All Waves plugs $29 plus 4 for 2! Thoughts on NX?

[SparkySpark]

Hi,

Now on Cyber Monday, all Waves plugins are just 29 dollars each (and YES I know their prices are often super-inflated, but still)! Plus for every two bought, one gets two for free! There MUST be some good stuff in there.

I'm especially interested in their studio modelling software (for us working mainly on headphones). I bought their Abbey Road emulation before, and am looking at Nx Ocean Way Nashville and CLA NX.

Any thoughts? Waste of money? From what I can understand, Ocean Way is more faithful than Abbey Road.

Thanks!

[flori89]

Careful, there is a specific list of plugins where you can choose your freebies from. Make sure you find what you want on that list first if you are counting on the freebies .

[v1o]

Careful, there is a specific list of plugins where you can choose your freebies from. Make sure you find what you want on that list first if you are counting on the freebies .

Thats the gotcha! The freebies are typically older plugins.

[multree]

the list isn't THAT short..... what's the copy protection on waves plug-ins nowadays....??? this offer is tempting but I wouldn't want iLoks or something on my machine.

[kidslow]

You don't have to worry about iLok with Waves, although I believe they still support it. You do have to worry about waveshell and WUP, which are their own burdens to be sure.

[SparkySpark]

Yes, they still have their own system (a bit like Pro Tools' AAX). Apart from that, I haven't had issues with their system.

[SparkySpark]

Careful, there is a specific list of plugins where you can choose your freebies from. Make sure you find what you want on that list first if you are counting on the freebies .

Thats the gotcha! The freebies are typically older plugins.

Thanks! They sure are sneaky!

Maybe they should just dissolve the company and start over with the good stuff but without the weird marketing and formats.

[jamcat]

the list isn't THAT short..... what's the copy protection on waves plug-ins nowadays....??? this offer is tempting but I wouldn't want iLoks or something on my machine.

I don't mind iLok. Most developers let you do virtual iLok and give you 2 authorizations, so it's just a glorified machineID-based challenge/response. I actually choose to use the dongle for my Windows DAW because you never know when you're going to have to wipe a Windows machine clean and start fresh. I use machine-based iLok on my MacBook Pro.

The only thing you need to watch out for is some developers might restrict machine-based iLok authorization. Of everything I have, only Slate Digital does that, so I've retired them.

Waves is actually a bit more of a hassle, because they only give you a single lifetime authorization for your purchased plugins, plus a second "complimentary" authorization if, and only if your WUP is current. So you have to move your Waves license around to use multiple computers if you haven't paid your yearly protection money.

[cryophonik]

Careful, there is a specific list of plugins where you can choose your freebies from. Make sure you find what you want on that list first if you are counting on the freebies .

Thats the gotcha! The freebies are typically older plugins.

Thanks! They sure are sneaky!

I don't see anything sneaky about it. It's stated clearly right at the top of their sale page with a link to the freebies. As for them being older plugins, I don't see a problem there either. That simply means they've been around longer and have been used by more people, on more releases, and more hit songs, etc. Waves has done a great job of keeping them up to date for current OS', given most of them facelifts, etc. so where's the problem?

[jamcat]

Nx is junk. It's cool junk, but junk nonetheless.
It sounds more like you're watching a small TV than sitting in front of monitors in a studio control room.

The gimmicky studio themed versions degrade the quality of your audio even worse, and your mixes would definitely suffer for it. Abbey Road sounds more like Tin Pan Alley. Or at at least a tin pan.

Honestly, the only Waves plugins worth buying are the SSL EV2 and Reel ADT. But then there's nothing left to choose for your free plugins.

[Agreed]

I got the Abbey Roads reverbs and picked the Brauer Motion and Kramer HLS plugins. First time buying Waves, though I got Codex for free earlier this year so I was familiar with their activation process and all that. I like the reverbs fine and needed some more virtually useful "spaces" that sound pretty good, feel like that is what I got. Haven't dug into the others, but I think Motion will have some sound design applications for me. I like coloration plugins so HLS seemed like it might be interesting to try, wasn't really missing any type of tool from the freebie list so it was a bit of a , might end up liking it though who knows.

[jamcat]

I got the Abbey Roads reverbs and picked the Brauer Motion and Kramer HLS plugins. First time buying Waves, though I got Codex for free earlier this year so I was familiar with their activation process and all that. I like the reverbs. Haven't dug into the others, but I think Motion will have some sound design applications for me. I like coloration plugins so HLS seemed like it might be interesting to try, wasn't really missing any type of tool from the freebie list so it was a bit of a , might end up liking it though who knows.

I bought the HLS plugin a little while back because I really wanted a model of the Helios Lustraphone mic pre. Must say I really regret spending $29 on it. Pretty much everything sounds better than it in a head-to-head comparison. It was released in 2010, and it shows. I also got the REDD console which is almost as old, but I'll be swapping it out for the Arturia Pre V76, so another wasted purchase.

I got the dbx 160 as my freebie, and it's the only one I remotely like. I like it because the hard knee gets bass and drums bouncing, but I found I can get the same result from the channel compressor in bx SSL 4000 E.

[briefcasemanx]

I think the Ocean Way NX is just "okay". It's interesting to check a mix on, but I don't mix through it. I *think* there is a newer version though that is supposed to be a little better. Is the CLA one the newest one?


Favorite waves plugins are:

Abbey Roads Chambers
Abbey Roads Plates
Abbey Roads Saturator
Abbey Roads Mastering
DBX 160
CLA Mixhub (or the new EV2 since they're basically the same thing)
J37
Scheps Omni
Vocal Bender
API 2500

I own like 50 more but don't use them that much. These all rank from solid to superlative, and still get used despite me having a mindbending number of plugins at my disposal. People that say all Waves plugins are bad are just parroting things they've heard other people say. Some are actually superb, you just need to filter out the crap.

[Agreed]

2010 is pretty old I'll keep an open mind though. Does it have an overall EQ coloration like the console that might be useful on some buses? I'll mess around with it tomorrow and see how I feel. Thank you for your thoughts jamcat!

[nIGhT-SoN]

Waves plugins are not bad, but their licensing is not ok comparing with other developers. You have to pay annually to be able to use their products on two PCs, without much trouble. It's similar to a subscription in some ways. If anyone were to ask me, I would suggest to stay away from Waves, there are lots of alternatives, some even free.