From his recent post on Facebook:

"Over the last year or so I’ve had a lot of time to think about where digital pro audio & software are heading — technically, creatively, and culturally.

What’s becoming very clear to me: the next chapter won’t be written by stacking more legacy plugins on top of each other, or by treating great audio brands like passive financial assets.

The future belongs to fair platforms that understand sound as a system — grounded in iconic styles, built for real-time workflows, and designed for the way producers actually want to work today: tracking, mixing, mastering, immersive audio, modern genres, fast decision-making.

One thing I’m deeply convinced of: in the years ahead, value in pro audio won’t be defined by archived source code or legacy binaries alone — but by living platforms, active producer ecosystems, and the ability to evolve sound in real time. Assistance is here to stay and welcome by many — but control and final authority will always belong to professionals, artists, humans.

And increasingly, true value only lives in these platforms and in the long-term relationships that real leaders build with their communities — the trust, continuity, and shared direction that can’t be transferred in a transaction.

I’ve quietly been working on exactly that for a while now. New technology, new ideas, and a team that remembers why authenticity mattered in the first place - but without nostalgia, and without repeating the past.

To the partner companies and people I’ve worked with over the years: you’ll recognize soon where this is going. Timing matters — and when the timing is right, some currently closed doors may feel very open again.

Some things can be bought, some can be tweaked — but really great systems only work long-term when they’re led by people who actually built and them. More soon. - Dirk"

 

Dirk is a real go-getter and entrepreneur, and a truly people-oriented individual. If anyone can make a difference, it's him. I'm eager to see what he comes up with and puts into practice. Good analysis, Dirk, and thanks @aymat for sharing it.

 

he definitely had some "assistance" with that soapbox-y speech that said essentially nothing. if that's a taster of what is to come, i wont hold my breath. as for him being an innovator and "person led individual", lolz. he was one of the first people to jump at the chance at subscription models, he apparently underpaid his staff at Brainworx(checkout the Glassdoor reviews by senior software engineers), and he started the whole aggressive trend towards the gamification of plugin sales. he seems very wallet led to me. not people led. lets not forget to mention that he snaps up companies only to sell them on to the highest bidder which contradicts his whole artist first narrative. i guess he's capable of pulling the wool over some peoples eyes though

The pattern is. acquire company, aggressively expand its reach through firesale like tactics, community backlash of decreasing quality and customer services, gets on soapbox issues apology, sells company on a year or so later. he did it will all the other companies before(besides Brainworx). he'll definitely do it with Manley and Apogee. he's a private equity bro with a niche interest in audio production markets

 

Hi @thejohndoe, do you have any evidence, perhaps some links where one can verify what you're claiming?

Interview (Original German): Dirk Ulrich, CEO der neu gegründeten Plugin Alliance, bestehend aus Brainworx, SPL, ELYSIA und VERTIGO
www.amazona.de/interview-dirk-ulrich-ceo-der-neu-gegruendeten-plugin-alliance-bestehend-aus-brainworx-spl-elysia-und-vertigo/
Interview (Google Translator): Dirk Ulrich, CEO of the newly founded Plugin Alliance, consisting of Brainworx, SPL, ELYSIA and VERTIGO
https://www-amazona-de.translate.go...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

 

Nah we'll just see more and more slop, a further enshittification of everything, and worse music than ever

 

He's talking about "platforms", not tools or products. That to me is a red flag.

 

In other words: "I'm just feeding the monster which is modern stupidity and claiming it's the "next chapter" ". Bro there's no chapters!
Digital became a thing because it's WAY cheaper and more affordable than analog and gives good/great results, but analog, the "oldest chapter", still exists and new companies are emerging every year. If analog gear was normally cheap everyone and their dog would use analog gear and digital would have been looked down upon even by bedroom musicians/engineers who've only been doing it for a year or so.

Who is there to set a trend besides the companies that make the products (besides the media)? If audio products don't exists, how can a trend exist in audio?
So all he's REALLY saying is "I'm gonna follow the trend of modern stupidity and instant gratification and FEED it/into it ("fast decision-making" means different things for people who know what they're doing and others who don't have a clue. How the hell can you make fast decisions about something if you can't do it the more complex way first or don't have the proper knowledge?? Stupidity and AI help, of course. How about taking a step back and THINK about what you're about to do instead of chasing the next dopamine hit? At least with presets, you can usually tell that it's just not working, so they kind of force you to tinker with the plugin if you have any interest in getting a good sound).

 

What did you expect? That as a boss, he would suddenly stop thinking like a boss? He's an entrepreneur, and he has to find something people will pay for, and they'll only pay if it's a product or service that offers them added value.

His qualifications lie in running a company and negotiating; he's also developed products with others that people use. After NI's demise, it slowly dawned on him that things couldn't continue as they were, and he wondered what he could do to keep it going.

His ideas are very vague and not concrete, but as an entrepreneur, he wants to do something. He's not the type to let things go downhill and do nothing. I think he's consulting other bright minds he knows personally about what business model they can still offer people, or what they might invent in the future to get them to give them money.

Others are investing in AI, and other companies are being acquired or are waiting for their bankruptcy.

If I were him—and I know this is wishful thinking on my part—I would commission a study and survey young people worldwide about their wishes. The creative arts scene should also be brought together for a world meeting to ask what can be changed and done differently.

 

There's some verbal diarrhoea dripping down your chin Dirk, I can smell it from here. Nasty!!

