web audio api for pro audio applications?

DSP, Plugin and Host development discussion.
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Hi,

I was thinking about if and how the the web audio api (https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/audio/raw-file/t ... ation.html ) and HTML5 ( http://www.html5audio.org/ )could be used - or better could be useful - for pro audio applications. I'm more a web developer than an audio developer, but I'm deep in love with audio technology - so I really would love to use web technology to do some pro audio related things when possible. I'm not using the word "pro audio" because it sounds fancy, but to emphasise that it should have a real value (I don't like to make something useless).

Of course, for raw power something more low level like c/c++ will allways be faster and better than this web audio api so I guess a serious DAW isn't something one will program. In other words, I try to figure out if there are potential use cases for web based applications. One obvious benefit from web based applications are their cross platform compatibility (it should run on an iPad, OSX and windows).

Just an quick use case I could imagine: Considering that we already have big touch screens (23") for windows and the web audio api is capable of midi out I could think about interaction applications (aka "lemur" for the browser).

In a nut shell: I'm trying to evaluate if I should dig deeper in the web audio api and try to find a project in this area. I would really appreciate any feedback on this (yes, especially when it is nah forget this idea very fast :-) )

kind regards

Post

midi_transmission wrote:In a nut shell: I'm trying to evaluate if I should dig deeper in the web audio api and try to find a project in this area.
Sure, go ahead!

But it's just audio currenty. Don't hold your breath regarding midi. I don't expect that to be ever implemented.

Also HTML5 is a perfect source code base for building apps that run on mobile hardware. Read up on PhoneGap etc...
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Image
My MusicCalc is served over https!!

Post

Too bad the latency is usually really high on those things (due to the garbage collector AFAIK).

Post

What is really cool about the Web AUdio API is that all the heavy lifting DSP is done in native C++ code which results in very high performance and there is no latency due to JS garbage collection. In fact the latency is really low and on par with what native applications can achieve. If you want to implement some functionality that isn't already supported in teh Web Audio API you can do that in JS but of course that will not run as fast as the native code.

Post

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.
I operate this site:

http://interactiveaudio.wikiaudio.org (http://interactiveaudio.wikiaudio.org)

It's a tutorial series that uses the web audio api to teach javascript.

Check it out if you like.

Post

midi_transmission wrote: Of course, for raw power something more low level like c/c++ will allways be faster and better than this web audio api so I guess a serious DAW isn't something one will program.
asm.js looks promising http://www.2ality.com/2013/02/asm-js.html

Post

Thanks for your answers! I will also check your links.

Post

AUTO-ADMIN: Non-MP3, WAV, OGG, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Facebook links in this post have been protected automatically. Once the member reaches 5 posts the links will function as normal.
Hello everyone.

I just found this topic and i think is really interesting.

I am the CEO (and CTO) of Dropin, the first HTML5 Cloud DAW, the project is really abitious and hard, but after 2 years of development we are near to launch our public beta.

You can see our (old) prototype here: http://www.dropin.fm/PlayLive/ (http://www.dropin.fm/PlayLive/)

I strongly believe html5 and cloud services will be professional really soon, but they won't replace studios and desktops software for a long time.

Dropin want to allow musicians from all over the world to compose and produce music together, offering a team-work service for some aspect similar to Google Docs, but audio production oriented.

you can follow the project on twitter @dropinfm to be noticed when the beta will be publice (i hope in a few days :) ).

Post Reply

Return to “DSP and Plugin Development”