Studio One already has excellent outboard integration with PipelineXT. Many companies are creating digitally-recallable hardware that rely on a 3rd party plugin (Wes Audio, Cranborne, Bettermaker, etc.). These plugins don't process audio, they are just a hollow front-face UI with some sort of backend control.

It would be really cool if instead of needing both PipelineXT + 3rd Party VST plugin, there could be a way to just use one plugin.

Idea 1 - Integrate Pipeline XT into plugin toolbar:
Perhaps there's a way PipelineXT could be integrated into the top toolbar for plugins. Maybe you click something next to the little gear icon and it exposes the optional PipelineXT functionality. This way you could load up your favorite outboard plugin, and integrate pipeline "behind the scenes". This might also allow default I/O routes to be saved on a per-plugin/preset basis.

Idea 2 - Provide new APIs for VSTs/PipelineXT:
The other option might be a new API layer that 3rd parties could tap into in order to integrate Pipeline into their own plugins. Not reall sure how this would look but I've seen Presonus do DAW specific VST "hooks" before (MixFx, MicroEdit, etc.), so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm sure many companies doing digital-recall would jump on the opprotunity to use the APIs if they existed.

In summary:
Seems like a cool area for a DAW to innovate in, which in turn might help grow the ecosystem of digitally controlled hardware. This isn't all that niche either - things like guitar amp modlers could be considered "digitally-recallable hardware". Imagine there being some "Fender Tonemaster" VST plugin and you can drop it in your session like a regular ampsim plugin, while under-the-hood it's sending the audio over your preferred interface.

What are your thoughts?