I vaguely recall that sometime in the late 1990s I received an evaluation copy of a piece of software from Digidesign called DINR (Dynamic Intelligent Noise Reduction). At the time it was one of the earliest (if not the first) software plug-ins I ever encountered, and, to be honest, I didn’t get it.
DINR was developed for use in conjunction with Pro Tools software (I think version 4 back then), and marketed as a separate product. As I studied the documentation and learned how DINR was intended for use under the “host application,” I’m fairly certain that my eyes glazed over and my mind went adrift.
Why should I bother learning to use this? I already have plenty of audio processing hardware in my studio, including a single-ended noise reduction system that can surely do whatever this “plug-in” can do.
Such a novel idea only 10 or 12 years ago, plug-ins are now the nucleus of studio mixing and mastering — and are rapidly becoming the nucleus of live sound processing. We’ve seen the explosion of digital technology and software in live sound equipment, first with outboard processing, then system processing and mixing consoles. Now we are witnessing the move of source processing (i.e. your microphone and line inputs) from hardware boxes to software.
Hardware to Software
In most cases, the move away from hardware processing is clearly evident. Take, for example, the Yamaha M7CL console. There’s really no need for any outboard gear when using this desk as the centerpiece of a live sound system because just about any sort of audio processing you might need is built-in: EQ, comps and gates on every input channel, plenty of reverb and delay via the “virtual effect racks” and 31-band graphs for the outputs. If you intend to use the M7CL with a bi-amped or tri-amped system you’ll still need an external crossover because the console does not feature crossover functions (nor do most digital desks), but since the M7CL has 16 audio outputs, it’s possible that a software upgrade could be implemented to add these features in the future. Ditto for DiGiCo SD8 or Midas XL8 consoles, which feature all of the EQ and dynamics processing that you could possibly desire. In fact I think it’d be safe to say that just about every pro-level digital console has enough integrated processing to preclude the need for any outboard processing, with the exception of the crossover. So what’s the problem?
Well, just because we have enough processing doesn’t mean that it’s the particular processing that we want, or that we feel sounds best on our precious audio signals (and that’s not meant as a slam to any of the manufacturers mentioned). Every so often, I encounter a 4-channel gate from a certain manufacturer, and I’d rather have no gates than use this particular gate. Engineers have their preferences; some studio guys reach for an API 550 EQ for snare drum, but would rather use a Neve 1073 on a vocal.
The Need for Choices
We need to have choices when it comes to processing. For years we’ve had the option to easily patch a dbx 160X on the bass DI while using a Summit comp for the lead vocal. We need that in the digital realm. In some ways, the live sound industry is, right now, in a similar place as recording studios were during the late 1950s and early 1960s. These were the years when mixing consoles were used for basic routing and audio balancing. Many did not have built-in EQ or “insert” capabilities, and the studio’s engineers had to literally create and build outboard gear on a per-request basis. Most studios were not concerned with whether or not their EQ module could interface with the console in another studio. All they needed was the ability to apply EQ to a channel in their console. This sounds a lot like the current state of DSP built into digital consoles: yes, you get the EQ and comps, but you don’t get to choose which EQ and comps.
That is where the plug-in comes in. Engineers are willing to drop cash on a hardware compressor or EQ if we like the way it sounds. When we do so we are confident that we can interface that compressor with any analog mixing console we might encounter. But what about digital consoles? We have two problems here, the first being that many digital mixers don’t have analog insert points. Since we are usually connecting microphone-level signals into the desk, routing the mic from the stage into a compressor, then from the compressor into the digital desk is not going to work. (Remember, our microphone has to hit the mic preamp first so it can be boosted to line level. Most comps don’t have a mic input and will be looking for a line-level input). The other issue is that the processing on most digital consoles is system-specific. So if I like that EQ on the M7CL, I can’t use it on another mixer. Drag.
Toward a Common Standard
Digidesign and Waves are on-point in this area of live sound. Digidesign’s D-Show system accommodates a multitude of plug-ins from a variety of manufacturers, and Waves recently introduced a series of bundles that are D-Show compatible. So if you want to use that API EQ plug-in you can, but right now, you can only use it on a D-Show system. Ditto for other D-Show compatible plug-ins. We need the ability to use these plug-ins on any live digital mixing system so that — just like in our old analog world — we can port the plug-ins to whatever mixing “platform” we are using. Basically what we need is either a standardized live sound plug-in format, or for manufacturers to adopt the Digidesign plug-in format so that our software tools can be used with any digital system. Keep this in mind: if a digital mixing system is compatible with the “Digi” plug-in protocol, there’s a very good chance that you could literally copy the settings from the studio mix for the record over to the live version of that mix (though that may not work out sonically as well as you might think, and you’d need to get the permission of the studio mix engineer).
As with any other industry-wide standard, this will not come easily or quickly because manufacturers get weird when it comes to adopting standards (“Why should we adopt their standard?”) but the recording industry has already proved that this is smart business. The market for DAW plug-ins is huge due to the fact that most plug-ins can be used with recording software from a variety of manufacturers. It would be smart marketing for both the console manufacturers and the plug-in developers to move toward a common standard so they can all sell a ton of product. If a live engineer had confidence that they could purchase a plug-in and use it on any digital mixing system (or at least a variety thereof), they’d part with their hard-earned cash way more easily, and not worry so much about getting burned. Supply the tools. Let the user choose the platform. We’ll all win in the end.
