Suppose you’re ready for a different audio-interface or you want to upgrade your current one. In that case, it may be worth taking a look at the options that include an external DSP chip. DSP stands for Digital Signal Processing, and the DSP chip (co-processor or accelerator) takes some of the load off your computer when you’re working with plug-ins. You might already know that this is what you want, but have you also heard of FPGA? This blog post can help point you in the right direction when choosing your new audio interface.

The impulse response (IR) is a relatively new technology that can simulate a specific environment—a hall, room, studio space, the body of an acoustic guitar, and so on. At first, impulse responses were used for reverb effects, such as plug-ins in a digital audio workstation (DAW). These days, they’re also used for other applications.