Who here uses Waves plug ins?

[jackson]

There is - the Renaissance bundle.
Or the Musician's Bundles are cut down Renaissance bundles. All good value for money imho.

Yeah, that's true: Musicians Bundle II is a steal, the first real-world priced package from them. Makes you wonder what the other price tags are for...

Professional studio tax writeoffs

[zircon]

I use the Renn bundle. Unfortunately I don't feel like it was worth it ($450). The compressor is OK, but I prefer the TRacks compressor. The De-esser pales in comparison to the mda de-ess, amazingly. Ah well.

[fgimian]

I thought I'd share my 2 cents here. I have used Waves in the past and needless to say, they are top notch and work extremely well. What I love most about Waves plugins is their awesome GUI, very complete plugins each with full capabilities.

For instance, the Rennaissance EQ has everything you would ever need and sounds extremely analogue (almost identical to the Sonalksis EQ), the Compressor has the perfect mix of clean and character, sits perfectly everywhere. The RenVerb is totally light on the CPU yet is the best algorithmic verb (better than R66 and AA in my opinion) out there. Their SuperTap is without rival as are their excellent mastering plugins. The de-esser is definitely the most complete and best sounding de-esser out there (nope, Voxformer, SPL De-esser, MDA really do not compete in my opinion). The only complete de-esser I have ever seen is RDe-esser.

For me, it wasn't the price that turned me off buying them, because I was ready to buy the RenBundle and had the cash. It was the PACE, I simply will not touch PACE period ! So, I ended up going with Kjaerhus and Voxengo. There are advantages and disadvantages when going this route ...

Advantages
- Cheaper
- Better Support
- Good C/P
- More unique / extreme sounding plugins (e.g. Marquis Compressor, GEQ, Voxformer, GlissEQ)

Disadvantage
- Some plugins simply don't do everything they should and therefore, 2 or more plugins are required to perform the same tasks.
- Higher CPU usage
- GUIs are not as nice and intuitive in general

PACE justified my decision though, Waves isn't getting my cash. No iLok for me thank you and no C/R crap

End of the day, I find that if you know what you're doing, you can definitely get pro quality results with Kjaerhus and Voxengo ... As soon as the gaps are filled by Kjaerhus and Voxengo, I don't think there will be much reason to choose Waves in the future. I also hear that Buzzroom Audio are doing some stuff that heavily competes with Waves Mastering series.

Cheers
Fots

[bduffy]

I agree, Soundpalace. I might get rid of Waves someday, but I kinda doubt it as I have so many projects that use it. I've often suspected that PACE/Waveshell causes some kind of instability with Cubase/other plugins, but that's nothing tangible. I don't like the idea of dongles and now I'm overflowing with the things. Good thing I don't play games or anything!

[CANE CREEK]

instead of buying a waves package id rather buy a UAD-1 ultra-pak and a couple of project paks with the change.

[fgimian]

bduffy, that's awesome. So you haven't experienced any troubles with the iLok ?

Cane Creek makes a good point, for the price of the Platinum bundle, you could grab 3 UAD1 with all the plugins. However, I see a lotta people who use Waves & UAD1s together in the UAD forums. Waves for clean, UAD1 for coloured, sounds like the idea situation to me

Cheers
Fots

[bduffy]

bduffy, that's awesome. So you haven't experienced any troubles with the iLok ?

Cane Creek makes a good point, for the price of the Platinum bundle, you could grab 3 UAD1 with all the plugins. However, I see a lotta people who use Waves & UAD1s together in the UAD forums. Waves for clean, UAD1 for coloured, sounds like the idea situation to me

Cheers
Fots

No, I don't recall any problems with the iLok. We missed out on that whole nasty BSOD phase a couple years back. The Cubase (USB)dongle has been no problem either, amazing but true.

Yeah, UAD-1's. I may talk the bosses into going that route next time. Take the money we'd spend on Waves and get a better sound card (one I have now sucks) and all those lucious plugins...colour...drooool...

[fgimian]

lol ! Syncrosoft dongle has been perfect with me too, not at all intrusive, just sits there in my USB hub and keeps quiet

I think the dream studio would cosist of ...

- Waves Diamond / Platinum bundle
- 3 UAD1s
- Dual CPU Dual Core machine
- RME audio interface
- Steinberg Nuendo

mmmmmmmm yummy

OH, we were talking about Waves plugins right ? ...

Cheers
Fots

[AVBunyan]

Hey folks - how would you compare the Waves Native Power pack with the UAD-1 Project Pack? Both similar price and plugs - kind of.

Thanks

[original flipper]

HI

I liked the richness of the Waves phaser/modulator - can't remember the name - I hope the incoming Audio Damage phaser is a match as I do like a decent phaser and although there are a few good ones around none are what I would call exceptional.

Flipper.

[bduffy]

lol ! Syncrosoft dongle has been perfect with me too, not at all intrusive, just sits there in my USB hub and keeps quiet

I think the dream studio would cosist of ...

- Waves Diamond / Platinum bundle
- 3 UAD1s
- Dual CPU Dual Core machine
- RME audio interface
- Steinberg Nuendo

mmmmmmmm yummy

OH, we were talking about Waves plugins right ? ...

Cheers
Fots

Good lord that sounds good. Count me in for one of those. Don't forget this.

[fgimian]

lol ! Syncrosoft dongle has been perfect with me too, not at all intrusive, just sits there in my USB hub and keeps quiet

I think the dream studio would cosist of ...

- Waves Diamond / Platinum bundle
- 3 UAD1s
- Dual CPU Dual Core machine
- RME audio interface
- Steinberg Nuendo

mmmmmmmm yummy

OH, we were talking about Waves plugins right ? ...

Cheers
Fots

Good lord that sounds good. Count me in for one of those. Don't forget this.

YES PLEASE !!! lol that's just f...n AWESOME !

Cheers
Fots

[hoffy]

I use them because the studio i work at has them

f**ked if i'd be buying them myselves. I love the renaissance compressor. Used to love the EQ's but Equim is my new fave .

In my opinion, there's really no alternative as far as mastering plug-ins go, in terms of design and sound.

[hoffy]

Oh, and Doppler is essential for work, as are a bunch of other waves plugs i use for 5.1....

[fgimian]

Very true stuff. Well at the moment I use CurveEQ and HarmoniEQ for mastering EQs. Have you tried using HarmoniEQ in Linear Phase Mode ? Its definitely not as flexible as the Waves one but I believe it sounds as good if not better. Also the Elephant compares to the L2 but I still love the fact that the L2 sounds just as good but only uses 64 samples of latency, smart design right there

Cheers
Fots