Building Audio Plugins

A look under the hood and getting started
Spring 2019 - Audio Tech Talk Series
April 16, 2019

What is a plugin?

How does an plugin work?

The Host

Buffer Size

The Buffer

Example gain plugin

Formats

  • VST - Virtual Studio Technology
  • VST3 - Virtual Studio Technology 3
  • AU - Audio Unit (Logic)
  • AAX - Avid Audio eXtension (ProTools)

Compute Hardware

Native vs. DSP

General Purpose CPU (Native)

Intel 2.8 GHz Core i7 (I7-4980HQ)

Specialized (DSP)

SHARC ADSP-21469

Comparison

Intel 2.8 GHz Core i7 (I7-4980HQ)

  • $623.00
  • 26.7 GFLOPS @ 2.80 GHz
  • 47.0 W
  • $23.33/GFLOPS
  • 0.57 GFLOPS/W

Analog Devices ADSP-21469

  • $24.48
  • 2.7 GFLOPS @ 450 MHz
  • 1.16 W
  • $9.06/GFLOPS
  • 0.60 GFLOPS/W

Building Plugins

Max

FAUST

MATLAB

JUCE

Final Talk - April 23

Vintage Audio Hardware

Tape delay, reverb, mics, and vinyl