-
<p>
- 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.
</p>
<p>
number of tracks or busses in Ardour. This is a lot like doing some of the
processing with a chain of guitar pedals, then feeding the signal to an Aux In
port on a mixing console or an input port on a multi-effects digital
- pedalboard.
+ 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.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ 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.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ It's also possible to use the post-processing section to load plugins for room
+ correction or signal analysis (VU meters, spectrum analyzers etc.).
</p>
<h2>Adding I/O plugins</h2>