January 4, 2026
Knobs, drama, and AI
Show HN: I used AI to recreate a $4000 piece of audio hardware as a plugin
Dev clones $4K audio box with AI — HN asks: real sound or just shiny buttons
TLDR: A longtime coder says AI helped him recreate a $4,000 audio device as a plugin, claiming it sounds identical. Hacker News split: skeptics question whether it’s real circuit magic or just a slick interface, while others share tools, ask about the DAW, and cheer AI’s new build-anything era.
A veteran coder dropped a video claiming he used AI (Claude) and a music tool called Cmajor to recreate a $4,000 piece of audio hardware as a software plugin. He says it’s a “100% faithful” rebuild based on schematics, patents, and ROMs found online, and admits AI has him feeling transformed—no longer a traditional coder, but something new. The post reads like a mic drop; the comments turned into a remix.
The top reaction? Skeptic mode. One user asked if this was UI cosplay or a true circuit-level clone, and whether the plugin makes the same crunchy distortion that hardware fans worship. Another wanted to know the DAW (recording software) used, while a helpful commenter linked to Cmajor for anyone lost in the acronyms (DSP = digital signal processing; DAW = digital audio workstation). Cue drama: a mysterious “under-the-rug” comment got hidden, sparking eyebrow raises and whispered moderation lore (explanation).
Then the vibe flipped from gatekeeping to build-party: one user is making a combustion engine simulator the same way—finding research papers, having Claude implement the math, and wiring it up. The thread turned into a bigger question: is AI the new bandmate, or just autotune for coders? Either way, the hype knob is at 11 and the skeptics are riding the faders.
Key Points
- •The author recreated a $4,000 audio hardware unit as a software plugin.
- •They claim the recreation is faithful, based on schematics, patents, and ROMs available online.
- •Development was aided by an AI coding assistant referred to as Claude Code.
- •The implementation was done using the Cmajor language.
- •A YouTube video demonstrates the plugin and invites feedback.