The Gauntlet™
The final stress test before any Bellweather plugin ships. We subject the plugin to 1 million randomized parameter changes while processing audio at 192kHz with 32-sample buffers—the worst-case scenario.
What is The Gauntlet?
If it survives The Gauntlet with zero crashes, zero glitches, and zero artifacts, it's ready for your studio. If it fails, we rebuild.
The name comes from the medieval punishment where someone runs between two rows of soldiers who strike them. Our plugins run through a million parameter mutations—each one a potential point of failure.
Test Configuration
- Sample Rate
- 192kHz (maximum supported rate)
- Buffer Size
- 32 samples (minimum, worst-case latency)
- Test Duration
- 60 seconds of continuous processing
- Parameter Changes
- 1,000,000 randomized mutations
- Change Rate
- ~16,666 parameter changes per second
What We Measure
Audio Glitches
Any clicks, pops, or discontinuities in the output audio. Target: Zero.
Crashes
Plugin or host application crashes. Target: Zero.
Latency Spikes
Audio processing taking longer than the buffer allows. Target: Zero.
Memory Violations
Out-of-bounds access, use-after-free, or other memory errors. Target: Zero.
CPU Spikes
Processing time exceeding real-time constraints. Target: Zero.
Why 1 Million Parameter Changes?
DAWs can send thousands of automation events per second during playback. A typical mix session might involve hundreds of thousands of parameter changes.
We test at 1 million to ensure stability under any real-world scenario—and then some. If a plugin can't handle The Gauntlet, it's not production-ready.
This isn't theoretical. Race conditions, buffer overruns, and smoothing algorithm bugs often only appear under extreme parameter automation. The Gauntlet finds them before you do.
Example Results
BwsPressure v1.0.0 — PASS
- Audio glitches:
- 0
- Crashes:
- 0
- Latency spikes:
- 0
- Memory violations:
- 0
- CPU spikes:
- 0
Tested: Feb 3, 2026 · Platform: macOS 14.2 Intel x86_64