new HW/SW trend?

[Richard Zvonar <zvonar@zvonar.com>]

Although the recent NAMM show was not full of revolutionary new 
products there was some indication that a trend is developing that 
may redefine the topography of our systems.

Several manufacturers announced products that consist of a hardware 
audio processing component and a software programming and performance 
interface. Some of these are fully digital (CreamWare Noah and Roland 
VariOS) and at least one was largely analog (Waldorf AFB16). There is 
also a trend toward networking. Kurweil, Apogee, and Presonus all 
have products that incorporate mLAN; Digidesign, Mark of the Unicorn, 
and Metric Halo have Firewire audio interfaces. Steinberg has VST 
System Link, which allows a group of networked computers to function 
as a cohesive system. Akai has ak.Sys Control to network their 
equipment and to allow a computer running VST plug-ins to function as 
a piece of outboard gear.

I don't expect all these developments to congeal into one single 
methodology and topology, but it seems clear that many manufacturers 
realize that while most of their customers are using computers, the 
CPU resources are either inadequate or inappropriate to run all of 
the virtual instruments and effects plug-ins their customers want. 
Although today's computers are increasingly more powerful, and 
although DSP cards can be added to systems, it still represents a 
performance bottleneck. How many slots do you have in your computer?

The matter of "appropriate" hardware is also significant. As Dave 
Smith's Evolver demonstrates, analog circuits can do things some 
things better than digital (and vice versa) so combining the two 
makes good sonic, economic, and technical sense. Analog filters are 
much sought after and hard to reproduce convincingly with DSP, so why 
not use analog circuits as Waldorf has done with the AFB16?

I'll be interested to see if this trend continues, and if some degree 
of standardization develops.
-- 

______________________________________________________________
Richard Zvonar, PhD
(818) 788-2202
http://www.zvonar.com
http://RZCybernetics.com