Waves CLA Signature Plugin Released.

[ProducerBoy]

Originally Posted by tekn0

i wonder why they didn't put a "direct" button on all of the plugins in the set as some of them can be used in 100% wet with that button, like for instance if i just wanted the reverb and the delays form the CLA Vocal, but not the eq and comp, i could turn all that unwated processing off and send my eq'ed and compressed vocal to the vocal plugin on a send return just to use the verbs and delays, i know the effects plugin can do this but it seems a lot of the verbs and delays are different from plug to plug.

Agreed. I was hoping for that as well.

[Hope209]

Originally Posted by tekn0

i wonder why they didn't put a "direct" button on all of the plugins in the set as some of them can be used in 100% wet with that button, like for instance if i just wanted the reverb and the delays form the CLA Vocal, but not the eq and comp, i could turn all that unwated processing off and send my eq'ed and compressed vocal to the vocal plugin on a send return just to use the verbs and delays, i know the effects plugin can do this but it seems a lot of the verbs and delays are different from plug to plug.

Interesting. I thought that the yellow rectangular buttons were meant to disengage its specific channel, effectively lightening up the CPU-load. But now that I look at it, the square buttons are meant to cycle through the individual parameters. So are the CPU-loads on these fairly intensive?

Sorry for all my questions but I don't have any free time until this weekend to play with 'em, and I want the demo to last as long as possible

[tekn0]

Originally Posted by Hope209

Interesting. I thought that the yellow rectangular buttons were meant to disengage its specific channel, effectively lightening up the CPU-load. But now that I look at it, the square buttons are meant to cycle through the individual parameters. So are the CPU-loads on these fairly intensive?

Sorry for all my questions but I don't have any free time until this weekend to play with 'em, and I want the demo to last as long as possible

This is right from the manual , i figure they can explain it better then me
Please note:
• When all colors are set to clear (Bypass/Mute), some fixed processing as designed by Chris is still active.
• EQ adjustment will take effect once the EQ faders are moved. At zero, cycling through the EQ Colors will have no effect.
• All other faders are active and set to Chris's default setup when at zero.

so all in all, even if all the lights are off for delay/reverb/eq etc, everything off and faders at 0 you will still hear some processing, as in eq and compression etc, not sure what though exactly as you would have to ask him or waves whats going on.

[lematrix]

mmmmh....

installed it and it sounds great to me but i have a big problem on my Mac 8 Core with Logic.
The New Wave Plugs only use the 8th core of my CPU and when i put in 5 Drum Plugs on a Kontakt I have a maxed out the CPU.
Anyone else ?



sorry for my bad english

Mathias

[lematrix]

Here is pic of it

[BigJunk]

Tried em. They actually sound really good. I don't know if its bad for new guys to just have instant sound on a fader, but I can see with my workflow that these will be useful. I like the easy access vocal effects.

Junk

[SamPura]

I tried it today and wasn't impressed... Bottom line, I thought the reverbs sounded great, and the compression characteristics were more interesting / less pumpy than usual compressor plug ins, however I felt the other options were limited eq settings with complicated CPU hogging gimmicks (re-amp, tape flange, wide chorus spreads, throw, etc.) throughout each one. It was like "instant small and pointy sound" which may be what some people are looking for.

I was especially surprised by how much CPU these take!!! I mean seriously... how does Waves expect every amateur to be the next CLA if they can't use all of these plug ins in on one session?!?!

It's not a necessary bundle to my plug in collection, and it definitely wouldn't change my work flow if I purchased it. ...But it might be nice for a quick go to when a first time musician says "hey I know you haven't started mixing, but are you going to add delay and reverb to my track when this is finished?" "yeah sure man... here you go!" Problem solved.

[Richierich]

I never really got on with the Krammer or Maserati plugs. Although, I once used the Maserati plugs on Vocals and a synth bass. However, theese CLA plugs sound fantastic. Acoustic guitar- Huge. Lead vocals-most needs covered well. Drums-excellent results with superior 2.0. They are alot more flexible than the other signature plugs. The major difference i've found between this and the Krammer/Maserati plugs is simple. There are many usable sounds to be had on any track i've tried it on. The others, you know to move on to something else right away. Many have speculated that they are repackaged plugs from the waves library. I really don't think so. Can't wait till the JJP plugs are released.

[warbler]

The more I try 'em, the more I like 'em.

