Thanks everyone for the responses.  i knew this would be a good place to ask this question.
 
Yes the client does have extraordinary ears.  He composes and mixes also,  just is not capable of all different styles.  He needs/wants the music to be perfectly mixed with every element EQed, balanced and compressed perfectly.  He also wants the music to be as "loud" and as "big" as it can possibly be.  He will send back notes like "Orch Strgs are not compressed well".  I've gotten good at his reverb taste, but compression is not there yet....still trying.  Maybe Waves just has that "compression" sound and feel he is looking for.
 
Thanks again for the great responses! 
 

Jimbo 88
Thanks everyone for the responses.  i knew this would be a good place to ask this question.
 
Yes the client does have extraordinary ears.  He composes and mixes also,  just is not capable of all different styles.  He needs/wants the music to be perfectly mixed with every element EQed, balanced and compressed perfectly.  He also wants the music to be as "loud" and as "big" as it can possibly be.  He will send back notes like "Orch Strgs are not compressed well".  I've gotten good at his reverb taste, but compression is not there yet....still trying.  Maybe Waves just has that "compression" sound and feel he is looking for.
 
Thanks again for the great responses! 
 

It sounds like he is critiquing your mixes too generally, what does he want different in the compression of the strings?  Faster attack?  More gain?  Color and response of a certain emulation?

Again, I do not care how golden his ears are, he can't tell one compressor from another based on what he is hearing in a full mix other than maybe opto behavior vs SS and that can still be replicated with Cake tools.  (CA-2A sounds fantastic)  Compressor BEHAVIOR is a matter of standard settings (attack, release, ratio and gain), color and response is a matter of type more so than brand.

Nothing lacking in the Waves plugs, but there is nothing about the std dynamic and eq processors that is head and shoulders above even the stock Platinum tools.

Perhaps you can acquire a few samples of the clients product that closely align with or resemble your genre and use these as references against your mixes listening critically not only to overall sound quality, level, etc. but also individual instruments - how they sound, how thery're processed, how they sit in the mix, etc.

While quality certainly matters, as others have stated, the "brand" of plugs you use should matter little unless your intentionally going for a particular sound that only a particular plug provides. I think Waves is kind of grandfathered in as the defacto plugin company similar to ProTools being the defacto DAW and we all know that neither of these are the only quality players in the game any more.

Now way he can "hear" Waves plugins in a mix.  I have a friend that works for Waves and he couldn't even do that.  


At least you didn't pay the "retail" prices, those are absurd. 
 
I own a number of their plugins, most never get used since the ones with Sonar X are solid.  I've also run into a number of free or dirt cheap plugins that I even prefer to Waves.  

Again, thank you all for the insight...greatly appreciated.

One thing to keep in mind is that some people these days are so used to hearing hard compressed and squashed sounds, that it becomes what they expect things to sound like. You might have to stop leaving all that pesky feeling in your mixes?

Royal Yaksman
One thing to keep in mind is that some people these days are so used to hearing hard compressed and squashed sounds, that it becomes what they expect things to sound like. You might have to stop leaving all that pesky feeling in your mixes?

There is way too much truth in this.  It is unfortunate what many people think sounds good, when it is really actually killing the sound quality and dynamic range appreciated by those of us with the gear to appreciate fine sound reproduction.