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