One reason could be that they try to fool the customer, which is probably the case for the waveshaper part, another reason could be that they found a very special trick, which is probably the case for the the Band-Split part.

 

Couple = 3 ? OK, sorry, I couldn't resist.

Nope

Nope:

Yes!

But they say very precisely what Inflator does. They just don't say directly that it is a wave shaper.

 

Last edited: Nov 4, 2022

Yes! Here lies the (no longer existing) secret. These are nonlinear phase filters whose result on the material has no phase shift.

 

Hi, the video you linked literally shows that saturation decreases the dynamic range.

I just tested inflator out, and lo and behold, it clips the signal at 0db unless you enable multi band mode. However surprisingly, with multi-band mode enabled and curve at -50%, it does in fact expand the signal. So in this specific setup, it does seemingly perform expansion.

 

Watch the video again.

It clips the signal unless you disable the clipper "CLIP 0dB" or enable the band split, which also disables the clipper.

No, not in this specific setup...
If you move the Curve parameter to the negative range, you increase the dynamic range.
If you move the Curve parameter to the positive range, you decrease the dynamic range.
The band split parameter has nothing to do with it.

It's really not complex. The inflator does exactly what Sonnox described. You even quoted it in the original post.

Waveshapers don't decrease the dynamic range by default. Just like a volume control doesn't make everything just loud.
The waveshaper is about the transfer curve.

 

Direct quote from the video: "you can hear it gets louder, more distorted and more compressed"

And, again, the output of inflator itself is clipped to 0db due to the waveshaping process, unless "split band" is enabled. The clip 0db is only for the input signal, the output signal will always be clipped when not using split band.

 

I am too completely fed up with the "newest, innovativest" EQ, compressor, delay, whatever. They are all the same. Nothing new.

EQ: Fabfilter Pro Q 3 (dynamic... so that's that) or ReaEQ
Compressor: ReaComp (it's a compression machine, not a simple compressor)
Limiter: all BS, instead use a
Clipper: ClipOnly2 (airwindows) or StandardClip or (for dirty work GClip)
Saturation: what? BS. Get a good sound.
Guitar sim: None. I have a VOX and the Harley Benton Tone-series and a Yamaha Stomp and some other gadgets, that worked very well for the last 30 years and will for the next 30 years. And some according guitars.
Reverb, Echo: Valhalla, Soundtoys, TC Electronics

Done.

Every 3 months there is a new cow driven through the village. Look at the forums: search for buzzword of the moment. And then make a list of plugins that fit the bill. The worst are Brainworx (Hello, Dirk!), Plugin Alliance, Waves and W.A.Productions. In other words: the most active are the worst. And what do they bring to he table beside new marketing BS filled with buzzwords: Nothing.

Unbelievable. It's like musicians in the 2020s are like the housewives of the 60s and are tortured with permanent BS ads for washing powder.

 

Oh, I'm sure he said that at some point in the video, but you're cherry-picking here.

So once again, the waveshaper is all about the transfer curve. The transfer curve describes the amplitude course of the positive and negative parts of the wave. Thus, you scale individual samples non-linearly up or down in amplitude. If we leave asymmetrical waveshaping aside, this means that you can use a waveshaper to reduce or increase the dynamic range, or flip the polarity.
And that is also what all the measurements provided here in the thread show you.

"And, again,"...?
No, you didn't say that before.

I have not claimed anything to the contrary.
But yes, I have made a mistake:
Clip 0dB does not deactivate when turning on band split.


I wonder what you are actually getting at?
Are you about misleading marketing promises?
Or do you just want to rant about plugins that come to mind?
I don't know much about the other plugins discussed, as I haven't tested them or read up on them. But about the Inflator, I can say that while Sonnox doesn't explicitly say it's a waveshaper, they pretty much describe what it does. They even explain in the manual what the nature of a waveshaper is. So I really don't understand what your problem is.

 

Please at least read my messages before responding.

 

Please, let's get back to the topic and not discuss specific details of a plugin.

If you want, start a separate thread about the way a specific shaper or shapers in general are working.

 

Same company

True innovation is very hard to make with audio plugins. The most promising avenue as of late is AI, and that's obviously a slow, time consuming process. We've "solved" the most transparent highpass, lowpass & peak filters for EQs, we've mostly solved the most transparent way of compressing audio, & things like reverb & delay are purely subjective. (Although iirc convolution reverb is technically the most "accurate")
That doesn't mean I don't like new plugins! I just don't want to see the 50th iteration of "transparent feedforwards compressor" that's apparently a "must-have for audio engineers"

 

Oh, I did.
First you said:

Later you said:

There is a difference in your statements. The first is generalized, the second is specified.

It's okay, you're right.

In general, I was not interested in discussing the details of a particular plugin, but rather the core of the thread topic:

As much as I agree with the core of this statement, the rest of the original post deviates from the set topic.
I already said that I can't discuss the statements about the other plugins because I haven't dealt with them in detail, but the advertising statements about the Inflator are neither "deceptive" nor "terrible". They describe the core of the given functions and give examples of use.
Marketing statements are not "deceptive" just because some users don't understand the application or want to name processes differently.
Example:
Just because a fictitious user insists on calling all compressors linear time-dependent volume modulators, all forms of waveshaping distortion processors nonlinear time-independent volume modulators, and all EQs multiple serial or parallel filter arrays, the user or plugin company who does not do so but specifies the processor is not engaging in misleading marketing. That is what I was getting at.
So what is this all about anyway?

 

Last edited: Nov 5, 2022

Aye...

 

It’s frustrating when marketing misleads about products. For example, Sonnox Oxford Inflator claims to increase dynamic range, but it’s just a waveshaper. Baby Audio Smooth Operator is marketed as a magical all-in-one tool but is simply a spectral compressor. Softube Trident A-Range promises unique sound but is just another analog EQ. In all cases, the reality doesn’t match the marketing hype. It’s crucial to test products yourself instead of relying on exaggerated claims.

 

Just use Sausagge Fattener or camel crusher, or OTT and of course Inflator.

 

Find an example of this on their website or other official marketing. Or even just in the manual. If you are going to say a developer's marketing is misleading, provide proof that it is.

 

Man, this thread brings me back.
Only 3 years and marketing has evolved so much! Ten times worse