Barix added to its encoding family with MultiCoder M400 new low-latency, multi-format solution that can send audio streams to receive points in four different formats. To be officially introduced at ISE 2024 in Barcelona later this month, the new hardware device also adopts Barix’s next-generation FLEXA platform to enhance “buffering performance, application development and device prototyping among other benefits.”

For the MultiCoder M400, Barix says the enhanced buffering performance of the FLEXA platform eliminates all stream buffering within the device. This means that customers can encode audio into four formats, including OPUS, AAC+, PCM and 320KB mp3, and send multiple audio RTP/BRTP streams to receiving devices without delay while retaining exceptional quality.

Barix says these capabilities make the MultiCoder M400 a unique sibling to the company’s existing Instreamer IP audio encoders, which accommodate different use cases. For example, the Instreamer Classic supports more streaming protocols, ideal for live IP audio encoding for streaming applications while the Instreamer ICE is for organizations streaming solely to an Icecast server without latency concerns for online audio services. The MultiCoder M400’s greater CPU capacity also ensures “plenty of space for new features and applications, providing a stronger foundation for ongoing customization and development.”

The MultiCoder M400 is also the first Barix encoder to support high-efficiency AAC+ and OPUS codecs, allowing customers across a broad range of verticals in the ProAV and entertainment industries to send a greater number of streams within the same bandwidth, and at lower bit rates than lower-efficiency codecs.

The MultiCoder M400 pairs well with the recently introduced Exstreamer M400 for customers that want to use the AAC+ and/or OPUS formats for their audio streams. The device also pairs with legacy Exstreamer decoders, meaning that the MultiCoder M400 can serve all existing Exstreamer decoders across a large enterprise organization.