Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Audio Professionals Get Better Sound Quality, Higher Performance with 64-Bit Computing
Overview
Country or Region:Germany
Industry:Professional Services
Customer Profile
Steinberg Media Technologies in Hamburg, Germany, is a leading developer of audio-processing applications. Its Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is the industry standard for audio software interfacing.
Business Situation
Audio-processing software pushes the limits of 32-bit computing environments. Performance is sluggish when using many plug-ins, and audio quality can often degrade.
Solution
Steinberg created VST 2.4, which enables third-party software companies to create plug-ins for audio applications running on Windows® XP 64-Bit Edition.
Benefits
Better performance
Higherquality audio
Support for existing software investments
Strong industry-standard environment / “By migrating the audio-processing standard from 32bits to 64bits, we pave the way for the entire music industry to move into the 64-bit world and harness its benefits.”
Hans-Joerg Ziegler, Project Manager for Migration and New Platforms, Steinberg
Steinberg Media Technologies, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, provides audio-processing software for more than 1.5 million musicians, composers, sound engineers, and other audio professionals, worldwide. The company’s Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is the standard interface through which most of the software interacts on an audio workstation. Third-party vendors use VST to create software plug-ins to enhance and manipulate audio, but many of these plug-ins tax the processing power of 32-bit computers. Also, current memory issues limit the sound quality. To meet these challenges, Steinberg created a version of VST to enable audio plug-ins to take advantage of the performance capabilities of the Windows® XP 64-Bit Edition operating system. VST 2.4 enables developers to create high-performance software, which customers can use to create high-quality audio recordings.
Situation
Steinberg Media Technologies, based in Hamburg, Germany, has been a leader in music and media production software since 1984. More than 1.5 million people worldwide use Steinberg products in all aspects of modern digital audio processing for music, video, and film.
In the past, audio processing was done using special equipment sold in music stores. Steinberg introduced Virtual Studio Technology (VST) in 1997 as part of its goal to bring full audio-processing capability to personal computers. VST is a free interface that other software companies can use to create plug-ins—such as special audio effects or musical instruments that exist only on a computer—that interact with Steinberg audio workstation software such as Nuendo and Cubase. Today, VST is an open standard used by most audio technology plug-ins.
Some plug-ins require a lot of memory to run: A single instance might consume all of the memory that is available in the operating system, resulting in sluggish performance. Also, nearly all audio software works with 32-bit floating-point variables to represent audio information. These variables have a certain resolution, and if users approach the limits of that resolution, sound quality decreases. The audio industry wanted a way to increase the level of audio detail possible when using these applications.
“There is a big demand for more computing power, because new technology makes working in the 32-bit environment more and more difficult. We have to provide a solution for the industry to move forward,” says Stefan Scheffler, Project Manager for Cubase Projects at Steinberg.
Solution
In summer 2005, Steinberg began developing a version of VST that would take advantage of the greater processing power of the Windows® XP 64-Bit Edition operating system. Five developers worked on the project using the Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 development system with Microsoft Visual C++®. Steinberg released VST 2.4 in January 2006, offering new features for audio software developers such as full support for 64-bit audio and double floating-point capability.
Benefits
Steinberg is capitalizing on the high performance, large memory, and multiprocessor support provided by the 64-bit environment to benefit its partners and the audio professionals who use their software. Also, 64-bit technology provides a foundation for future development at Steinberg.
Better Performance
Many workarounds were needed in order to process large audio files within the limited memory space of 32-bit audio software. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition enables audio-processing software to install all needed data in physical RAM, something that’s not possible with a 32-bit environment, where there’s a limit of 2 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. In addition, 64-bit systems can accommodate large audio fileswithout slowing down.
Higher-Quality Audio
Audio professionals grapple with degrading audio quality caused by the limitations of 32-bit processing. VST 2.4 resolves this problem by not only using 64-bit capabilities on the operating system side, but also from the audio-processing side. VST 2.4 also supports exchanging 64-bit audio information between processing modules through its interface.
Support for Existing Software Investments
Some Steinberg software partners have chosen to remain on the 32-bit environment for the time being. VST 2.4 accommodates this strategy by supporting the use of AMD and Intel x64 processors. This hardware platform enables users to deploy 32-bit plug-ins in a 64-bit environment. By extending the life of existing computing investments, VST 2.4 benefits the entire industry, not just early adopters.
Strong Industry-Standard Environment
VST 2.4 is only the first 64-bit offering from Steinberg. The company is migrating its other products to take advantage of the environment’s capabilities.
“By migrating the audio-processing standard from 32bits to 64bits, we pave the way for the entire music industry to move into the 64-bit world and harness its benefits,” says Hans-Joerg Ziegler, Project Manager for Migration and New Platforms at Steinberg.
“My message to other developers about moving to 64-bit technology?” says Scheffler. “Go for it! It’s the future.”
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition gives you the freedom to do what you want at home and at work--simply, reliably, and securely.
For more information about Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, go to: