[Jack-Devel] graph simplification using mathematics?

[Fons Adriaensen]

On Sun, Jul 03, 2016 at 05:04:17AM +0200, Thomas Brand wrote:

> Given that a processing graph doesn't change constantly (except in some
> special cases), i'd imagine to kind of "freeze" the plugins setup to a
> single instance to gain more room per cycle. Maybe this is just a pipe
> dream. Having all involved DSP in a declarative text language instead of
> BLOBs. Whole DAWs could be built like this. As i said, just a pipe dream

Keep in that in all but the simplest algorithms, audio processing doesn't
just involve calculations on samples, but also logic, maintaining state,
and in general things that don't happen at the audio sample rate but have
their own independent timing which isn't regular and can't be predicted.
Faust isn't particularly good at any of that.

In theory all of that could be expressed in a 'formula', but the complexity
of such a formula will explode exponentially unless you express it as a
chain or graph of separete operations with no or limited interaction. And
then we are back where we started. 

You may think that running the entire combined algorithm sample per sample,
avoiding all intermediate buffers, would be more efficient than having 
separate modules which communicate by passing blocks of samples between
them. But that is NOT the case. Short loops using a small set of variables
make much better use of CPU registers and the cache, and will be faster.

In other words, even if it would practically possible to do what you
suggest, nothing will be gained, on the contrary.

Ciao,

-- 
FA

A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)