Hi Steinberg:
Big Cubase fan, but Studio One 2.0 introduced a really great idea in ARA. While it’s not enough to make me switch (especially since it only works with Melodyne today), I can certainly see the value in this feature and would love to see it in Cubase.
For example, I could imagine using Cubase much more seamlessly with Izotope’s RX2… which is a fabulous product and works in ways the Cubase audio editor doesn’t/won’t.
Thanks for listening!
ARA is a nice concept, but is there other products which can be used with it than Melodyne? You mentioned RX2. Does RX2 work with ARA?
In my opinion Celemony screwed up with ARA by not making it open patform from day one. If I were a software developer, I would not put effort in technology which is completely on hands of a developer who grants exclusive contracts on the technology to my competitors.
That’s why I said ‘or something like it’ in the title and was pretty clear I like the concept of ARA but I don’t care if it’s exactly ARA that’s implemented. RX2 doesn’t support ARA but could leverage a random access interface much better than a linear one. Any plugin that wants access to the whole audio file could benefit.
Whoops! Sorry! Totally missed that one. But I’m officially half-blind, so I hope you can forgive 
Indeed it would be great to have similar concept as a widely agreed ‘industry standard’ technology. Steinberg should implement something similar themself into VST(4?) specification, unless Clemony has some freaky ‘covers everything’ patent on such technology.
I thought ARA was an open-spec?
As long as Steinberg gets industry support for whatever it chooses I’m happy. Doesn’t new to be ARA, but fine if it is.
Just think of all of the things a plugin could do of it could access the whole audio file rather than just a realtime stream. From creative effects (a true reverse reverb thy precedes the audio without having to flip the file manually) to far smarter plugins that do traditional things: imagine a compressor or mastering maximizer that could analyze the whole track or song in advance rather than just reacting to the audio streamed to it??
And of course there are the current uses like plugging in an alternative editor like RX2 which is wildly different in its capabilities than the Steinberg audio editor.
You could also imagine hybrid instrument / effect plugins that would allow you to remix tracks in ways I can’t imagine
Should be some day. Until now it’s been exclusive for Presonus. Pathetic behaviour, if you’re looking to create a new 'industry standard.
I think there is a way to outdo ARA. Some of the ideas I mentioned would require random access to a buss or audio after it has passed through traditional VST effects. While I haven’t actually read the ARA spec, I presume that it only provides access to the raw audio clip prior to processing. It doesn’t contemplate putting a random access plug on the master buss or as a creative effect somewhere in the VST insert or send chain. All of these would require some smart background rendering. (I think Reaper does background rendering to save CPU. Surely there are other more creative uses for it.)
Just an idea 
Well, in all seriousness, I’ve often thought of how I would have designed Cubase were I the lead architect. I would have point plug-in API interfaces at various points in the signal path. VST was a great step in the right direction, but it wasn’t enough.
My point is that you bring up a valid point about ARA probably not getting access to the sound stream post fader. Or even post procession / pre fader.
No, it’s called “smart business”. 
PreSonus co-developed it so (of course) there would be a period of exclusivity. It’s the same reason Steinberg waited awhile to release the new VST3 SDK’s, to be the first to fully benefit from their own work before they share it with the world?
Try to keep up. 
Seriously though, I suspect it will be open to anyone else pretty soon. It just came out November 1 of last year, not even 3 months ago. When the Reaper devs inquired to Celmony back in November they were told “January at the earliest”.
I’m not sure ARA is being taken for what it is (at least in this implementation). Besides the obvious (better communication between two applications) The Melodyne application is actually “embedded” into the DAW interface in this case. Keep in mind that Melodyne is not a plugin, it’s a full editing application that uses a plugin to interface with other applications.
Now imagine - insert your favorite stand alone audio editor here, Adobe Audition maybe? - ARA.
Yes, that’s what I asked for in the first post. Specifically the editor I would like deeply integrated into Cubase is RX2.
But, as I pointed out, once you open your mind to the possibility of a 3rd-party interface that allows random access to audio (instead of a linear stream) you can imagine much more than just the editor scenario.
What nobody would benefit from is multiple competing ARAoids, like “standards are great, lets create our own!”