Track inspector
Channel, plug-in chain, the signal path from the input through inserts, sends and bus to the master, plus automation and the AI's changes - organised in tabs. Resizable and collapsible.
Engineer Factory · The DAW
Record, edit, mix, export
The complete DAW for Windows and macOS: a stable audio engine, VST3 support, 24 built-in plug-ins, voice control and the AI Engineer for mixing and mastering. Your Engineer Factory access also lets you start right in your browser.
Version 3.27.4 · Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit · macOS 11 or newer
The desktop version with additional features - download with your Engineer Factory access.
Audio engine
Stable, even when a plug-in is not
The audio engine runs separately from the interface. If a plug-in crashes, the window and your unsaved project stay open - the engine restarts and tells you which plug-in caused it.
- Your audio device is detected automatically, with sensible defaults: 48 kHz and 128 samples where your device supports them
- You only see the settings your device really offers
- On Windows: Windows Audio (WASAPI) including a low-latency mode, plus DirectSound. On the Mac: Core Audio
- Playback keeps running, even with many tracks and plug-ins
- Latency display and test tone
- Keeps running when you switch audio devices
Workspace
Everything about a track in one place
Select a track and see everything that belongs to it on the left. Plug-ins open in their own windows, new tracks are set up in one step, and automation is edited right in the timeline.
Plug-in windows
Plug-ins open in their own windows inside the DAW: freely movable, several at once, minimisable - and they remember where you put them. Third-party plug-ins show their own interface right inside the DAW window, with presets, side-chain and bypass - and the window takes the size the plug-in asks for.
Tracks under control
Reorder by drag & drop, select several tracks at once, pick any track colour you like, set the level right in the track header, and reach everything else from the right-click menu.
A new track in one step
Name, type, mono or stereo, input, output and routing, and the position - all in one dialog.
Automation in the timeline
Volume, pan, mute, sends and plug-in parameters right under the track. Automation written by the AI Engineer is marked as AI and fully editable.
Voice control
“Hey Engine” - then say what you want
Engine operates the whole DAW: creating and naming tracks, adding and adjusting plug-ins, sends, buses and routing, levels, automation, tempo and project settings. You see what Engine understood first - only then does anything change.
- Recognition runs entirely on your computer; nothing is uploaded
- Off by default - you switch it on when you want it
- English and German freely mixed, in everyday words
- It carries out commands and answers questions briefly
- When something is unclear, Engine asks instead of guessing
Plug-in chain
Every plug-in in the order it processes
Each track shows its plug-ins as a compact chain, in processing order, and every plug-in opens in its own window. The 24 built-in EF plug-ins share one clear, consistent design.
- Open, move and minimise several plug-in windows at once
- Reorder plug-ins by drag & drop and insert one anywhere in the chain
- Presets in every plug-in: factory presets, and your own saved, renamed and deleted - plus the presets and programs of VST3 plug-ins
- An AI Assistant button measures the signal and lays out 3-5 fitting variants as cards: press and hold to audition, click to apply
- Find plug-ins by search, category, vendor, favourites or recently used
Four controls on every slot
B
Bypass
B takes the plug-in out of the signal - smoothly, without clicks.
Alt + B
Switch off
Alt+click on B switches the plug-in off completely: it uses no CPU, and its settings are kept.
N
Normalize
N matches the loudness before and after the plug-in, so you hear what it really does - not just that it is louder.
0–100 %
Signal fader
Blend dry and wet from 0 to 100 % - in time even with plug-ins that add latency, and automatable.
Listen modes
Hear exactly what is at stake: a single EQ band, the side-chain signal, the effect alone - or only what the plug-in is taking away.
Bypass the whole chain
One click on the track takes every plug-in out of the signal, and each one keeps its settings. In one moment you hear what your processing really brings.
Side-chain
Side-chain between tracks
Let one track control a plug-in on another - the kick drives the compressor on the bass, for example. The source only controls the plug-in; you do not hear it through the key.
