[sdiy] [OT] I love physical modelling

[Adam Schabtach]

> >That's been my thought on other software.  There are a number of 
> >interesting things that have come out as VST plugins that I wish 
> >instead were available as a separate rackmount hardware 
> >module.  I wish 
> >those developers weren't so focussed only on the computers.
> 
> Amen to that.

That's a little bit like saying that you wished plumbers weren't so focused
only on the pipes in your house, isn't it? Maybe you'd like your plumber to
clean the contacts on your vintage synths also?  ;-)

I write plug-ins for a living, and I build synths as a hobby. I use both
hardware and software when I write music. I would _love_ to expand my
company's product line into hardware, but perhaps you've heard the phrase
"don't bite off more than you can chew"? It should be obvious that creating
hardware products is a very different business, and porting an existing VST
plug-in to an FPGA isn't just a matter of changing a couple of compiler
flags and recompiling. It's hard enough for a small company to keep up with
changes like AudioUnits, Vista, and VST3. Adding hardware versions would
more than double the R&D costs for each product. Would that be compensated
for by the additional income generated by the hardware products? I don't
know. I'd guess that such things are pretty hard to predict, particularly in
a marketplace which, generally speaking, is moving more and more towards
software. 

So, speaking strictly for myself as the co-owner and CTO of one tiny plug-in
company: we don't do hardware not because we don't want to, we don't do it
because we can't. There aren't enough hours in the day and dollars in the
account.

Now, if someone were interested in investing a large sum of money in my
company to start a hardware division, well, we can talk...   :-)

> So why bother just because of a handfull of nuts who insist 
> of having "real" hardware at their hands?

I realize you're being sarcastic, but yes, that's kind of the point. It's
hard to know whether the investment necessary for creating hardware products
would actually pay off in the end. If it didn't, it would probably sink the
company. Larger companies obviously have more flexibility in this regard,
and Waves is one example of a software plug-in company that has created
hardware versions of some of their products. Antares is another. Have they
found that this was a worthwhile investment? I don't know. I do know that
they haven't created hardware versions of _all_ of their products, so
perhaps something can be inferred from that.

In any case, it's all rather a moot point because there are several hardware
products on the market that run [many, but not all] VST plug-ins. If you
really want a VST plug-in running in a separate rackmount hardware module,
buy a Muse Receptor.

--Adam

--
Adam Schabtach
Audio Damage, Inc.