ARA (Audio Random Access)
More info
- Creator
- Celemony and PreSonus
- Released
- 2011
- Type
- Plug-in format extension
An extension to VST, AU and AAX that lets a plug-in read the whole audio file on the timeline instead of only the buffer currently streaming past.
An ordinary plug-in sees audio one buffer at a time, in real time, with no idea what's coming ten seconds later. That was a problem for Melodyne, which has to analyse a full take: users had to play the audio into the plug-in a second time, in real time, before they could edit it. Celemony and PreSonus designed ARA to get rid of that step, and Studio One 2 shipped with support in 2011.
With ARA the plug-in gets direct access to the audio files and where they sit, and the host learns what the plug-in has changed. ARA 2 in 2018 added multi-track editing and chord information, among other things. Cubase, Logic Pro, REAPER and Pro Tools now support it, and it is used by spectral editors and vocal-alignment tools as well as Melodyne.