- Side-chain input on the EF Compressor, EF Gate and EF De-Esser
- Works with the side-chain inputs of VST3 plug-ins
- Taken pre or post fader
- Protection against feedback loops
- An overview of all side-chain routings, and a label such as “SC: Kick” in the chain and the mixer
Everything stays in time
Latency compensation works automatically on every signal path - inserts, sends, buses and side-chains. For recording there is a low-latency monitoring mode.
A missing plug-in never blocks your project
Missing, unlicensed or faulty plug-ins are skipped - no pop-ups, no crash - and your project still opens. A small status shows which plug-ins are unavailable, with “Try again”.
Import & template
Your files become a ready project
Drop your audio files into a project. Engineer Factory asks whether to build a mixing template from them, recognises what is in each file, suggests the song sections and creates a ready project.
- Recognises vocals - including lead, double, ad-lib and feature -, drums, bass, music and other
- Suggests the song sections and detects the tempo
- Sorts the tracks into folders, creates only the buses that are needed and colours everything
- You review and edit every assignment before anything is created
- Later you simply drop more files in
- Mark a feature artist - or import without a template
What the DAW does
Everything listed here is part of the current version.
Recording & editing
Record audio and MIDI, pick the best take, edit without losing anything.
- Audio and MIDI recording with count-in, metronome and punch in/out
- Loop recording with takes - choose the best take for each clip
- Non-destructive editing: your recordings are never overwritten
- Move, trim, split, duplicate, slip, copy and paste clips
- Select several clips - Shift for a range, Ctrl to add one; fades, splitting, moving, duplicating, gain, mute and deleting then act on all of them, as a single undo step
- Clip gain, fades and crossfades
- Clips show a stereo file with two channels and a mono file with one; drop a stereo file on a mono track and the DAW asks whether the track stays mono or becomes stereo
- A magnet button that switches snapping to the grid on and off (triplets included) - fades and time selections snap too, and Alt switches it off for one gesture; plus markers, zoom and a loop range you can grab at both ends
- Every tool has its own mouse cursor - and the cursor also shows what the spot under it does: clip edge, fade corner or loop
- Audio, instrument, bus, folder and master tracks - no fixed track limit
- New tracks in one step: name, type, mono/stereo, input, output and position
- Drop audio files in - and let a ready mixing template be built from them
- Track order by drag & drop, multi-select, and any track colour you like
- Mute, solo, record arm, input monitoring, polarity and the level right in the track header
- A right-click menu on every track
- Low-latency monitoring while recording
MIDI
Piano roll, quantize and a built-in synth - so you hear something right away.
- Piano roll with draw, erase and select tools
- Velocity editing
- Quantize, legato and transpose
- Fold view and note preview
- MIDI file import
- Built-in synth: an instrument track plays instantly
Mixer & routing
Faders, sends, buses, side-chain and loudness metering on the master.
- Fader, pan and inserts on every channel
- Track inspector with the complete signal path: input, track, inserts, sends, bus, master
- Sends, pre or post fader
- Buses and flexible routing
- Solo keeps the signal path audible
- Level meters on every channel and a volume control right in the track header
- Loudness metering on the master: LUFS, true peak and correlation - live in the transport bar, measured on the last signal, after the master chain
- Side-chain: one track controls a plug-in on another
Automation
Volume, pan, mute, sends and plug-in parameters - right in the timeline.
- Automation lanes right in the timeline: volume, pan, mute, send level and plug-in parameters
- Read, touch, latch and write modes
- Automation written by the AI Engineer is marked as AI and fully editable
- Automation stays in time, even with plug-in latency
Plug-ins
VST3 support with presets, latency compensation and a safe plug-in scan.
