My Impression of Waves Plug-Ins

Hey Folks--
 
I spent a little stint at working at Guitar Center (between jobs) a number of years ago and was introduced to Waves. I had always seen that their bundles were very expensive and I really never got into their stuff myself.
 
A little while ago, and I can't recall why, I started looking into some of their plug-ins, and they were having a sale, so I bought a couple. I bought their low-end ($50) plug-ins like, Maserati Drums, Maserati Vocals, Resonant Bass, and One Knob Louder.
 
I've been recording for over 30 years, and have UA stuff for plug-ins and felt a little like the Waves plug-ins were too easy--and maybe for noobs that don't understand all the controls, functions, and applications for 'real' EQs and compressors like the UA stuff.
 
Well, I'm here to tell you that the Waves stuff works great, but more importantly, sounds great. I feel a little like I'm cheating when I dial in a drum track with controls labeled, 'thump' and 'snap' but you know what? I'm over it! The darn thing makes the drums (or bass, etc.) sound great and I don't care what the interface looks like.
 
Anyway, I know many of you already have this impression, but I wanted to share my experience so maybe some of the more seasoned pros out there will consider some of the 'simple' plug-ins to do some of the jobs you need, and that Waves has products that do them very well--and quickly.
 
Well, just wanted to share.
 
Thanks for reading,
 
Stephen

When I first purchased the CLA and Kramer sig packs, I thought perhaps because of their nature, the all in one type, everything hidden underneath thing, that they may not be that good. It didn't take long after trying them to realize they were actually pretty good, I remember dropping the CLA Drums thing on a drum track, selecting an appropriate preset and just thinking wow, it sounded so good instantly.
 
Since then I have purchased pretty much everything Waves has to offer that interests me (heaps) and pretty much use them exclusively along with iZotope's stuff, Ozone, Alloy2, Nectar production suite, and a few other bits and pieces. I gave away my Melda and Fab Filter Total packs (never really liked either gui styles, quite bland and nauseating to me, good plug's though I guess) I just found that I could get what I wanted far quicker and easier, with much less fuss with Waves stuff. Now days although I still use the 'simpler' CLA/Kramer sig type stuff where it works best, I use them mainly as placeholders, for an instant 'better' sound until I replace them with individual Waves plugs, sometimes not, because the 'simpler' stuff is just what the doctor ordered.
 
I love my Waves stuff, for me easy to use, easy to get the sound I want quickly, awesome sound quality, and have been for me trouble free. Just wish I had jumped on the bus earlier, although not to much earlier as I don't do the ilok dance, glad they dropped that :)

I realize all of that...was a Waves customer for years...up until last year...
I don't want to buy "Plugin Insurance"...If I had Mercury then
it would probably be worth it...but I'd still have to deal with all the WaveShell
issues that seem to constantly rear their heads...

Just don't like the model...if they dumped the Shell and WUP I'd probably be 
back in heartbeat...and many of their plugs are "CPU" Hogs...and I have a
decent, powerful, machine.

The ONLY thing I've subscribed to is the EastWest CC Cloud...and there's a reason.
I get to TRY everything for a year before I decide what I will and won't buy before spending
hundreds and hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on things that I will probably
never use...at the end of the year...I'll either drop it or switch to the 7 program option
@$29.99 and get the 7 most usable programs that I find..if I haven't already bought them
that is...in which case I'd just opt out...

I STILL have a PERPETUAL Pro Tools License (PT12 and PT2016)
I STILL have a PERPETUAL Sonar Platinum License (SP2015)
S1P3...etc...
And ALL of my everything is still "non-subscription"

If it works for you GREAT.  But, for me, there are enough "as good or better" options out there,
with far less issues to contend with...
 

WTH is a waveshell problem? I've had Mecury (started in v8) for years now and within the last three years added the SSL and Abbey Road bundles. I've yet to experience a "waveshell problem" whatever that is.
 
My WUP has given back to in me retail (and even sale prices) value two to three times what I paid for it. That has been true for the last three years running.
 
I do understand that if I only owned a limited set of Waves plugs WUP would be a ridiculous option. But as Larry says, for Mercury it's well worth it, IMO. 

Apparently you all forgot about the WaveShell issues with Sonar X1...there were myriads of
threads...

Those even went into X2, which got to be unusable for some....and "blacked out of updates" for 
almost a year, until the X3 release.

Granted, Waves usually is on the ball and gets them resolved...but they DID exist in 
abundance.

I had PLENTY of them....so, if you didn't, I think you skipped X1...and there were even some with X2...

But I digress...

To me, there are plenty of equally good, if not better, alternatives without all the "baggage"...YMMV

To each his own...

Nope, not here. X1 was fine as were all versions.
Up until this version of SONAR I've updated the day each version was released starting with Pro3 in
1994.

Started using Waves in 2000. No wave shell problems ever.

That reminds me, excellent customer support & service too.
I did have graphics problems in the older dx version. Waves did a computer remote into mine , found & solved the problem quickly.

In the past I've also asked support questions with an expired WUP. They were always friendly & glad to help.

I first dabbled with Waves with just a couple of their cheaper plugins and then a bundle and finally a crazy cheap upgrade to Mercury.
I've only once had an issue which was down to user error during an upgrade but an email that was answered overnight set me up properly.

So I have no horror stories only a good experience. Add to that, a couple of new plugins added to the Mercury pack. If there are significant new features when my WUP expires I'll see then. If I choose not to the software still works like everything else, frozen in time if I don't update.

I remember reading an interview with Chris Lord Alge and when he was asked about his range of Waves CLA plugins he admitted to using them I was a bit skeptical. I mean what else is he going to say right?
Then we have the experience here of Craig A offering up his series of fx Chains and he says its to make things quicker for him to setup. I now give much more credence to CLA's use of his own quick fix plugins. I mean if it does what it's supposed to do and sounds good, it is good.

mmm ... that Softube Saturation Knob. And it's quite free nowadays. Once downloaded, you only have to trash all but one of the Softube bundle and you're set.

BassDaddy
I like what you said mudgel. If Craig A. Or CLA or JJP or Chuck Ainley or Randy Staub want to share presets with me, some free, some paid, I'm in. I saw a video where Dave Pensado uses Waves One Knob series and one of his favs is Softube Saturation Knob. If fast and easy is good enough for them... 

From what I know and read about those at the top end of our business; time is money and many of these guys are on deadlines. I mean listen to Craig talk about his life, he's always on the go. He works hard and fast and has a tremendous output of work. No wonder he wanted to spend some time coming up with some cookie cutter type solutions to getting good quality consistent sounds. That's called a preset and despite what people tell you, it can be a solution instead of just a place to start. Obviously if you select a preset and it isn't the solution, you have more work to do.
It's an entirely different subject to learning about the application of fx and how a compressor etc works. I want to know that too,but give me a deadline and an easy way to tame an errant sound, I'll take a quality quick fix over hours of mangling to fully learn fx A or B.

Time is money for the pro guy and that is true. Time may not be money for non pros but there is something to be said about keeping moving and not loosing momentum.