 

That wasn't "verbal" diarrhea, if you catch my drift

(I meant someone took a dump in his mouth)

 

What new ideas could he possibly come up with that the Chinese haven't already invented?
I think he'll invest his money in AI and possibly fail.

 

I agree, he's basically saying
1. the old times were good
2. But now get ready to subscribe, own nothing, slop and if I can AI bloated slop stuck into your ass until it bleeds

 

How quickly you forget that he's been pedaling snake oil for years.

 

He could develop good tools that do a good job instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. There's no need for new chapters, bright business minds and whatnot. At least if he keeps releasing stuff like PA plugins, there's minimal damage from that. The innovative stuff is being done by companies like oeksound, and a few others.

I'm saying it's people like him who are making things worse. You can make money by making good products that don't harm the overall experience and general mindset of a certain creative thing, which is why I say the last thing he should do is ask young people what they think is best. That's like asking a child what he wants to have for lunch. It would feed directly into their desire for instant gratification which I mentioned.

There are many right ways to do things in audio and there are many WRONG ways to things too. When we talk about there's no right way, that usually means: "the damage isn't too bad, and the outcome is worth whatever sacrifice was made". All well and good, but people who are starting out have no idea what those things are. There's this misconception that just because audio is highly creative that anything goes. That's just not true and just like in any other profession, people who've been doing it for a decent amount of time are the ones who know better, if not best (exceptions exist).

Generally, people who are starting out almost never like their end result, so what will they ask for? Things that make it easier for them to get a quick fix. And what will the market get saturated with? Yeah, THOSE tools. I remember when IK Multimedia came out with their iRig and I scoffed at just how childish it was (I was very young then, btw). Sure there nothing wrong with using it at the right place and the right time, but imagine if THAT and their small monitors became industry standard, and the good stuff (including stuff like the basic Focusrite Scarlett) became niche in the audio world. Now that's just stupid, isn't it? That's what people like Dirk will lead to if he starts asking the only people he SHOULDN'T be asking, what they think the future of audio should look like. Again, enough with trying to constantly reinvent the wheel. If things constantly need to be changed, then they were never right in the first place, so why stop then instead of trying to fix it? Because the reality is that the good results have already been achieved, and some people just don't understand that evolution means change, NOT "better", just "change", which is why "devolution" doesn't exist. Negative evolution IS "evolution" and it's all up to the people making the change to make the right decision at the right time, which at this time, there's really no need for (going back to what I said about digital audio). He can still make money without further destroying an already unbearable status quo.

 

Everything you're saying makes perfect sense, as they say, and demonstrates responsibility and insight.

I'd also like to add that we need to take better care of young people and educate them better, because they will one day take the reins when we're old and gray. Corporations look at what the market is doing and which markets they can still conquer; they have no responsibility and just rip people off. This advertising for a product, like reverb, with a sound engineer at a console with 48 knobs, who then gives the corresponding commentary for a fee, is also outdated.

We need to teach young people how they are manipulated. In principle, you only need 10 effects for a lifetime and a single DAW. The corporations know this and delve deep into their bag of psychological tricks to squeeze out even more money.
When I started making music, there was no internet, only magazines, music stores, and a few musicians you could ask.

Today, the internet is an information jungle, and those who don't learn how to navigate it will get lost. I certainly hope that educators in schools are teaching young people critical thinking. This is happening in some schools, but not yet across the board. We all need to offer young people perspectives, not likes and click counts, but quality and content.

We have to reclaim the internet anyway, because the tech companies with their billions want to control it and continue making money.

 

I think the problem with his argument is that it contradicts in the middle, first he's talking about the development of technology as we know it and the possible future of it, then he makes a stand on human relationships and interaction, basically implying that we're the reason that all of this technology moves forward, the "gasoline" of the car., at least the social side of humanity..Then he proceeds to speak about something that he's working on, making it clear with those "markety" words that it's clearly something AI, at least it vibes strongly to it.

It really acts as no more than a commercial, brand introduction speech, it dips feet on the water but doesn't submerge. I think is just an euphemism, no more than that. Given the fact that he's the head of Brainworx and PA, i'd expect no more than a product. Wonder why the "old things bad" approach tho

 

Guys, guys.

If you don't wanna feel let down, don't trust ANYTHING these devs say.

Well, except Greg from Kush Audio and Fabien from TDR. And a few others (Denis from Zynaptiq is cool too).

But anyone who sells more than 25-30 plugins are in it for the money and money alone. They might have not started as such, but when they talk now, they only want your cash.

(Vojtech is a whole different discussion, he wants your money but he wants to give you the best possible too, I mean 95% of the time).

 

haha, absolutely not

in first place, nobody cares about audio-only anymore,
future will be about audio in context (of movies, computer games, smart home, agentic voice assistants etc..),

secondly, real-time workflows will always require local blackbox compute, implying some kinds of big platforms and ecosystems is a hard no-go for low latency multimedia,

last but not least, already present AI boom already proves professionals, artists or even humans aren't already in control or being final authority

 

After 40 years of same MIDI and linear tracker style music making, with just more power, I don't expect anything from this niche market where each one tries to repeat same things in their own closed systems...

 

The level of hate, not to mention gross misguided fact bending, in most of the comments above is startling.

Is there anyone any of you won't trash - let alone respect, laud and applaud?

What is this? A MAGAudio forum?