These things sound really good to me.
I'm not having any processor overload.
On my activity meter, the load is distributed evenly over 8 cores.

I will certainly not replace any of my hard/learned hard/earned plugs with this.

But........
They do offer a nice, quick alternative to stacking multiple plugs.
I can see using them in a time crunch, or just for specific sounds.

Thumbs up.

[ProducerBoy]

Well, I was going to demo today, but I guess not. Every time I try to log into Waves' site, I get a server error message. Tried multiple browsers from multiple computers. Useless.

[thebaron]

Originally Posted by olofd

For every day that goes by, I see more and more fear on GS.
Especially from the old foxes who think their entire existence is challenged
when a new plug-in hits the market.

From us youngsters, please don't be afraid.
We all know that Michelangelo's brush wasn't the source
of his success.

Well put. It's a little shortsighted and surprising that people have such a fear and aversion. The way I see it, these combo plugs are simply an added resource for creativity. They're not going to replace a skilled artisan and, hopefully, they'll provide some inspiration for something new and exciting whether it's saving some time to focus on other mixing concerns or combining these with the tried and true plugs/hardware to create different, inspiring sounds and mixes. There's no way that any of these will homogenize the sound of mixes. There are too many variables and there will always be infinite variables to the art. Will they help the less experienced get better mixes? I hope so. However, that doesn't mean the less experienced (unless they're gifted and talented) will rival a great, experienced pro.

[lematrix]

Waves server is down !!!
WTF

[ProducerBoy]

Originally Posted by lematrix

Waves server is down !!!
WTF

I just heard back from Waves support (took 10 minutes. WUP is worth it.)
Use the offline mirror server. Looks like it's working here.

[ProducerBoy]

Digging in now...

[audiomichael]

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test. I grabbed a friend of mines track. It's a modern punk-ish track, recorded guerilla style in a closet, with pretty cheap mics and a Digi003 (It's a real drum kit, amped guitars, DI bass, and vocal). It's NOT a good recording, so I thought it would be a good real world test for people who might actually do preset mixing. I don't think that Rob Cavallo is going to be using these extensively, but hey... ya never know. Some of the plugs are REALLY good IMO.

For this, I took the raw track into Logic, and did a rough blend with volume and panning (no eq, compression, fx) That's the "No Plugs" version. For the others I put the corresponding preset plugin with the 1st appropriate preset (if there were 2 presets, I would A/B and choose the better). I didn't tweak the plugin at all except for input gain, which is part of the usage instructions from Waves (I DID reduce some reverb on the vocal... that's it). I made a point of not spending more than 5 minutes setting up and tweaking levels. It was all thrown together very fast. I did it with the new CLA Sig, Kramer Sig, Maserati Sig, and the SSL CLA presets. The master has about 1db of URS Channel Strip Pro's Tom Lord-Alge Red preset, and an L2 rarely doing anything.

-update- I added the SSL plugin with CLA presets followed by CLA compressors 1176, LA2A, and LA3A appropriately. It's really hard not to tweak some of the extreme EQ settings, but I wanted to stay true to the preset test. Because I bypassed the dynamics on the SSL, I lost some gates too, which makes the drums more woooly.

[jacko]

CLA version sounds the best when listened to on ath m50 headphones, good overall balance and nice fx - the most finished from all

[CGBMike]

Thanks for the comparison! IMO the CLA ons sounds by far the best. Got a real tone that makes it sound more like "a record".

[adpz]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test.

Thanks for doing this AM. Very interesting.

I actually thought these things would sound better. I shudder to think that anyone finds any of this very good at all. It's all very "no-there-there" for me. But buy away kids . . .

[matt thomas]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test..

Interesting. On my crappy home system (big expensive speakers that don't sound good, given to me by a friend, very scooped sound) I like the MAZ mix. It did sound like it could do with a bit more over all brightness "in mastering" though, when comparing it to the CLA

matt

[ProducerBoy]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test. I grabbed a friend of mines track. It's a modern punk-ish track, recorded guerilla style in a closet, with pretty cheap mics and a Digi003 (It's a real drum kit, amped guitars, DI bass, and vocal). It's NOT a good recording, so I thought it would be a good real world test for people who might actually do preset mixing. I don't think that Rob Cavallo is going to be using these extensively, but hey... ya never know. Some of the plugs are REALLY good IMO.

