LADSPA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LADSPA is an acronym for Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API. It is an LGPLed standard for handling filters and effects. It was originally designed for Linux through consensus on the Linux Audio Developers Mailing List, but works on a variety of other platforms. It is used in many free audio software projects and there is a wide range of LADSPA plugins available.
LADSPA exists primarily as a header file written in the C programming language.
There are many audio plugin standards and most major modern software synthesizers and sound editors support a variety. The best known standard is probably Steinberg Cubase's Virtual Studio Technology. LADSPA is unusual in that it attempts to provide only the "Greatest Common Divisor" of other standards. This means that its scope is limited, but it is simple and plugins written using it are easy to embed in many other programs. The standard has changed very little with time, so compatibility problems are rare.
DSSI extends LADSPA to cover instrument plugins.
LV2 is a planned successor, based on LADSPA but permitting easy extensibility and custom GUIs.
