What do you think?

[Z-Rock]

So. Quick question. Do you think the AAX plug-in format will go the way of RTAS eventually and something new replace it?

Personally, the thought of this gives me nightmares considering I am a plug-in junkie and have spent a lot of money on AAX plug-ins and a lot of time on working on AAX related issues to get my plug-in collection running smoothly as possible. The notion one day Avid comes along and drops a bomb that they are phasing out AAX plug-ins for some new format and newer versions of Pro Tools will not support AAX plug-ins any longer is just disturbing.

What are your thoughts?

[jeam25]

Hi this post is gonna be full of speculations but i dont see that happening anytime soon.

[BScout]

No. Don't think that will happen. RTAS > AAX happened due to some major architectural hardware changes in DSP and operating systems. It wasn't really a "choice" by Avid. It would take something like that again (and I doubt there'll be another HDX version the way computers are going natively.)

Maybe one day there'll be an "AAX2" with an expanded framework for plugin developers but I'm sure it'll run side-by-side with AAX.

(you also have to remember that AAX-DSP killed the partnership with Waves which was a big deal at the time. I don't think Avid would want to voluntarily go through that again even if privately owned)

[JFreak]

There has always been Digidesign/Avid plugin format and Steinberg plugin format. Apple plugin format is newer but well alive, not going anywhere. But on the other hand MOTU and Microsoft plugin formats have disappeared.

[Darryl Ramm]

When a big meteorite is about to collide with the Earth and vaporize us all I hope somebody at Avid, or whichever company then owns Pro Tools, has the wherewithal to get out a press release about this meaning the end of AAX support...

AAX going away would require Avid/Pro Tools to fail/go away. This kind of stuff is just not worth worrying/speculating about.

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

RTAS and TDM were 32 bit architecture. PT 10 was the bridge between AAX and RTAS/TDM that straddled 32 bit to 64 bit OS of the time. I think I remember Avid saying during that time that AAX was developed so that this kind of transition wouldn't have to happen again because of the flexibility of the architecture of how AAX was designed which is one reason there is AAX native and AAX DSP instead of being completely split the way RTAS and TDM were. The differences between Native and DSP is minimal from what I understood at the time (I don't code, I make things go "BOOM!"). The advances in processor design and functionality has essentially rendered the need for DSP almost unnecessary in the time since PT 10 and I think we are seeing the flexibility of AAX with the transition and inclusion of the ARM processors.

Even VST has been updating to VST3. That has been transitioning for a long time. In other apps I am seeing VST dying off in favor of VST3 to the point that the older VST plugs will not be recognized unless they have been transitioned to VST3 (Altiverb is guilty of this for me, one more thing it is behind on...). AU is clunky comparatively... sometimes they work and sometimes they don't outside of Logic. I can't remember the last time I looked at and MAS plug.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by CygnusX-1Bk2

The differences between Native and DSP is minimal from what I understood at the time

True.

What it means is if a plugin works as AAX-DSP it sounds 100% identical as AAX-native. Not all plugins are possible with AAX-DSP limitations though, so there are plenty of AAX-native plugins that cannot just be "re-compiled for DSP by pressing a button". Working around limitations takes time, and in many cases it is just not possible.

[Eric Lambert]

AAX is a blessing and a curse. Because it's proprietary, Avid can have tighter control over the architecture and therefore it establishes a more stable platform (at least in theory). That's good, from a certain point of view. The downside is that every plugin developer must write specifically for it, and as we've all seen there are often times where a plugin we love simply doesn't offer AAX.

Will it go away? I doubt it. They're in too deep now.

[JFreak]

They are all proprietary. AAX/AU/VST have one vendor behind them. MAS and DX disappeared due to lack of user base.

[BScout]

Originally Posted by JFreak

They are all proprietary. AAX/AU/VST have one vendor behind them. MAS and DX disappeared due to lack of user base.

One developer that establishes the framework.
However, anyone can implement the use of AU and VST in their software host.
AAX and MAS that isn't/wasn't true.