Any Waves plugins worth buying?

[dickiefunk]

Hi,

There seems to be masses of Waves plugins for sale all the time and I'm curious to know if any of them are particularly worthwhile purchasing?

In addition to the stock plugins in Cubase 9, main bulk of my VST fx plugins are :-

EQ's

Acon - Equalize
NI - Enhanced, Passive & Solid EQ's
Overloud - EQ550
TDR - Slick EQ-GE, Slick EQ-ME and Nova-GE
Voxengo - Curve & Gliss EQ

Compressor's

NI - VC-2A, VC-76, VC-160, Solid Bus Comp, Solid Dynamics, Supercharger GT Vari Comp
TDR - Kotelnikov-GE
Voxengo - Marquis, Soniformer, Transgainer

Reverbs

Acon - Verberate
Liquidsonics - Reverberate 2
NI - RC24, RC48

Limiters

PSP - Xenon
Stillwell - Bombardier
TDR - Limiter 6-GE
Voxengo - Elephant

Channel Strips

Izotope - Alloy 2, Izotope Nectar 2, Ozone 5 (going to upgrade to
Voxengo - Voxformer

Are there any Wave's plugins you would recommend as worth demoing/buying based on what I already have?

[Zexila]

Just skip those categories of plugins, you really don't need another EQ, comp or whatever you listed there, look beyond that, beyond hardware emu's, there's some interesting stuff for sure, you already got this covered.

[jbarish]

It would be better if you mentioned which waves plugs interested you. Then others could give you feedback based on what you already have. But ultimately you're the only one who can decide if a plugin will benefit you. Demo the ones that might give you something you feel you're lacking.

[thephank]

I agree with Zexila. Nothing Waves has to offer will outright beat what you already have. Check out all the fun little gadgets like MaxxBass, their new VU meter or the classic Dorrough, Non-Linear Summer, Infected Mushroom stuff, etc.

[Scrubbing Monkeys]

I think the Element 2 synth is a special piece.

Tg12345 is also unigue.

I still find ssl g strip to be one of the most useful EQs out there

certainly worth 29.00.

[exmatproton]

When on sale; scheps omni channel, really.

[Jonny Quest]

Infected Mushroom

This one is actually very cool and, without even stating it in its features, it can function as a combination multi-band buss compressor, harmonic enhancer, brick wall limiter with a lot of "character." A few of these few-button "character" plug-ins (also the Greg Wells MixCentric and the Scheps Parallel Particles) are inexpensive and do impart a specific glossy pop perspective that one might not arrive at if left to their own devices.

[heyheycnv]

AR plates and vinyl, REDD, NLS, Aphex, J37 and RS56 are all I regret not all spending 29 bucks to get. One or all can add great flavor to your sound. Vitamin is cool but I use Type A much more.
The SSLG does nothing for me. Usually hate the sound when tried.

[soundmodel]

Many Waves plug-ins are quite old and while they're fine workhorses, they don't have the highest sound quality compared to more modern offerings. What you already have has a lot of very great tools, so you should be covered in EQ, dynamics and reverb.

From Waves I perhaps would mention is Waves NLS, which is quite okay for adding "analog summing" effects. The "psychoacoustic" effects are also quite good (RBass, RVox etc.). As are the Maxx series (e.g. MaxxVolume). For others I find that there are better alternatives from e.g. Slate Digital or ToneBoosters.

[Recourt]

The API 550 and 2500 are cool.

[Fleer]

I like the Signature and Abbey Road packs. For dedicated plugins I deeply prefer everything from FabFilter and SlateDigital. Plus all things Zynaptiq, of course, goes without saying.

[Stefken]

You can still invest in saturators.
I like vitamin and especially the Apex Vintage aural exciter.
The synth Element 2 is also very neat.

But if you are already an Arturia user check out the new pre-amps from arturia for a sweet deal in coloring your sounds.

[imrae]

Doubler and MaxxBass both have a good workflow to do a simple useful thing that is hard to find elsewhere.

As mentioned in the phaser thread Enigma is pretty cool.

[redlester]

Just bought the H-Reverb, and really like it.

[beeny]

I've been suckered into a bunch of the $29 deals. Some are in every session, some I forget that I even own.
Highlights have been Vocal Rider, NLS, Torque, H-Reverb, Scheps Omni Channel, Abbey Road Plate and the Linear Phase Multiband.