Waves NLS Non-Linear Summer released

[yl]

disappointing !
and the term 'non linear summer' for the plugin is misleading
http://waves.com/

[bishop666]

disappointing !
and the term 'non linear summer' for the plugin is misleading
http://waves.com/

Give the plugin a try! Maybe it can add something you like, although it doesn't do "real summing"

[penguinfromdeep]

I don't know how real summing could be done in a plug-in, maybe if it was built-in a daw it would be possible (I'm sure we'll see something like this in future). It must be a nightmare to program in a plug-in something like this, still Sknote managed to do this somewhat in the Stripbus 2 plug-in. It's still quite buggy though at least for me ...

[yl]

I DID ! and I like !
but I think the name of the plugin is wrong

[bishop666]

I don't know how real summing could be done in a plug-in, maybe if it was built-in a daw it would be possible (I'm sure we'll see something like this in future). It must be a nightmare to program in a plug-in something like this, still Sknote managed to do this somewhat in the Stripbus 2 plug-in. It's still quite buggy though at least for me ...

Doesn't harrison's Mixbus do that: more than just digital summing?

- Maybe DAW developers should take a look how (and if) their daws could be opened for alternative summing algos. (Does this lead to better results in the end???)

[yl]

- Maybe DAW developers should take a look how (and if) their daws could be opened for alternative summing algos. (Does this lead to better results in the end???)

that's what I initially thought NLS brings to the table !
I wonder where I got that idea ?

that would be swell...
(I think PropellerHead have a 'modeled' mixer in place no ?)

[aMUSEd]

How can you "model" a specific example of a certain product? (Mike Hedge's console etc)I mean I can see how you can model the product itself by using some sort of circuit modelling but every instance of that product should still have the same circuits as the others and I can't see how you could model to the level of detail that capture specific differences that precisely - unless they are using IR's perhaps?

[yl]

I think waves use IR's to analyze this (and all their emulation) stuff..
what (I think) they modeled here are the gain stages harmonic response..
at different volumes/freqs..

[bezusheist]

gimmick |ˈgimik|
noun
a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business.

[sadkin]

I have been excited about this - yet, i am not sure how i'll proceed as I have been surprisingly pleased with Satson.

Between that, UA Studer and character comps and color EQ's, I am getting a lot of that analog feel these days - I have, in some cases, 'over done it' and it took a couple try's to figure out that 'more simulated analog feel' does not make a sound or mix necessarily better, actually, I have just as often found the contrary. In fact, it has gotten to the point that I preferred Satson over Stripbus because I liked that Satson forced me to be mild due to its limited options - yes, you can drive the channel, but i try to refrain. My mixes sound just a little better, greater depth with satson on every channel (untouched) and on buss sums. Adding a console emu with 'more' color' and modeled circuits with such pedigree is surely tempting but I am getting to a place where I am starting to get the sounds i've always wanted without having to be recording and mixing at Air studios, ya know?

still, curious and it looks frickin amazing!

[AKJ]

Non-Linear Summer = non-sense plugin

[Captain]

When discussing this subject some time ago in another thread, someone convinced me that the actual summing is always a straightforward linear process, be it analog, digital, or whatever. What we perceive as "analog" or "warmth" or whatever is actually done separately on individual channels (plus the master bus after mixing), and there's never anything special in how individual channels are mixed (summed) together. Or that's how I understood it.

So, which way is it?

[3ee]

Non-Linear Summer = non-sense plugin

I don't think that's entirely true.. however they are asking way too much for this kind of plugins imo! ...and they will probably sell enough as many people who don't really understand why their mix doesn't get any better will bet that getting these will kinda "mix for them"

For the price you should be able to get a good eq, compressor and saturation device and learn how to better use them instead... or at least to mimic what these tools are doing just for fun.

if one's really pretentious, they can get a good multi-band comp and/or saturation device as well ..that's basically it! unless these tools have some sort of "magical powers" ask Santa or the Easter Bunny to get them for you!

[Compyfox]

Waves always seems to top what other companies do with their plugins, I'm sure this will be no different.

I'm not too sure on that end. You said that you prefer Waves over UAD and Softube. I pretty much go the other way due to several reasons. One being that Waves more than often "overshoots".

Here in example of NLS, it's pumping way too much if driven hard (and by that, I mean REALLY hard). This is something I definitely do not prefer on any console I'm using.

Then again, WAves is like Softube, UAD, Native Instruments, IKM, Nomad Factory and who else is out there - they modeled equipment they had at their(!) exposal. And since each hardware device sounds unique in some sort of way, you're bound to hear differences.

Alessandro Boschi (Nebula Presets) tried to evade all that. He moded his own consoles to work more flat and therefore cleaner than say the SSL console Waves or even Slate had to work with. You can not compare them 1:1 - but you can find your personal preference.

With the TG console, the RCA Tube and the Trident it's a bit different. Not many of them were built actually, but there are plenty of SSL's and Neve's. It's like choosing the right tie for your banquet.

One thing I am disappointed about is that Waves NLS (stands for Non Linear Summing) doesn't actually do the summing. It is just another coloration plugin like VCC. Seems like stripbus is the only plugin that actually communicates between channels (while it doesn't actually bypass the daw's summing it comes pretty close to modeling a console's behavior in a way no other plugin does.

Not quiet true actually, and not really wrong either.

Console plugins like VCC, NLS and SATSON do "sum" the audio signal like an analog console would do "in theory". It not only adds saturation, but also "bleeds" the mixed channels together (crosstalk).

StripBus lies on a whole different ballpark. This plugin can be considered an "own mixing console". The channels interact depending on how much they overload, but they don't necessarily bleed with each other. That is for STRIPbus at least. stripBUS is just a master bus compressor.

It's all in the details.
VCC, NLS, SATSON, CS1V - they all offer channel based saturation and connection of the settings (grouping). VCC can even be controlled via the bus plugin, the same seems to apply for NLS.

Which one is superior and which one is not really (really!) depends on your wanted sound and your workflow.


There is one thing that all of these summing and console type plugins do nowadays: they let us rethink how to properly mix again. They teach us how to gain stage, how to measure in, how to mix while not overdoing sh*t. And here, Slate VCC was one of the forerunners.

And there is another advantage of not going for "one" device only: mix and match. I still catch myself using VCC with PODfarm (Modern Preamp, which is "modeled after" an Avalon) or even Nebula ACQUA just to get things rolling. With SoundToys recent Little Radiator release (an ANTEC preamp!), Nomad Factory ALL-TECH EQ and/or Pultec plus maybe Waves NLS (TG console) you can in theory mimic a massively enhanced EMI TG12345 transfer console that had a bastard child with the Abbey Road REDD.51.

All at our fingertips. Try to get that in hardware form.

[lightsfadelow]

See this post for the magic that SKNote applied to get more real analog console feel than just a glorified color plugin:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/7771485-post1095.html