[gmpi] Re: Decision Time: 7.1.2

> i don't agree (as a host author).
> 
> buffers are not passed only between plugins. they carry data from host
> to plugin to host to plugin and back to the host and so forth. ardour
> (for example) has pre and post fader plugins, plus the potential for
> master out-only or control out-only plugins. in between each of those
> zones are host-implemented gain stages and panning. that means that
> with just one plugin in each zone, there could be 6 data type
> conversions to handle a single strip processing a single cycle. imho,
> that is just plain crazy.

THANK YOU!  You finally set off a light bulb for me.

> if there are multiple datatypes, then hosts have to support it
> otherwise its just a dangling dead weight around everyone's neck.

Is it really weighing down EVERYONE?  Most hosts will just not load a plugin
that is not Float32.  I don't see that as any weight at all.

> i have heard *no-one* make a case so far to explain why, on a platform
> that supports a particular format (e.g. Float32 or Int24), there is a
> reason to use a different format. the best i've seen is the idea that

This is still true.

> of course, nobody is going to suggest that Float32 be used on a system
> that can't support it, and that's why early on in these discussions,
> there was an agreement that systems should probably support
> Float32. if they don't and we want GMPI to cover them, then sure, we
> need to support another format i

So I think we really are agreeing on one fundamental:  Float32 is not the
only datatype for sample I/O.  Is that correct?  If for no other reason than
"we agreed to support hand-helds".

Now, assuming that we can all agree on this (without any spin on it, just
the basic need), maybe we can make a bit of forward progress.

> *** BUT *** not in the same host and not in the same plugin package. 

This is an arbitrary decision.  Allowing a host to support multiple
datatypes certainly complicates the hosts which choose to do so, I do not
deny that.  But hosts that choose NOT to support multiple datatypes get no
added complexity. Plugins do not have any added complexity either way.

So where is the harm in allowing it?


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