News

LVC-Audio

4 hours ago

Apple Silicon Sale (prices @ lvcaudio.com/purchase/)

Friends, it has been a while since I posted. Things have been very busy with my day job and with my family. Nothing tragic, but I have been spending a lot of time with non-programming things.

I have alluded to this before, but Apple's switch to Silicon's chips has been extremely challenging for me. There was a phase-in process where "legacy Intel" software plugins would work, but that has long ended. Now, I must re-code every plugin I have created in order to work on Apple Silicon CPUs.

I have been using IPlug, an SDK started by the folks at Reaper, and then developed by Oli Larkin (iPlug2 - C++ audio plug-in framework | iPlug2.github.io). He has rewritten the IPlug SDK to work seamlessly with Silicon chips, along with some other phenomenal software developers. I don't want to sell any developers short on this. It has been a tremendous amount of work for everyone involved.

The issue that I have struggled with is that every button, meter, switch, display, setting, and preset has been customized by me. I did this to add additional functionality to the original IPlug code. Now, I need to rewrite everything. I don't have a one-to-one analogy, but I feel like it is like being a keyboard player and suddenly needing to relearn everything again as a clarinet player. For a full-time developer, it might be an easier task; however, I am not a developer by training or profession (I am a psychologist working with special needs students).

With all of that, I am going to start a motivation campaign. I will sell all plugins at 50% off. I will keep this sale active until I release a significant update to one of my plugins, an update that is 100% compatible with Silicon chips.

For any potential purchaser of my plugins, please download, install, and try the plugins first. Don't buy anything until you are happy with how things are working. For Windows users, everything should be fine. For Apple users, your success with LVC-Audio plugins will be dependent on your DAW, OS version, and CPU chip.
I hope to have new software released soon. I know many of you are still highly interested in ClipShifter/Clipped-MAX and the limiter plugins. I am also very motivated to release my vintage compressor code (from T-Chain) in an updated format. I don't know where to put my efforts, but I will work to get something released. Please let me know about any suggestions or questions you have.

Thanks for all of your support! -Matt ... See MoreSee Less

LVC-Audio

2 years ago

A {long} word about Clipped-MAX and The Condiments (Phat Ketchup, Mustard, Mayo, & Sriracha)

I get many questions about when Clipped-MAX will be updated and natively support the M1/M2 Apple chips. The answer is: it is complicated. I have been working on it for a long, long, long time. Thanks to Oli and the other coders that have been working on IPlug2 (the SDK I use to develop cross-platform plugins), the framework is there for a native M1/M2 version of Clipped-MAX.

The problem is that all of my code needs updated. When I say all, I mean everything. The new version of IPlug2 that is compatible with M1/M2 includes a totally new way for communication between the controls of the plugin and the audio processing. Most everything you see in Clipped-MAX (and other plugins like Preamp-MAX, Limited-MAX, and Toned-MAX) are elements that I coded from scratch. Using the new IPlug2, I have had to rewrite about 75% of the code.

For me, coding has gotten to the point that it is no longer fun. Opening a 1000-line file of code to update, and then seeing that about 75% of the lines have errors (because of the new SDK) is crushing. It has slowed me down, gotten under my skin, and made LVC-Audio a chore. I am not a trained programmer. Anyone that does this day-in and day-out has my admiration.

So this is the basis for "The Condiments" (i.e., Phat Ketchup, Phat Mustard, Phat Mayo, and Phat Sriracha). The plugins use a simple and silly interface, nothing like the controls (and code) found on Clipped-MAX. The audio processing includes some of the elements that I have been working with for years such as dynamic EQ, mid/side EQ, vintage compression, multiband stereo widening, and multiband transient shaping. The underlying DSP of "The Condiments" is actually more complicated than Clipped-MAX, but the process of coding the new plugins was relatively quick, fun, and exciting. Basically, coding "The Condiments" has rejuvenated my audio-coding-mojo.

Clipped-MAX will still be updated, as will Limited-MAX and Preamp-MAX; however, the overall style of the plugins may need to be reconsidered. For example, is it better to have one Clipped-MAX plugin or four separate clipping plugins (i.e., ClipShifter, Clip-Multiband, Clip-Stereo, and Clip-Master). I don't know the answer right now, but I know I want to keep making plugins that are fun to code, fun/useful to use, and inspire you to create more music.

Thanks - and happy holidays to you, your family, your pets, your synths, your guitars, your basses, and your drums. ... See MoreSee Less