Andreas, I want to thank you for bringing this up. This is very
important work. Interest in open-source audio is going to grow
DRAMATICALLY within the pro audio industry in the next year or so, and
it will be quickly squelched if basic principles ( like smooth gain
adjustments given a wide range of inputs ) are ignored.
Personally I find many of the plugins, particularly the filters and
compressor/gates, to be nearly unusable and certainly not in the same
class as commercial offerings. Why should this be true?
Commercial developers have the advantages of full-time development,
years of focused experience, and expensive test equipment. Open-source
developers have the advantage of peer review. I hope that your study is
just the first in a series of highly critical looks at the open-source
offerings, and that it results in a definition and refinement of the
"best practices" that are already known by professional developers.
For our part, Harrison has taken an interest in Ardour and has actively
guided development towards professional needs for the last 6 months or
so. You can expect to see more industry involvement as the benefits of
"Free sofware" become obvious to the pro audio world. 10 years of
proprietary development has resulted in the stagnation of our industry.
For example, there are certain limitations: bit depth, file
compatibility, and inter-app communication, that cannot be lifted given
the current audio software business environment. These limitations are
NOT imposed by Free software like Ardour. Open Source and/or Free
software is the only avenue open for true innovation and improvement in
sound quality.
Please continue to look critically at the available plugins, and
continue to raise these issues before there is an influx of professional
interest. Open-source plugins may never sound as good as the best
commercial offerings ( *cough* Harrison *cough* ), but they shouldn't be
allowed to sound BAD, given the wealth of knowledge available in the LAD
group.
-Ben Loftis
www.harrisonconsoles.com
