no, its not just code and NO, hell - guys … please, do some research on DSP programming in respect to sound creation! a specialized DSP offers command sets you cannot access on a classic CPU because it simply doesnt have them onboard !!! not everything is possible with SSE and thats the point. sure - theoretically - it is all code. but on a DSP specialized for creating particular types of sound you WILL hear the difference! take the BigSky from Strymon for example. Its Reverb Algorithms are also “just” digital, but they have a soul to them, a particular warm and rich sound you wont find in a vst plugin (which - btw - tends to sound cold and analytic - every vst plugin does!). and thats primarily done by the BigSkys DSP because it offers commands the guys at Strymon could use that you wont find on an Intel CPU. dont you get that?!
yeeez - have you guys missed an era in synthesizers, drummachines, effects before the recent “everything analog” wave came back again ???