- VST3 plug-ins with automatic latency compensation on every signal path
- A safe plug-in scan: a faulty plug-in cannot bring it down - and very large plug-in packages are scanned completely
- Presets in every plug-in: factory presets, and your own saved, renamed and deleted - plus the presets and programs of VST3 plug-ins
- An AI Assistant button in every compatible plug-in: it measures the signal and lays out 3-5 fitting variants as cards with an icon and a short name - press and hold a card to hear it in A/B, click it to apply it as an AI step
- Listen modes in the built-in plug-ins: a single EQ band, the side-chain signal, the effect alone, or only what is being removed
- Plug-in chain with drag & drop, bypass, switch-off, loudness matching and dry/wet - a plug-in you put into the chain opens right away, and one click bypasses a track's whole chain
- Loudness matching (N) on a slot starts switched off and stays one click away - so a limiter or a mastering chain really does raise the level
- Copy, cut and paste insert plug-ins and sends - by right-click or Ctrl+C/X/V, from one track to another too; the copy is a new instance and keeps the settings and the state
- Copy, paste or replace a track's whole plug-in chain - from the chain, the mixer's insert rack or the track menu, onto another track too; pasting adds the chain, replacing takes the place of the old one - both are one undo step
- Third-party plug-ins show their own interface right inside the DAW window, with presets, side-chain and bypass - and the window takes the size the plug-in asks for
- Plug-in browser with search, categories, favourites and recently used
- 24 built-in plug-ins included, each in its own freely movable window
- Missing or unlicensed plug-ins are skipped - your project still opens
- VST2 and AU are not supported
Export
WAV, FLAC, OGG Vorbis and MP3. Normalised to your loudness target.
- WAV (16-bit, 24-bit or 32-bit float), FLAC, OGG Vorbis and MP3 (320, 256, 192 or 128 kbps, or V0)
- Sample-rate conversion and dither
- Normalise to a loudness target or a true-peak value - never above -1 dBTP
- Reverb tails ring out in the export
- Export tracks as separate files
Projects & safety
Safe saving, automatic backups, autosave and crash recovery.
- Choose where a project is saved when you create it - every project gets its own Mixdown folder, and exports go there by default
- A new project starts right away with a tempo already set - it is no longer asked for when the project is created
- Safe saving that never leaves a half-written project behind
- Automatic backups of earlier versions
- Autosave and crash recovery
- Mix versions: keep states of your mix, compare them and restore them
- Recent projects at a glance
- Imported audio can be copied into the project folder
- Undo and redo for all edits
Workflow
A command bar, voice control, familiar shortcuts and a reference track to compare against.
- Command bar (Ctrl+K) and keyboard shortcuts throughout
- An “Actions” menu next to Save: new project, open, save, save as, audio settings, keyboard shortcuts, rescan plug-ins and favourite plug-ins
- A button next to the tempo measures the tempo from the beat of the session and offers it to you - you can also ask for it in the chat or by voice
- Voice control “Engine” - off by default, with recognition running on your computer
- Shortcut presets for Engineer Factory, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Cubase and FL Studio
- Every keyboard shortcut can be customised
- Reference track with its own Play and A/B switching while playing - in time with the song, without a click
- AI mastering with the reference as its sound target: loudness, tonal balance, dynamics and stereo image
- Whole passages, typed or spoken: “copy the hook to the next chorus” - the DAW finds the track, the passage and the next section of that kind and copies it aligned to whole bars; for hook, verse, bridge, drop, breakdown, intro and outro
- Every longer AI run has a Cancel button - AI Mix, AI Master, Mix + Master, instructions, Mix Radar and the plug-in assistant stop at once, and changes already applied stay
AI Mixing & AI Mastering
Built in: the AI Engineer, Mix Radar and CopyFX
AI Mixing, AI Mastering and Mixing + Mastering are part of the DAW and included in every access, in your browser as in the desktop DAW. The desktop DAW adds Mix Radar, the mix versions and CopyFX, which brings your vocals closer to the sound of a reference. The AI Engineer measures your tracks once, mixes and masters in fourteen steps, and you shape the result: Soft, Moderate, Aggressive, Quick Controls, A/B - undo per step or for the whole run.
