Virtual modular in…hardware modular. I’m confused. 
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Dan posted more detailed info over on MW:
The Meta Module is an all-purpose module that lets you patch together various virtual modules to create a “Meta” module.
It’s a macro controller for a custom patch that you create. It’s a hardware player for VCV Rack patches. It’s a preset manager. It’s a versatile utility module that lets you save and recall complex functions which you re-use from patch to patch, so you can focus on the more interesting parts of your music. It’s a DSP development platform.
Patches are typically created on the computer using VCV Rack and then transferred to the Meta Module over USB, SD Card or WiFi. In case you don’t have a computer handy, you can create and modify patches using the Meta Module itself. The Meta Module can run hundreds of virtual modules and store/recall thousands of patch files.
There are 12 knobs, 8 audio or CV outputs, 1 USB MIDI jack, 6 audio/CV inputs, and 2 gate inputs, all of which which can be mapped to any of the virtual knobs and jacks within the patch. You can map a physical knob to multiple virtual knobs and assign a different response range for each knob (including inverting the motion). The audio/CV jacks are DC-coupled and run at 48kHz, 24bit and can be mapped to any of the jacks in the patch. You can plug a MIDI controller into the USB jack to control knobs and jacks.
Computational power: It uses a dual-core Cortex-A7 running at 800Mhz, with 512MB of fast DDR3 RAM. It runs bare-metal without an OS, so startup time and latency are blazingly fast. It can handle somewhat complex patches, but of course there are limits. For example, we recently ran a Meta Module patch with four physical model Djembe modules, stereo reverb, six clock dividers/multipliers, some FX, and a mixer, and had plenty of processing headroom.
We are still adding new modules. The 4ms modules will be available as well as Befaco’s modules and some Mutuable Instruments clones. We’re adding the HetrickCV and Nonlinear Circuit modules now, and more are planned. If you are a developer running your own VCV Rack Modules or custom DSP code on the Meta Module is fairly easy.
Release date: 2024; exact date and price to be announced.
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Sounds pretty insane. So they made a Rack-OS, hat’s off. If they can make this work without power going through the roof I’ll be amazed and very impressed. Something to look out for, could be pretty spectacular if they actually pull it off.
I’m just realizing - since the 4ms modules will be availble in it, that might mean that the 4ms modules would be coming to VCV Rack, which would be pretty exiting to say the least.
Link for those who want to read along in the Muffwiggler forum:
https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4027786#p4027786
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Is this a Eurorack module we want in VCV?
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Now there’s an official thread on modwiggler (the previous thread was from an unofficial photo)
https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=277469
The thread also confirms other 4ms modules are coming to VCV Rack
And a sneak peak page on the 4ms website
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Holy cow batman they’re serious. And 4ms modules coming to Rack, that’s pretty awesome. I look forward to playing with Ensemble Oscillator and SWN in my patches 
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They did say “almost all”, so fingers crossed.
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I was looking for a way to use one (or a few) of Rack’s sequencers without having to work with a laptop, this looks like a solution for that.
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luckily in VCV Rack there’s the Headless Mode, it’s been a while since I don’t use it, but I remember that it’s more CPU efficient than the standard one with the graphics on. You just need a controller and your laptop can lay somewhere with the lid closed
btw I already like this device, it’s a very good idea, and I hope it can manage pretty heavy patches
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You are right, but it’s still a computer, and I would like to perform without one. Have seen too many computer failures on stage.
I wonder how they are going to deal with shipping non-commercial assets in this commercial product, though.
Reminds me of DISTRHO - Cardinal Mini - Plugins - BETA - MOD Audio Forum
Similar ideas - running a subset of Rack modules in a modular environment on real hardware.
The question of non-commercial use is a good one, but easily work around - just pick modules and assets that do not have that restriction. The use of VCV component library still falls under non-commercial clause though… so something for VCV to see with them
As far as I can tell the situation is the same as running on a PC:
- Rack (Free) on PC: Software environment is Open Source, hardware platform is commercial.
- Rack modules on 4ms Meta: Software environment is Open Source, hardware platform is commercial.
Read the announcements. The entire 4ms Meta software stack is Open Source.
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Opensource does not mean “not commercial”, read the software licenses.
CC-NC is specifically not compatible with FOSS licensing, this has been discussed endlessly already.
Shipping such artwork with commercial products is problematic.
VCV feels they can get away with this on Rack2Pro because they technically don’t ship the modules with the plugin directly.
Perhaps the same would apply here, where the artwork would only get packaged once the user prepares their patch for the 4MS module.
It’s definitely a grey area to work in.
Although this runs on a baremetal system and afaik doesn’t use the Rack engine under the hood (if I remember my conversation with 4MS at Superbooth correctly).
Dan is explicitly asking permission for any modules included in the official firmware (which will be open-source on day one). Even though I had been working on integrating HetrickCV for the past few weeks, he still double-checked with me before including it in the announcement. Additionally, even though Andrew at Nonlinear Circuits had previously given me permission to MIT license the NLC emulations, Dan still had me reach out again to show Andrew the Meta Module and ask if it was okay before including the emulations on there. Even though the license allowed it, it’s a different request asking for them to be included on hardware.
Other VCV developers have reached out to Dan to ask if their work can be included. He’s definitely pursuing a route of approval and permission instead of just adding whichever module is available. To my knowledge, nothing CC-NC is on here.
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This is all great news–technological and sociolegal. Thanks for the updates (and your participation), @trickyflemming! I wouldn’t have expected anything else from 4ms but it’s still good to hear. Very excited about this not just as a module but as another driver for and long term health indicator of the Rack ecosystem.
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My main question to you is: why is this relevant?
Explicit waiver for NC/ND is tricky imo, but just want to make people aware that adding “random” modules will not be possible (hope we agree on this?)
But sure, if these specific modules don’t “suffer” from the CC licensing problems then that is great!