What makes Switchboard different
There are many other audio SDKs out there, but they generally serve a different purpose than Switchboard. There are great audio SDKs besides Switchboard, but they are designed for different use cases. Below we have listed a number of popular audio SDKs to help you understand how they are positioned relative to Switchboard.
It’s worth bearing in mind that we designed Switchboard to solve problems that arose time and time again across the many audio software development projects we’ve been involved with, despite the existence of other audio SDKs. These other SDKs often require:
Audio-specific expertise
C++ expertise
Lots of custom audio handling code
Writing native code for each platform / OS
Spending a lot of time writing glue code to get different DSP modules to work together
Switchboard gets around all of that in a unique way. Moreover, it targets different use cases than most other audio SDKs. Most other audio SDKs focus on use cases such as:
Developing DAW plugins
Adding specific DSP effects into an existing music production application
And in many of these cases, using other SDKs independently of Switchboard might make sense.
But where audio pipelines are more complex and involve multiple audio processing modules, multiple platforms, or multiple SDKs coming together in a single application that’s rich with audio features, chances are Switchboard can be used together with these other SDKs, or on a standalone basis depending on the use case.
Let’s explore some examples below:
Largely for individual audio processing nodes, rather than building audio graphs. Requires C++. Optimized for low latency and performance (e.g. minimizing CPU usage on mobile and embedded devices).
Switchboard offers a Superpowered Extension to make it easier to use and to construct graphs containing Superpowered nodes.
Largely used by audio software developers building plugins for DAWs (e.g. VST plugins).
Switchboard targets a different set of use cases (see Use Cases in the main menu).
A programming language.
Primarily targets music composition / music production use cases (e.g. DAWs, plugins).
Switchboard targets a different set of use cases (see Use Cases in the main menu).
Web-based audio library.
Primarily targets music composition / music production use cases (e.g. DAWs, plugins).
Switchboard targets a different set of platforms and use cases (see Use Cases in the main menu).
Good for certain projects in Apple ecosystem (e.g. iOS / mac / watch). Not cross platform.
Switchboard has a more comprehensive set of nodes, is cross platform, has a visual editor, and enables a broader set of use cases (see Use Cases in the main menu).
Makes Audio Weaver. Similar to Switchboard, Audio Weaver has a visual interface where DSP nodes can be put together into signal processing chains. Unlike Switchboard, it focuses primarily on embedded and automotive use cases. Nodes tend to be focused on audio quality, rather than new user experiences and use cases. Switchboard focuses on different types of nodes, use cases, and platforms. The Switchboard Editor is also web based, simple to use, and free. Switchboard is expanding support for embedded platforms but does not include the level of embedded support that Audioweaver does out of the box. We can, however, expand support as needed through a services agreement. Get in touch to learn more.
Music focused modules including stem separation, lyrics transcription, chord recogniotion, beat detection, mastering, vocal synthesis, and more. Typically used more for offline processing of music files.
Switchboard targets a different set of use cases (see Use Cases in the main menu).
Focused mainly on wireless headphones market. Different set of nodes and use cases targeted than Switchboard, though there is partial overlap.
Switchboard focuses more on novel features and use cases for headphones, speakers, and other embedded devices, with and without a companion app. Such use cases would require a support / services agreement. Get in touch to learn more.
Audio transformation SDKs
The examples above are mostly audio software development frameworks / toolboxes / libraries that help with the construction of audio software development projects. That said, many SDKs in the audio domain serve a more singular purpose, like taking audio as an input and transforming it in some way, then outputting the transformed signal.
This might include things like Speech to Text and Text to Speech, LLMs, voice changers, timbre transfer, noise suppression and echo suppression, reverb and de-reverb, etc.
These would normally be included as individual nodes in a Switchboard audio graph, and Switchboard actually has Extensions for many of these specific functions. Here are some examples:
• Audioshake (stem separation)
• Immersitech (noise suppression)
• Voicemod (voice changers)
You can learn more about on our Extensions page.
Other audio toolboxes
CLAP, iPlug2, RNBO w/ Max MSP
(these are mainly focused on music production / tools that work with DAWs) and many more.
Superpowered made a list of some others here.
(Some of these are available as nodes / extensions in Switchboard.)
If you still aren’t sure how Switchboard compares to other tools, or how it might fit into your new or existing project...