Anyone Wave's Gold Bundle yet? Is it worth the $?

[djich]

I'm thinking about this package, but I really question if its worth it. Will it make that huge of a difference in sound quality with the 001. It cost more than the unit itself. If anyone has tried this package, please let me know if there is a huge difference in sound quality, and which plugins you favor. Thanks

[editor]

Well I know they are expensive, however, I couldn't live with out the waves stuff.....all of em' actually. The L1 The C1 C4 Q10 S1 all the Ren stuff, the dither isn't bad. The waves plug-ins make the pro tools gear completely pro, they take it to the next level. I make my living as a mastering engineer on the record label , national release level....the waves stuff is that good.

[lwilliam]

I haven't used the Gold Bundle, but do have the Native Power Pak, but I'm seriously considering upgrading to the Gold bundle (as soon as I talk my "better half" into letting me spend the $$$ on it).

I don't mix without the L1 limiter, I just don't. The dithering is very good, also.

I also didn't realize how much I missed the really good "drum Room' preset in the TrueVerb, until I got it back with RTAS.


------------------
LW

[Giovanni]

I just installed the Gold Bundle. I love 'em. I didn't think twice about buying them because it seems that just about any top 40 release that goes through PT also goes through a couple of Waves plugins.

(thanks LW for your help with them also)

--Gio

[Jeff D.]

I was unsure about my ability to make pro quality mixes with the 001 until I got Waves. I have NPP I & II, which is 2/3rds of the gold bundle. I would say that the Ren Comp and Ren EQ in NPPII make the most difference compared with the Digi plug-ins. There is definitely some magic in there!

I downloaded the McDSP Filterbank and Compressorbank demos, and thought that they were perhaps even a little bit better than Waves, but they cost more, and with Waves you get other useful stuff like the De-esser (as good as a dbx 902 IMO), reverb, the great L1 limiter, etc.

Once Antares releases AutoTune RTAS I will be satisfied...

Jeff D.

[Jeff D.]

I was unsure about my ability to make pro quality mixes with the 001 until I got Waves. I have NPP I & II, which is 2/3rds of the gold bundle. I would say that the Ren Comp and Ren EQ in NPPII make the most difference compared with the Digi plug-ins. There is definitely some magic in there!

I downloaded the McDSP Filterbank and Compressorbank demos, and thought that they were perhaps even a little bit better than Waves, but they cost more, and with Waves you get other useful stuff like the De-esser (as good as a dbx 902 IMO), reverb, the great L1 limiter, etc.

Once Antares releases AutoTune RTAS I will be satisfied...

Jeff D.

[mcdsp]

Howdy Jeff D., others...

Just wanted to point out that the McDSP plugIns include the TDM, RTAS, and Audiosuite versions.

So if you 'go with the green' in a 001 system, and then later go TDM or find yourself mastering some project at another facility with a TDM rig, you already have the McDSP plugIns. Same scenario the other way - TDM rig owner doing some work on a 001 system wants McDSP in both rigs - done with a single plugIn supporting all digi plugIn formats.

In any event, thanks for taking the time to eval the McDSP plugIns!

Colin McDowell
2/19/2000
LLC member
McDowell Signal Processing, LLC (aka McDSP)

[Frank S]

Colin-
I have heard nothing but rave reviews about the McDSP plugins and will check out the demo versions. That said, for us "lowly" RTAS only users, owning the TDM package (which I believe you have to buy to get the RTAS -correct?) gets kind of expensive. I'd love to see an RTAS only version of your compressor and filter banks, but not at the TDM pricing. Waves does a good job of this, offering the "native" applications at about half the price point of the TDM system. Any thoughts?

[haze]

I have to agree with Frank. Although, there
are benefits to having the TDM version along
with RTAS and AS. The overwhelming majority
of us won't go that route. And as we 001
users look for alternate toys to add to our
systems a native version of McDSP plug-ins
will be that much more enticing. There's
a substantial opportunity for you guys.

haze

[Jeff D.]

I agree. I don't anticipate ever going to TDM, so the extra functionality doesn't do anything for me. With the 001 selling for $899 at Guitar Center, I think the McDSP plug-ins will have to be a bit less expensive or add some tricks not found anywhere else to convince me to part with another $800.

On the other hand, if they are the best they should cost a litle more.

Just my $0.02

Jeff D.