"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.

 

I basically don't buy any "fancy" plugins. Always demo it on at least two past mixes to see whether it would have improved the mix if I had used it. And I always check the frequency response with an analyzer if it generates aliasing noise.

 

i wonder in what category "how i make my claps tutorial video" falls (and why it appears in the left column^^)

does "slop" requires that "intelligence" has been used?

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2026 at 11:38 PM

in case i wasnt clear. when A shits B you might not be affected since you are C, but it is still a problem.

i wörri no. i plug-ins make myself.

and no milk on my planet is. we cows here not have.

 

You're quite right! These coupled with the absolute deluge of garbage sample packs. I'm not talking about stuff like BOOM libraries, I'm talking about the "fast food", wholly redundant, pile of sample packs that seem to rain down on the scene on a per minute schedule. Absolutely worthless dogfood IMO...Yet it continues minute by minute

 

Dont really use plugins, unless they are special, like Moog and then only occasionally for specific reasons, intervals make hits, not plugins, Cher's 'I Believe' being the exception that proves the rule perhaps.

You rarely see Cubase or others templates. only Ableton, there's seems to be truck loads of extras for fiddly Ableton, so i think that manufactures chancers etc prey on Ableton folk who 'upload' rather than 'release' music.

The same applies to shitty sample packs, could it be that, I'm guessing, that Ableton users predominately, are producing shitty music cos they can't write, so use shitty samples und plugins.

The fact is, there's too many, plugins, Daw's, Synths, DJ's, books, films, producers, writers, singers, creatives, comedians, plays, flavours of ice cream etc.

So don't complain if you are a consumer eh as it makes not a blind bit of difference to the quality of your work, especially the plugins.

So put a plug in it, innit.

 

They should reconsider that statement. They know that a faster, modern CPU is possible, but as always, there's a cooling problem that hasn't been solved yet; the CPU simply gets too hot. Ryzen 7 9850x3D = 707,00€ and The Corsair Vengeance RGB 64GB DDR5-6000 CL30 kit currently costs €879. Who can still afford that? Living costs are rising worldwide, and wages are stagnating.

In my post I was referring to Pluginina, i.e., virtual software synthesizers and FX/effects! Of course, humanity doesn't stand still!

 

They seem a bit overwhelmed and have lost their way.

The human mind is very creative and resourceful. Anyone with a good idea can create a product and offer it on the public marketplace (free market economy, i.e., trade). If customers expect added value from the product, they will buy it. If there isn't enough demand, the product disappears from the market.

The market regulates itself. If there are too many similar products, like the competition, they will likely lower the price or produce a better product to attract customers. After all, only the customer pays.

Imagine there's a flood like the one in Thailand, and the company that manufactures hard drives is affected. For example, they might be temporarily unable to produce hard drives. But then there are other manufacturers who offer and sell them.

Plugins are like groceries. Look at how many varieties of cheese are available in the supermarket and at what price. Manufacturers typically have three target groups: people with low incomes, people with middle incomes, and people with high incomes.

Imagine there's a flood like in Thailand, and the company that manufactures hard drives is affected. They might not be able to produce hard drives for a while, but then other manufacturers will offer and sell them. Consider that every product creates jobs and thus generates income. High income leads people to buy products that satisfy their needs.

If they have little income, they'll buy on Black Friday and cheap plugins because they simply don't have more money available. Most manufacturers are aware of this.

Because remember, a company must always sell very high volumes to cover its staffing costs, operating expenses, and profits. Profits are important in case of a downturn or sales slump; furthermore, profits are needed to develop innovations and new products.

(P.S.: This text was written by me.)