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Armed with seemingly boundless energy, a haircut only an engineer would want, and a passion for digital signal processing, Colin McDowell has made a niche in the pro audio industry with his company, McDSP.
Founded in 1998 and currently based in Mountain View CA, McDSP is one of the ‘oldest’ plug-in manufacturers in the pro audio industry. McDSP was started to meet the demand for better quality audio processing on the Pro Tools platform, with the added flexibility that could only exist in software.
“It is strange to think we’re one of the old folks,” says founder Colin McDowell, “but for a technology company we’ve had a great run, and the future holds a lot of promise.”
Colin McDowell knows what he’s talking about, having spent over a decade in the professional audio industry, and even longer as a digital signal processing engineer. Prior to McDSP, McDowell worked at IBM, Digidesign and Dolby Laboratories. McDowell authored many Digidesign plug-ins and the original TDM multi-shell prototype, and was part of the Emmy award winning Dolby E engineering team.
 But it is McDowell’s interest in music and audio that drives him to create innovative products at McDSP. The unique Peak-Slope-Dip controls of FilterBank, the powerful Knee and Bite controls in CompressorBank and MC2000, and McDSP’s proprietary analog modeling are all technologies created by McDowell. His interests in synthesizer programming and guitar amp modeling are evident by the flexibility and power of the Synthesizer One and Chrome Tone plug-Ins. The Channel G plug-In comes from McDowell’s continued refinement of EQ and dynamic range control algorithms.
As the McDSP team expanded, new products like the Revolver convolution reverb and the new ML4000 mastering limiter and multi-band dynamics plug-ins have been great successes. New for 2008, the DE555 de-esser, FutzBox lo-fi distortion effects, and NF575 noise filter round out the McDSP plug-in product line. Platform support continues to grow with support for Pro Tools on XP, and the new Digidesign live sound consoles. There are also now three product lines:
- HD - full featured product on Pro Tools HD and Venue (live sound) systems, with TDM, RTAS, and Audiosuite formats available
- Native - full featured products running on the host computer for Pro Tools LE and M-Powered, with RTAS, and Audiosuite formats available
- LE - limited featured products running on the host computer for Pro Tools LE and M-Powered, with RTAS, and Audiosuite formats available
Under McDowell’s direction, McDSP has earned many industry awards including four TEC Award nominations (2001 – MC2000, 2002 – Analog Channel, 2005 – Channel G, 2007 – ML4000), an EQ Magazine Blue Ribbon Award (1999 - FilterBank and CompressorBank), a Pro Audio Review PAR Excellence Award (2006 - Revolver), and an Electronic Musician Editor’s Choice Award (2007 – Project Studio Bundle).
Today, McDSP’s products are found in nearly every Pro Tools session, and session compatibility without McDSP is nearly impossible. FilterBank, the first McDSP plug-In for Pro Tools, is still widely used today. In addition to McDSP’s reputation for making high quality audio products, McDSP has a stellar customer support reputation, and an unbelievable update program.
“For example,“ McDowell explains, “If a customer purchased FilterBank in 1999 for Mix hardware on OS 9, and updated to OS X, HD and HD Accel hardware, higher sample rate support, all the new Pro Tools plug-in centric features introduced during that time, support for every new Digidesign control surface to date, and support for Intel-based Macs, that customer would have been charged $0. Why? Well, we have some of the most talented and loyal clients any company has ever had the privilege to serve. I can’t see us shafting them with update fees!”
 If McDowell’s passion for his company and its customers is not evident enough in McDSP’s product offerings or policies, then a hands on demo from the man himself is an experience to be had.
“I am kind of crazy,” confesses McDowell, “I really enjoy showing people what our products can do, and when they understand and want more information, well, it’s part of the job I enjoy most. No one gives you a hug and a high five for making a great text editor, but if you create a feature rich sonically satisfying plug-in, you’re like family.”
As McDSP continues to grow, McDowell says, “It is a great time to be in the digital audio space, and we’re glad to keep providing the products and support our professional customer base demands and deserves.” And perhaps one day McDowell might get a better haircut too. |