For this, I took the raw track into Logic, and did a rough blend with volume and panning (no eq, compression, fx) That's the "No Plugs" version. For the others I put the corresponding preset plugin with the 1st appropriate preset (if there were 2 presets, I would A/B and choose the better). I didn't tweak the plugin at all except for input gain, which is part of the usage instructions from Waves (I DID reduce some reverb on the vocal... that's it). I made a point of not spending more than 5 minutes setting up and tweaking levels. It was all thrown together very fast. I did it with the new CLA Sig, Kramer Sig, Maserati Sig, and the SSL CLA presets. The master has about 1db of URS Channel Strip Pro's Tom Lord-Alge Red preset, and an L2 rarely doing anything.

Brilliant! Excellent example. Thanks!
I'm having a hard time evaluating these plugs. When you listen to a single source, or a even that source in context of the mix, it's hard to for me to tell if I dig the plug or not. But, if I throw them all over the place (haha) it gives me more of the whole picture. Then it's easier to tell how those processes fit in. THese do sound really good though. I like the Maserati acoustic plug many times over the CLA, but the CLA drums sound SO much like CLA, I wonder if they come with Slate samples tucked in. ; )
So far, I'm loving the Drums and Bass section the most. The bass one has me chasing a sound I'm not catching.

Testing to be continued... *runs off into the lab like a mad scientist*

[jasound]

We just tried it out here. Really cool plugs in my opinion. Simple to use and sound really cool. Not cool on everything but I dig the bass plug and the vocal plug the most. The Acoustic plug is a little pinchy and wirey. The drum plug is totally "SO much like CLA." Haven't tried the effects one yet. We'll buy it for sure though.

[tvboy123]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test.

The CLA sound really sweet in that test to me. I've got SSL, and I was thinking of buying the CLA Classic Compressors soonish, but now I've heard this I'm thinking I might buy these, I'm on a budget so I can't buy both. I'm guessing it might be more useful to get the compressors, but these new plugs sound good. What would you guys recommend?

[tekn0]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test. I grabbed a friend of mines track. It's a modern punk-ish track, recorded guerilla style in a closet, with pretty cheap mics and a Digi003 (It's a real drum kit, amped guitars, DI bass, and vocal). It's NOT a good recording, so I thought it would be a good real world test for people who might actually do preset mixing. I don't think that Rob Cavallo is going to be using these extensively, but hey... ya never know. Some of the plugs are REALLY good IMO.

For this, I took the raw track into Logic, and did a rough blend with volume and panning (no eq, compression, fx) That's the "No Plugs" version. For the others I put the corresponding preset plugin with the 1st appropriate preset (if there were 2 presets, I would A/B and choose the better). I didn't tweak the plugin at all except for input gain, which is part of the usage instructions from Waves (I DID reduce some reverb on the vocal... that's it). I made a point of not spending more than 5 minutes setting up and tweaking levels. It was all thrown together very fast. I did it with the new CLA Sig, Kramer Sig, Maserati Sig, and the SSL CLA presets. The master has about 1db of URS Channel Strip Pro's Tom Lord-Alge Red preset, and an L2 rarely doing anything.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this! It's interesting how the SSL CLA presets are kind of close to the new CLA preset plugs, just missing the Verbs,delays,FX etc

[audiomichael]

Originally Posted by tvboy123

The CLA sound really sweet in that test to me. I've got SSL, and I was thinking of buying the CLA Classic Compressors soonish, but now I've heard this I'm thinking I might buy these, I'm on a budget so I can't buy both. I'm guessing it might be more useful to get the compressors, but these new plugs sound good. What would you guys recommend?

I'll do another pass tonight or tomorrow using the SSL's but use the CLA Compressor plugins instead of the SSL compression. I'll do the same method. 5min, only presets.

[tvboy123]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

I'll do another pass tonight or tomorrow using the SSL's but use the CLA Compressor plugins instead of the SSL compression. I'll do the same method. 5min, only presets.

Oh that would be great! From your original results I'm very tempted to get these new ones, but that would be very interesting and helpful whatever I get, I probably can't go wrong, both are good plugins! Thanks again audio michael, have a good one.

[Andrew07]

I really really wanted to like these...but I don't think I'm going to buy 'em.

On a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz MBP each instance of these bad boys is taking up ~17% of my processing power in PT LE. With only a couple instances I get those damn "Buffer" errors in Pro Tools. On the same session I was able to get CLA comps, EQs and fx across the board with no problem (CLA compressor demo expired a couple weeks back. I've decided to purchase them instead).

