Lawo’s headline at IBC 2026 wasn’t a new console but software — and that says a lot about where broadcast is heading. In a world moving to audio over IP, value shifts from copper to firmware and orchestration. So the German maker focused its announcements on mc² software release 12.4, Power Core software package 10.0 and the HOME ecosystem that ties them together.
mc² 12.4: a real-time analyzer in the workflow
The most visible change for the operator is a real-time analyzer (RTA) built straight into the console surface. The engineer gets immediate visual feedback on the signal without reaching for an external tool: handy for chasing a resonance, checking spectral balance or diagnosing feedback live. Lawo also reworked the touchscreen ergonomics, with new zoom pop-ups that speed up access to channel controls.
The rest of 12.4 is about interoperability. The HOME API now lets mc² systems read and control third-party gear declared as “lives@HOME”, starting with DirectOut’s PRODIGY series. Add preset recall from an external Ember+ controller, sample-accurate delay adjustments for precise timing, and API-key authentication to secure machine-to-machine exchanges. Nothing spectacular in isolation, but a set of changes that smooths life in a multi-vendor gallery.
Power Core 10.0: EQ and a software flavour
Power Core, Lawo’s IP audio processing platform, moves to software package 10.0. The most concrete addition is a new six-band equalizer, with four fully parametric bands plus two filter bands, available on both the physical Power Core and the HOME Power Core app. That’s the other strong signal from this IBC: Lawo keeps offering its engines as pure software, running on standard IP infrastructure rather than a dedicated card. Package 10.0 also adds support for the OnAir Designer tool used to configure radio surfaces.
HOME at the centre, and a peek at 12.6
All of this converges on HOME, Lawo’s management and orchestration platform: device discovery, security, authentication and control across an IP media infrastructure. That layer is what let Radio France build a fully redundant all-IP backbone around Lawo for the Concert de Paris. Lawo also previewed the upcoming mc² 12.6, which pushes integration further: dynamic device assignment to mc² control systems, a new HOME mc² Control System app and browser-based mxGUI operation.
That logic — less fixed hardware, more orchestrated software — isn’t unique to Lawo. It ran through the whole show, from Calrec’s self-contained desk to virtualised engines, and it extends on the production side what hybrid stageboxes like the Lawo Edge One already do for transport. The company’s radio range wasn’t forgotten either, with a dedicated software update for its on-air surfaces.
My take
The built-in RTA is the kind of detail that never makes headlines but changes a night in the gallery: having the analysis in front of you, without juggling a third-party app, is less time and less fatigue. The real message sits elsewhere: Lawo is embracing a console where the hardware becomes an access point and the value lives in HOME and software. Opening up to third-party gear through the API is the right move, provided the compatible catalogue grows quickly. For a gallery investing over a ten-year horizon, that software trajectory is rather reassuring.
