OK, Let me get my helmet and flack vest on so I can post
In the end the goal is to have a nutritious substrate. There are any number of ways this can be accomplished. The difference between them will boil down to two issues. What you start with and what you add. And they in turn will determine how long it takes to have a nutritious substrate in place, how much it will cost you and how often you have to supplement it.
I chose to spend my money elsewhere and developed my own over time. I mostly use only laterite and small sized aquarium gravel . However, it takes a few months for my substrate to build up the mulms etc needed to become truly nutritious. But the cost is minimal. You can do this in sand just a easily. I also add substrate ferts every few months in many of my planted tanks. (The specific types of plants in a tank determine if and how often I may do this.)
Anything ADA sells will come loaded with stuff that one could add a lot cheaper or more naturally and get the same results over the longer term. But if you are impatient, don't want to do the work yourself and do not mind overpaying for things, then the ADA soil works great and faster. However, it is not a magical potion that will work forever. No matter what subtrate one uses, the plants will eventually use up many of the available nutrients and they will have to be replaced.
The only thing I would say is important when choosing a planted substrate is that you choose one which is finer grained. Aquatic plant roots tend to do best in a finer grained substrate, especially for the more delicate foreground plants. How you deliver the proper nutrients is up to you.
Finally, while many folks do agree with the above, plenty of folks will not.
