Editing LADSPA

{{Short description|Application programming interface for audio filters}}
{{Infobox Software
 | name                   = Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API
 | logo                   = 
 | screenshot             = [[File:LADSPA-Ardour-StereoReverb.jpg|250px]]
 | caption                = A Stereo Reverb LADSPA plugin running inside Ardour Digital Audio Workstation on Linux
 | latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
 | latest release date    = {{Start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}|df=yes}}
 | developer              = Richard W.E. Furse, Paul Barton-Davis, Stefan Westerfeld<ref name="ladspa.h">[https://web.archive.org/web/20150529032654/http://www.ladspa.org/ladspa_sdk/ladspa.h.txt ladspa.h (contains help)]</ref>
 | programming language   = [[C (programming language)|C]]
 | operating_system       = [[Cross-platform]]
 | license                = [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.1-or-later]]<ref name="ladspa.h" />
 | website                = {{website|https://ladspa.org}}
}}

The '''Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API''' ('''LADSPA''') is an [[application programming interface]] (API) standard for handling [[audio filter]]s and [[audio signal processing]] effects, licensed under [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL-2.1-or-later]]. Originally designed through consensus on the Linux Audio Developers mailing list, it now works on a variety of platforms. It is used in many [[free audio software]] projects, and there is a wide range of LADSPA [[Plug-in (computing)|plug-ins]] available.

LADSPA exists primarily as a [[header file]] written in the programming language [[C (programming language)|C]].

There are many audio plugin standards and most major modern software synthesizers and sound editors support a variety. The best known standard is probably [[Steinberg]]'s [[Virtual Studio Technology]]. LADSPA is unusual in that it attempts to provide only the "Greatest Common Divisor" of other standards. This means that its scope is limited, but it is simple and plugins written using it are easy to embed in many other programs. The standard has changed little with time, so compatibility problems are rare.

[[Disposable Soft Synth Interface|DSSI]] extends LADSPA to cover instrument plugins.

[[LV2]] is a successor, based on LADSPA and DSSI, but permitting easy extensibility, allowing custom user interfaces, MIDI messages, and custom extensions.

== Competing technologies ==
*[[Apple Inc.]]'s [[Audio Units]]
*[[Digidesign]]'s [[Real Time AudioSuite]]
*[[Avid Technology]]'s [[Avid Audio eXtension]]
*[[Microsoft]]'s DirectX plugin
*[[Steinberg]]'s [[Virtual Studio Technology]]
*[[CLever Audio Plug-in]] (Open Source)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* {{Official website|https://ladspa.org/}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladspa}}
<!-- Categories -->
[[Category:Application programming interfaces]]
[[Category:Free audio software]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:Music software plugin architectures]]
[[Category:Linux APIs]]
[[Category:Audio libraries]]