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Category 5 Stress Tests

Our baseline test suite covers 25 failure scenarios that can crash plugins, corrupt audio, or cause unpredictable behavior. Every plugin must pass 100%. These run as Catch2 tests via CTest with bpts_gate labels.

What We Test

RT-Safety Validation

Real-time audio processing cannot allocate memory, acquire locks, or perform unbounded operations. We verify zero violations.

Why it matters: A single allocation on the audio thread can cause dropouts that ruin a recording session. RT violations are the #1 cause of live performance failures.

Parameter Mutation Tests

We test every parameter at:

  • •Minimum value
  • •Maximum value
  • •Zero crossing
  • •Rapid changes (10,000 changes/second)
  • •Simultaneous multi-parameter changes

Why it matters: DAW automation can change parameters thousands of times per second. Your plugin must handle this gracefully without clicks, pops, or crashes.

NaN/Inf Protection

We verify the audio output never contains NaN (Not a Number) or Inf (Infinity) values, which can damage speakers and crash DAWs. Checked via StressTests::validateBuffer().

Why it matters: NaN propagates through processing chains and can destroy an entire mix. One bad sample corrupts everything downstream.

Memory Leak Detection

Marathon tests run for 1+ hours with continuous parameter automation to detect slow memory leaks.

Why it matters: Memory leaks crash DAWs during long sessions. A producer working on a 4-hour mixing session can't afford a crash at hour 3.

DC Offset Handling

We verify output contains less than 0.001 DC offset (approximately −60dBFS).

Why it matters: DC offset damages speakers, causes clicks when bypassing, and accumulates in processing chains.

Known gap: Our validateBuffer() function currently checks for NaN, Inf, and clipping but does not measure DC offset. This was identified through mutation testing. Fix on roadmap (BPTS v2.2.0).

Complete Test List (25 Tests)

  1. RT-Safety: No allocations on audio thread
  2. RT-Safety: No mutex locks detected
  3. RT-Safety: No unbounded operations
  4. Parameter bounds: Minimum value handling
  5. Parameter bounds: Maximum value handling
  6. Parameter bounds: Zero crossing
  7. Parameter automation: Rapid changes (10k/sec)
  8. Parameter automation: Multi-param simultaneous
  9. NaN detection: Output buffer validation
  10. Inf detection: Output buffer validation
  11. Clipping prevention: Peak limiting verification
  12. DC offset: Output measurement (<0.001)
  13. Memory leaks: 1-hour marathon test
  14. Thread safety: Concurrent parameter changes
  15. Silence handling: All-zero input buffers
  16. Hot signal: +12dBFS input handling
  17. Square wave stress: Nyquist frequency
  18. Impulse response: Dirac delta input
  19. DC input: Constant DC offset input
  20. Buffer size variations: 32 to 4096 samples
  21. Sample rate variations: 44.1kHz to 192kHz
  22. Channel configurations: Mono, stereo, 5.1, 7.1
  23. Bypass consistency: Bit-perfect passthrough
  24. State persistence: Save/load parameter state
  25. Undo/redo: Parameter history validation