Waves Z Noise - Anyone Try It Yet?

[roberts]

obnoxious post deleted

[TVPostSound]

34,702 samples!!!!

[BRH]

I got their news letter, since I'm a Wup'dass Restoration user. I'm having good luck with X-Click and X-Crack, but their X-Noise seems to not work good. Maybe I'm hittin' it to hard all at once. Someone told me I should us it mildly, making many passes.
So the Z-Noise looks interesting to me. Waves says when using it, you don't have to 'learn the noise' first. But list for $800!!!!
Wup'dass for $600!!!! And now for a limited time.... only $400. What a M-F'ing deal! Since I'm WUP'd, this means I can probably get it for $400 or less from a discounter... anytime. I sent Waves an e-mail telling them that plug should be given to WUP'dASS owners of Restoration for FREE.... it belongs in that bundle! Makes me want to go out and buy Sound Soap Pro, just for the heck of it.

Brooks

[h1ntOn]

We've had L1, L2 and L3, and I'll bet there will eventually be an L4. I wonder where Waves will go after Z.

Lee Blaske

Didn't you ever read Dr. Seuss: On Beyond Z ?

[roberts]

Tried it as a Demo - No big deal if you got X noise aleardy

[rtcstudio]

Tried it as a Demo - No big deal if you got X noise aleardy

In the full disclosure department: I beta test for Waves.

Having said that, I had some problematic drum room tracks. The two room tracks had a lot of buzz and hum on them and in a lot of places, the noise was louder than the actual drums. I used the learn mode on both X and Z noise, because I had plenty of spaces where the tracks were just the noise and no drums.

On X noise, if I got the reduction going enough to get rid of all the noise in the learn mode sections, the actual drums would start sounding like they went through a ring modulator, very clangy and Cylon-like. If I backed off Thresh and Reduction enough not to affect the drums at all, the noise was still very apparent in quiet sections, and at the end of the song as the drums ring out.

With Z noise, again using learn mode, I was able to get rid of 95% of the noise (really crank up the thresh and reduction) with no weird artifacts on the drums. It got enough of the noise out that I could leave the room mics up in the mix at the end of the song as the cymbals ring out. And it was pretty much indiscernable when I would Z noise a section in the song (like a couple of bars) and then solo the room tracks and play before, thru and after this section.

So, anyway, Z noise is pretty different from X noise in how it works, but YMMV. It got me out of a jam. However X noise is still really good.

Also, L2 is different from L3, and depending on the source might be better for the program material than L3. They really seem like two different tools to me, and I don't have a problem with the sequential numbering. I do know that L3 is not simply a rehashing of L2.

[Brandonx1]

In testing z-noise, I found it a little worse in over all usability on dialogue tracks with very loud ambience's in them. Why is that?
Brandon

[roberts]

I waas cleaning a tape with music and Z-Noise performed no better than X-Noise. With Z-Noise I got the same MP3 ringing as on X-Noise if the thresehold was too high. It was an improvement but not woth the cash + the extra WUP fee's IMO.

[jmark]

As if we needed any, here’s yet another illustration as to the “cloudy” nature of WUP-ASS. When the policy was first introduced, word was that any new product falling into a bundle would be provided free of charge to those covered by WUP-ASS. You see where this is going…

Of course, Waves determines which new products fall into a bundle. Call me crazy, but this “Z” thingie looks a lot like something that belongs into the restoration bundle.

New Year, same old WUP-ASS.

I also find this behavior from Waves to be extremely obnoxious and tiresome.

It really seems like the prices charged for the Restoration and Diamond bundles ought to be able to absorb the R&D costs for what seems like a pretty minor tweak to the X-Noise plugin. And I also have to wonder about where the former "buy the expensive bundle, get any new plugins for a year" policy went.

[BRH]

Thanks to those that tested Z-Noise and reported back here on the DUC. I'm going to hold off and not purchase. (for now) I know that X-noise ringing you can get. $800 for one native plug?..... it better be damn good!!!

Waves should have just called it a new upgrade to X-Noise and given it out.