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Myth No. 8: Hardware sounds better than software. Defining an audio process as a mathematical equation is essentially what digital hardware and software is all about. Whether you’re using a synth or effects processor with dedicated hardware, an algorithm running on a DSP chip, or a plug-in on a Pentium or PowerPC, it’s still just a numbers game.
The thing that creates sound quality in a digital synth or effect is the math itself, or the algorithm. As long as the math stays the same, it can run on custom hardware, off-the-shelf DSPs, Pentiums, or PowerPCs and still produce the same output. To look at it another way, the method that converts the math to a form you can use (a software plug-in or a hardware box, for example) is unimportant; only the math matters (see Fig. 7).
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FIG. 7: Waves’ powerful L2 Ultramaximizer is available as a software plug-in and as a standalone hardware device. Both offer comparable features and audio quality (click image for larger view). |
On the technical side, you may not always be able to run exactly the same math on different hardware. You have two common approaches to performing math on computers: one is called fixed point, and the other is called floating point. Without getting overly specific, I’ll just say that the same mathematical operation, such as adding two numbers, may produce slightly different results depending on which method you use.
Many popular DSPs, such as the Motorola 56000 series, perform only fixed-point math; others, such as the SHARC from Analog Devices, practice floating-point math. Desktop processors, such as the PowerPC and Pentium, can handle both calculation types but, in some cases, may do one better than the other. As a result, it may not always be practical—or even possible—to perform the same math on two different machines. In that case, the algorithm designer must write the algorithm specifically for each processor. With careful work, the algorithm may sound exactly alike on each machine, even to a golden ear. In some cases, however, slight differences may remain.
Technical issues aside, there are also practical reasons why hardware and software products may sound different. The underlying algorithms of two products may be very different, for example. If you compare a hardware product from one manufacturer with a software product from another, chances are that the algorithms will not be the same.
The factory presets are important factors in synthesizers’ and effects processors’ overall sound. Without good sound design, even the best algorithm may not sing as sweetly as it could. Conversely, talented sound designers can sometimes make a mediocre algorithm sound surprisingly good. So even if the two products’ underlying algorithms are similar, the talent of the factory sound designers can make all the difference in the world, and that varies from one factory to another.
There is no theoretical reason why hardware should sound different from software. Any differences you encounter are most likely the results of comparing apples and oranges, because few products are offered in identical hardware and software forms.
Dan Phillips is a Bay Area–based composer and producer, and he is product manager at Korg R&D. Check out his Web site at www.danphillips.com. Thanks to Andy Leary, Rudy Trubitt, and Benny Rietveld for their assistance with this article.
Reprinted with permission from
Magazine, May, 2001© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved
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