encoder usage requires split

[olilarkin]

it seems counterintuitive to me that if I create a N order encoder there will be many inputs and I need an extra split operator e.g. :

declare name "Faust Effect";
import("stdfaust.lib");
process = _ <: ho.encoder(5, _, 0.5);

is there any case when an encoder would have more than 1 input? in which case wouldn't it be better if this split was unnecessary? is this an unavoidable artefact of the pattern matching technique used?

[olilarkin]

of course I can write process(x)... , but would rather not