"How do you filter out this AI-slop from actual engineering?"
Telltale signs are the descriptions:
Unleash the power of X, unchain the X, embark on X, Revolutionary, GAME CHANGER!!!, Sonic exploration, Dive into the unparallelled X, This next chapter takes you to X.
The problem was already present before AI, every plugin was called "GAME CHANGER!!!" when it was a basic rompler and everyone forgot about them in a week.

 

No one is forcing you to buy the poisoned plugin. Try the demo before buying it, or download it for free from Audioz. If you can't hear the difference with more professional plugins, that's your problem.

(Or it means you'll get your work done with those slop plugins too)..

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2026 at 1:59 PM

That's a huge problem for people who are testing infinite amounts of software nor have any trusted devs. Not for me.

 

you guys do not understand the issue with it.

poisoned milk remains an issue even if me and you do not buy poisoned milk because we only drink champagne.

the first issue is that it might - at least in european countries - simply be illegal to promote something as "carefully engineered" or "custom technique of our company" when it is not true.

the second issue is that when the market is full of nonsense and people spend money on buying nonsense, nobody will have money left for spending it on buying proper stuff and all the innovators of proper stuff go bankrupt or have to raise their prices.

problems need solutions, not excuses such as "do not buy it when you do not like it" or "why dont you do the same as they do and make money with nonsense".

if you actually think that this "is not your problem" when your neighbours kids drink poisoned milk, then you are part of the problem.

 

As harsh as it may sound, don't buy any products manufactured after 2024. Buy what the older musicians recommend. Ask us, we're a large, experienced forum. Everything's already here: FabFilter, Eventide, BrainWorX, Nomad Factory, SSL - Pre-AI Age - Post-AI Age

 

When you don't say the brand of the poisoned milk you are part of the problem as well.

 

I can't be part of your problem that doesn't even exist!
Don't worry though.. Even if they stop producing professional plugins tomorrow, there are already plenty of them for creating all sorts of things!
And unlike milk, they will never expire!

PS. I agree, however, that when people get used to certain types of junk, the overall quality declines. This can be seen in everyday life. The quality of many things has declined over the years. Poorer materials, decreased quality controls, etc..

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2026 at 8:06 PM

This describes much of the stuff being released to the scene of late. Yet the stuff we all know to be functional and value added remains invisible. Almost like the scene is being used in part to spread the junk around. I have seemingly been able to spot much of this stuff from afar - hence, since the scene is now full of this stuff, my interest in DL'ing much of anything has waned dramatically...

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2026 at 8:38 PM

I agree, the best years and innovations are behind us. 2026 and the coming years will be characterized by price drops due to lack of demand and market saturation, and nothing groundbreaking will emerge because the incentive is gone. Some will use AI to spruce up their plugins and then try to sell them.

The rest of the team will seize control of AI and try to sell us all bad products...!
The marketing will be sophisticated, probably even written by AI.

 

There are still innovations happening in the audio world. The fact that spectral processing is just now starting to enter the mainstream plugin market. Technologies like NAM are still in their infancy. Computers becoming powerful enough to run plugins we couldnt even dream of ten years ago. Im not accepting that development will stop because the incentive is gone. There are people who develop for many reasons, financial incentives is not the only thing that pushes innovation.

 

Every time AI comes up, people act like its existence is a moral emergency that needs to be “solved.” It’s not about plugins. It’s about people panicking over something they can’t control. That’s life. You don’t get veto power over technology trends just because they annoy you.

You have two options: buy it or don’t. That’s it. "Developers" have been selling junk plugins for 20+ years. Nobody formed a resistance movement over a bad reverb.

Now we’ve got a new internet archetype: Don. Named after Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The guy who charged windmills thinking they were giants. Brave, dramatic, completely detached. Swinging at imaginary monsters while the rest of us just make music.