+ - I/O plugins provide an way to do pre- and post-processing outside the normal - session. Pre-plugins run before Ardour does any processing, post-plugins run - after Ardour has done all processing. The rationale is to provide a relatively - lightweight pre-/post-processing workflow as compared to using busses. + I/O plugins are a way to process audio outside the normal Ardour session or + connect to sources typically unavailable in a DAW, such as outputs of NDI + devices. Pre-plugins run before Ardour does any processing, post-plugins run + after Ardour has done all processing.
@@ -15,6 +14,33 @@ pedalboard.
++ The rationale for pre-processing with I/O plugins is that it's a more + lightweight way to do it as compared to busses. Much of that is because busses + have automatable parameters such as fader and panner positions, as well as + plugins' parameters. Evaluating parameter automation (even when there's none) + adds additional load to the CPU. However I/O plugins are not automatable, so + there's no evaluation happening. As far as Ardour is concerned, they are + almost like JACK audio server clients running alongside Ardour. +
+ ++ Another use case would be loading an instance of the NDI Input plugin as a + pre-processing plugin to be able to capture and mix sources from NDI devices, + or loading an instance of the NDI Output plugin to send audio from Ardour over + IP to a receiver for broadcasting. +
+ +
+ + It's also possible to use the post-processing section to load plugins for room + correction or signal analysis (VU meters, spectrum analyzers etc.). +
+
@@ -75,3 +101,15 @@
+ On the Audio Connections dialog, the ports of pre- + and post-process plugins are listed on dedicated tabs + (I/O Pre and I/O Post), + separately from all other ports. +
+ +
+