP, rapid algorithm prototyping, and deployment in Eurorack and standalone musical instruments. Developed within the Creative Technologies Arbeitsgruppe at HAW Kiel, the project builds on earlier ESP32-based audio work and provides a modular C++ architecture with dynamically loadable plugins and a simulator for hardware-independent development.

The platform explores the practical limits of commodity microcontrollers for deterministic audio processing. Implementations across ESP32, ESP32-S3, and ESP32-P4 address constraints including shared FPU resources, cache stalls during flash access, limited IRAM, PSRAM bandwidth, memory fragmentation, and cross-core interference. TBD’s real-time architecture isolates non-deterministic services such as the web UI, hardware control, and API handling from the audio path by assigning a dedicated core to DSP execution and using queues, atomics, IRAM-resident code, and custom arena allocation for robust runtime plugin management.

Recent ESP32-P4-based prototypes demonstrate substantially improved computational and memory performance, dual-core floating-point execution, SD-card-hosted UI assets, and stable sub-millisecond audio latency with dynamically loadable DSP modules. Combined with a CMake-based workflow, JSON-defined interfaces, an integrated DSP library, and VCV Rack support, CTAG-TBD provides a practical research and development platform for embedded audio, open musical instrument design, and musician-centered interaction.
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Robert Manzke

Robert is Professor of Computer Science at HAW Kiel, where he focuses on ubiquitous computing, creative technologies, and music technology. With a background in electrical engineering, DSP, and a Ph.D. in computational imaging sciences, his work bridges signal processing, algorithm development, and interactive embedded systems. His lifelong interest in synthesis and electronic music led him to found CTAG, the Creative Technologies Arbeitsgruppe at HAW Kiel, in 2013 as a university R&D group for student-driven projects in the domain of technology for creativity.
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Special thanks to the ADC Team:

Bence Kovacs
Martin Swanholm
Sophie Carus
Derek Heimlich
Andrew Kirk
Bobby Lombardi
Tom Poole
Ralph Richbourg
Jim Roper
Jonathan Roper
Prashant Mishra

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