State of Music Technology

[sven hauck]

Jesse, what do you think of the state of music technology as it is today, particularly native types of effects, synthesizers, mixing tools vs. their dsp counterparts. What do you like from each and why?

Thanks.

[Medway]

I think we're in a very nice state at the moment. Plugins have come a long way. For me the native vs dsp debate is pretty simple. I appreciate the convenience of native as you have one less thing to worry about, especially when you need to install on a laptop etc... For dsp the biggest advantage I find is the availbility of no latency monitering. When recording vocals this is very nice to have for setting up a moniter mix. When working with a dsp based DAW like Pro Tools the extra stability due to not having to worry about cpu spikes is also welcome.

It's been said a million times before but of course native systems are catching up powerwise. But at the moment there are plugins made for some of these dsp system you can't find elsewhere, so that in itself can be a reason to choose such an option.

Jesse

[sven hauck]

In the recent past native synths or effects that run on a computer's main processor were written by the programmers so as to conserve CPU cycles in order to allow more voices/performance out of the device, sacrificing some of the sound quality for operating stability.

Have we reached a state where CPU cores are now fast enough to make the native products capable of performance once thought to only exist within the realm of dedicated DSP cards?

I use a hybrid system that has both, and one system fills in the gaps of the other.

[Medway]

Generally I would say yes that current CPUs negate the 'need' for DSP.

It also depends on what you are modelling. Non-linear distortions and complex synth modulation effects seem to be the area where a lot of power is needed.