Real-Time Effects
From WikiRecording
A Real-Time Effect is a computer generated effect that does not need to be rendered. This means that you can add an effect to an audio track and hear the effect immediately.
Most Real-Time Effects allow you to change its parameters while the track is playing. For instance, on a Reverb Real-Time effect, you could change the size of the room while the track is playing rather than changing it and having to wait for it to write to disk to listen. This assists in the mixing process, allowing the listener to compare all the different settings of an Effect without wasting a lot of time.
One downside of Real-Time effects is that they often contribute to latency depending on the speed of your computer, how many tracks are playing, and how many effects are being used. This is ALWAYS occuring in RTAS plugins in protools or DP plugins, TDM protools actually has a offset control to fix this. In protools on a mac if you click through the volume, peak and offset in the mix window you can see if you have any RTAS delay occuring.