See AI Mixing & MasteringSystem requirements
- Desktop DAW: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) or macOS 11 or newer (Apple Silicon and Intel)
- Desktop DAW: an audio device via Windows Audio (WASAPI) or DirectSound, on the Mac via Core Audio
- In the browser: a current Google Chrome on a computer
- An account with an Engineer Factory access
- An internet connection for signing in and checking your access
- The desktop DAW checks your access regularly; after that a limited offline period is possible
- VST3 plug-ins (desktop DAW) are optional
Current version
Engineer Factory Version 3.27.4
14 October 2026
What is in Engineer Factory today
Record & edit
- Audio and MIDI recording
- Non-destructive editing with fades and crossfades
- Edit several clips at once, a magnet button for the grid
- Track colours, track order by drag & drop, multi-select
- A loop range you grab at both ends, a right-click menu on every track
- Piano roll with quantize
Import & template
- Drop audio files in - and let a mixing template be built from them
- Recognises vocals, drums, bass, music and more, suggests song sections and detects the tempo
- Sorts into folders, creates only the buses needed and colours everything
- More files can simply be added later
- You review and edit everything - or import without a template
Mix
- Mixer with buses and sends
- Track inspector with the complete signal path
- Automation lanes right in the timeline
- A level per track, and loudness live in the transport bar
- Real side-chain routing and automatic latency compensation
Plug-ins
- VST3 support and 24 built-in plug-ins
- Presets for every plug-in: factory presets and your own
- An AI Assistant button in the plug-in: 3-5 variants as cards, hold to audition
- Listen modes: a single EQ band, the side-chain or the effect alone
- Bypass a track's whole chain in one click
- Copy and paste inserts and sends, from one track to another too
- Copy, paste or replace the whole plug-in chain, onto another track too
- Third-party plug-ins with their own interface right inside the DAW window
AI Engineer
- AI Mixing, AI Mastering and Mixing + Mastering
- Analyse, a short list of changes, apply - details only if you want them
- Mix + Master in about a minute: measure once, fourteen steps, check once
- Soft, Moderate or Aggressive, a blend between them and quick controls for mix and master
- Problems fixed at the cause, not covered up on the master
- A/B against the original, the AI mix and the AI master - and undo for the whole run
- CopyFX: match your vocal to a reference
- AI Beat Creator: a whole beat from style, tempo, key and mood, or one part at a time - edited, previewed and created as tracks
- Cancel any longer run at once - without losing what has been applied
Voice control “Engine”
- “Hey Engine” - then say what you want
- Operates tracks, plug-ins, parameters, sends, buses, levels, automation and tempo
- Shows what it understood first - you apply or cancel
- Recognition runs on your computer, off by default
- English and German freely mixed; it asks when something is unclear
- Copy whole passages: “copy the hook to the next chorus” - the song form is measured, not guessed
Mix Radar, versions & history
- A live overview of low end, masking, vocal clarity and dynamics
- Stereo image, headroom, clipping and resonances - measured on the real mix
- A fitting fix for every problem
- Save mix versions, compare them in A/B and restore them
- “What changed” - and undo only the AI's changes
- Mix Memory learns the way you work and offers it
Audio, workflow & access
- Automatic device detection with sensible defaults
- The audio engine runs apart from the interface - a plug-in crash does not take your project with it
- Shortcut presets for Engineer Factory, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Cubase and FL Studio
- An “Actions” menu for the project, audio settings, shortcuts and plug-ins
- Export to WAV, FLAC, OGG Vorbis and MP3
- Access per account; the desktop DAW with device activation and limited offline use
- AI improvement data only with your consent
Download the desktop DAW
For Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) and macOS 11 or newer. You need your Engineer Factory access. Rather not install anything? Start right in your browser.
Version 3.27.4 · Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit · macOS 11 or newer
The desktop version with additional features - download with your Engineer Factory access.