AP Mastering released a new video on his new Delta Expose software:

But I was curious what everyone thinks of his past videos showing how expensive EQs and Compressors are essentially snake oil

The EQ plugin myth busted video is pretty hard to dispute. He shows the math and it would be impossible to tell the difference.

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM

Understanding audio fundamentals helps here.

 

they would NOT sell outboard gear if it was bad

 

I think its more about understanding how digital EQ plugins work. FabFilter and most plugins use biquad filters (a type of infinite impulse response filter) and this guys claim is more of how every digital plugin can achieve the same results if you know how to use it.

Analog emulations usually add harmonics and "character" by feeding test signals (sine sweeps, impulses) through hardware and measuring frequency responses. They recreate those measured curves digitally w/ mathematical models.. and probably just add color w/ saturation/distortion algorithms

I know some developers have actually used SPICE to emulate circuits.

Regardless, if you cant discern the difference in A/B tests, whats the point?

And btw im not sure i completely agree with him, im just playing devils advocate. he seems to show a lot of evidence

 

But therein lies the problem. I've recently tested about 15 chorus plugins to pick only one of them. Is it possible that I might have gotten a similar enough result with a different plugin from the one that I picked? For sure. But how much longer would I have to tweak? And why, if the TAL Juno chorus got me what I liked the most with such ease? Just to prove to myself that it's all 1s and 0s? I could say the same about vocoders, compressors, phasers or some EQs that I like.

 

I mean thats fair enough, and what a lot of people say in response to this, but i think the criticism is they market some of these compressor and EQ plugins as these magical recreations of analog hardware when in fact they all work and sound the same. This potentially tricks young producers into spending thousands of dollars they dont need to spend. We might not have that problem, but dont forget some of these channel strip plugins are like $250 for a parametric eq
I use a ton of different plugins too and try out different EQs and compressors all the time. I am not trying to make any judgements, it is just an interesting set of videos on a technical level.

 

He seems to, or does he actually provide evidence?
One is able to find out by understanding audio fundamentals.
Digital or analog can not matter in this context because audio fundamentals already include this differentiation.
That's why they are called fundamentals.

It is important to point out that it is advisable for people to understand how things work without consulting other people (or an artificial intelligence) all the time.

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2025 at 9:25 PM

I have said this for years, but IMO this "scam" that he talks about with the plugin compressor market is not just limited to compression types. It extends to all facets of the "plug in" market. The reasoning for this is simple. Capitalist greed. I would also venture further to include the DAW market as well.

 

This guy is just a massive grifter pregaming his affordable product line, by attacking the competition as a whole through selectively cherry picked examples, and using them to build himself up as an authoritative figure and good honest guy who would never prey on you. He's very good at presenting one truth while blurring another, and submitting and emitting examples that reinforce his argument or keep you from questioning it.

He's not putting in this much effort out of the goodness of his heart to build an influencer brand for sponsorships and ad revenue money either, that bridge died on day one. It's very clear he's just aligning himself to sell shit cheap in volume to noobs and skeptics, who will never question him, and will attack anyone who criticises his products, because they can't see or hear through the halo they put on his devious head.

 

That could very well be true. He says he was giving away the stuff he was schlepping for free. Although "sending an email for a link" doesn't sound like a "no-strings" scenario either... In any case you have to admit that the crap ton of plugins that basically all do the same thing is indeed a scam. Especially when a lot of these things are extremely expen$ive. IMO, it is a very great thing that we have our teams of witches out there leveling the playing field for us.

 

he codes open source plugins, but sells a few courses on mastering. The EQ one seems pretty in depth. this guy clearly knows some stuff. I figured people may have passionate opinions about this, which is why i thought it would make an interesting topic, but i wish people would give specifics on why he is wrong. He shows null tests and tons of other evidence in his videos like comparing gain reduction curves on compressors.

But yet some of these responses are just "you dont understand audio fundamentals". lol i do understand audio fundamentals and have dabbled in DSP programming myself. Im not expert on EQs and compressions, but lets get down and dirty. show specific examples of why he is wrong.

FOR SCIENCE

 

Is it? How so?
Just because a gazillion plugin developers try to recreate an 1176 or put their own spin on it, doesn't automatically make those things a scam, right? They all use math, yes. But math isn't a scam. So where's the scam? The claim that their baby is something special? Or the price tag? What exactly does make something a scam? And if that's enough, isn't this "delta expose" plugin just as much of a scam? I cracked up when I saw that piece of crap in the video. That thing is just a bog-standard ramp signal generator that can plot deltas. Charging 5 bucks for something that any reasonably LLM like gemini oder claude can spit out for you in a minute as real-time audio capable code – that's pretty cheeky, don't you think? Especially when it looks like it was actually generated by an LLM and just used without any further editing. Doesn't have to be the case, but it looks that way.

Anyway... Personally, I wouldn't be so quick to label something a scam. Even though many might not want to believe it, a hell of a lot of work goes into most plugins. Usually, it actually takes a bit more than just copying a few formulas from some study or library and slapping a GUI on top with a bit of mouse logic and file parsing.

Whatever. That guy is a real pain in the ass. He occasionally makes a well-founded point, but overall, he's just some dude with a massively inflated ego, fighting straw men of his own creation and trying to push his bullshit on people.

 

This guy can't manage to research a decent haircut

 

Maybe he should research how to get some b*tches.

I'm sure it's possible to get most sounds you could want out of non-modeling EQ or a 'digital' compressor, and that you'd never really 'need' any others. I use SSL Channel strips, Distressor emulations, 1176 emulations, and G Bus Comp emulations because that's the gear I know and the workflow that gets me where I want to go the fastest. I don't see how that's a scam.

 

Most engineers seem to agree that the ears are the best tell, even with great spectral analysis tools.
Most people also pick the plugin or outboard hardware that does what they want, and is most pleasing to their ears when mixing, that will aid achieving what their end goal is.

Here's a really basic bit of logic, if they were all a scam, then the sound would not change. If someone said some H/W and plugins are closer to doing what they say than others, that would make sense, but a full blown scam? No.

 

Lots of people like pretty pictures... but don't really understand how DSP works. Digital audio processing in itself is pretty much impeccable in comparison to analogue. Impeccable. However, there are little things that make some DSP better than other's. Good quality oversampling that doesn't mess the phase comes to mind and it's rare. Aside from that, if you're looking for clean processing, digital is the way to go, free or otherwise. If you think the big guys have big guns, it's your burden to cope with.

 

Do you know people are so susceptible to placebo effect that asking them if there is a change in sound with a plugin on bypass will make them say yes? Keep changing something with a plugin on bypass and they will hear the difference. I've experienced it myself many times. your mind is not to be trusted when there's a pretty gui and an ugly gui. You can only really tell with closed eyes. I generally close my eyes when mixing and try to just listen. It works.

 

Last edited: Apr 11, 2025 at 2:31 AM

The workflow imposed by these tools I don't disagree with. They simplify things, if you need that, and often when you're creative you need simple tools that do the job. Like LA-2A, LA-3A, 1176, SSL-4k EQ, 1073 EQ. You can do most mixing with just these (emulations).

 

The ears only have been the testing block since the very first mix.

 

AP Mastering is the scam.