Re: [linux-audio-dev] ardour, LADSPA, a marriage

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Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] ardour, LADSPA, a marriage
From: David Olofson (david_AT_gardena.net)
Date: Tue Nov 14 2000 - 12:16:44 EET


On Mon, 13 Nov 2000, Steve Harris wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 13, 2000 at 10:13:59AM -0500, Paul Barton-Davis wrote:
>
> [mixing]
>
> > Except that as David pointed out, with digital data, it *can't* be
> > done better externally ...
>
> I was refering to the control surface issues. Agreed you can have
> equivalent functionality on paper, but I like shoving sliders about.

Why should it make a difference where the signal processing is done?
You may hook up any kind of UI you like to a system, regardless if
it's built around a bunch of DSPs, or one or two G4 CPUs.

When software audio processing becomes a *real* alternative to
dedicated hardware (we already have the technica foundation to build
it on, and the software is already running, although not very
mature...), there will surely come more pure controller alternatives
for serious users.

(Real high end controllers are still kind of a niche product, as
sotware processing systems don't have the performance and
reliability, while the dedicated hardware systems usually come with
their own hardware user interfaces.)

> Plus my home computer is not going to equal the amount of horsepower my
> mixer can throw at things for a good few years.

Well, that depends on what kind of computer you get! ;-)

Seriously, I don't think the DSP/CPU gap is going to exist very much
longer. The Intel variants may not be quite as hot (yet), but PPC G4
AltiVec already seems to be pretty close to delivering real DSP
efficiency. The G5 or P-IV, maybe... Or the upcoming true 64 bit
archs.

Meanwhile, DSPs will have to resort to the same kind of solutions
that are now developing on CPUs, so I don't think they will manage to
stay ahead much longer - it just doesn't make sense to design "killer"
DSPs when you can use low-power versions of workstation CPUs just as
well.

(Low-power DSP are another matter, though. They operate on low
frequencies, and use very little power. They do provide
price/performance rations way beyond anything that comes in a PC or
workstation, but they don't deliver much *power*, and they only come
with very low clock rates, compared to what workstation CPUs use.
It's a totally different market.)

//David

.- M u C o S -------------------------. .- David Olofson --------.
| A Free/Open Source | | Audio Hacker |
| Plugin and Integration Standard | | Linux Advocate |
| for | | Open Source Advocate |
| Professional and Consumer | | Singer |
| Multimedia | | Songwriter |
`-----> http://www.linuxdj.com/mucos -' `---> david_AT_linuxdj.com -'


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