Quote:
Originally Posted by JFreak
... when you don't miss Waves at all
|
I still like the Linear Phase eq. So once in a while, I use the CLA 1176. However, with a Mac Studio and Spark, the UA 1176AE is quickly becoming my go-to. I have a friend who has a pair of the AE compressors and they're out of this world. I wish Audioscape would make one!
The Waves plugin I use on almost every session is the Dorrough meter. I know there are several metering plugins, but most are geared toward hitting streaming targets. The Dorrough does what it does extremely well.
C4/C6 excel at what they do. I've tried other multi-band compressors (iZotope, UA Precision). For me, Waves is still king. Maybe it's because I've used it for so long.
Waves NLS is great. I had to spend a lot of time with it to get the most out of it. The Linear Phase EQ is very good. I think it's overlooked because many beginners don't understand what it does.
In my opinion, Waves dropping their prices to almost free has really hurt the brand's image. There isn't a Waves plug-in that sounds bad, it's just that many have been around for a long time. Plugins tend to be different than hardware in that the latest and greatest is considered better than the classic. Waves are boring, but they work fine.
The other plugin I am always using is the Avid 7 band eq. Maybe because I've used it for so long, but that is a great-sounding plugin. Sometimes I don't want character; I want eq. It's easily exchangeable and doesn't take any system resources. Re-skin that, and it would be $299.
The stock Avid plugins are spectacular for many things.