I'm able to get a few cool sounds out of the set, but if you already have a collection of non-stock plugins, I wouldn't bother with these. The CLA Series gets me only halfway to the sound I usually get with a combination of different plug-ins.

I suppose if you were just starting out and had no idea how to start mixing, these would be fantastic. But I already have a generalized approach I use: EQ, compression and limiting on each track. For aux fx: room reverb, plate reverb, 2 delays, harmonizer.

The CLA Signature Series is kind of like using a Swiss army knife in the kitchen and in the tool shed. Personally, I'd rather spend more money to get specific tools for each application (chef's knife/paring knife, Phillips head/flat head).

just my $0.02

i've attached a little clip. the song is from a contest over at Recordingreview.com. Presets on vox, gtrs, bass, drum BUSS (dont have CPU power for each individual drum)

[ProducerBoy]

I really like the effects. The verbs/distortions are great. The delays are a cinch to throw in cause it's always linked to the host bpm and easily blended in.

The drums and bass plugs are great. The drums take on a cool attack with the different compressors. The sound like they have been sculpted on an SSL. The verbs are very cool and very CLA. Bass sounds huge! Blending in the Sub bass really turns the bass into an epic piece of the mix without getting boomy or muddy. In fact, I think the drum, bass, and effects plugs are my favorites in the bundle.

I just don't like the electric guitar plugs. They aren't bad, and I can see a place for them, but man they make electric guitars small. That's not always a bad thing, and I guess in a lot of modern rock sessions with tons of guitar tracks to stack - that can be a good thing. But I'm not warmed up to them yet, and will have to spend a little more time with them.

The acoustic guitar plug hasn't worked for me yet. This is one instance where I have yet to vibe with the verb or compressors. I much prefer setting my own sound or reaching for the Maserati acoustic plug and eqing into that. (love the transient designing going on there)

The vocal plug is very cool. Sits a vocal in the mix perfectly. I think I prefer it on backing vocals, though. It will give backing vocals that radio sound.

These, like the other signature bundles, are not a one stop shop for mixing a song. They are very processor intensive (I maxed out my quad), and are not always the best choice, or even a good choice, on their prescribed source. If someone just uses these plugs, they'll probably end up with what sounds like a poor man's Diet CLA mix. But, when used like any other processor - in conjunction with other processors - they could definitely introduce some slick CLA style into your mixes.

Overall, I'm on the fence. I'm going to keep practicing with them while I wait to demo the JJP signature plugs to compare.

Final thought:
Definitely worth checking the plugs out just to try to reverse engineer what's going on. You might just have an "ah-ha" moment. : )

[audiomichael]

I updated the mp3's at post #81 to also add the SSL+CLA comps.

(IMO, this test doesn't really do the CLA compressors justice, because I didn't allow myself to tweak them into shape... it's a preset test after all.)

[tvboy123]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

I updated the mp3's at post #81 to also add the SSL+CLA comps.

(IMO, this test doesn't really do the CLA compressors justice, because I didn't allow myself to tweak them into shape... it's a preset test after all.)

Cheers for doing that michael Just got the CLA classic compressors

[screentan]

Originally Posted by audiomichael

Hey guys,

I had some free time, and did a test. I grabbed a friend of mines track. It's a modern punk-ish track, recorded guerilla style in a closet, with pretty cheap mics and a Digi003 (It's a real drum kit, amped guitars, DI bass, and vocal). It's NOT a good recording, so I thought it would be a good real world test for people who might actually do preset mixing. I don't think that Rob Cavallo is going to be using these extensively, but hey... ya never know. Some of the plugs are REALLY good IMO.

For this, I took the raw track into Logic, and did a rough blend with volume and panning (no eq, compression, fx) That's the "No Plugs" version. For the others I put the corresponding preset plugin with the 1st appropriate preset (if there were 2 presets, I would A/B and choose the better). I didn't tweak the plugin at all except for input gain, which is part of the usage instructions from Waves (I DID reduce some reverb on the vocal... that's it). I made a point of not spending more than 5 minutes setting up and tweaking levels. It was all thrown together very fast. I did it with the new CLA Sig, Kramer Sig, Maserati Sig, and the SSL CLA presets. The master has about 1db of URS Channel Strip Pro's Tom Lord-Alge Red preset, and an L2 rarely doing anything.

-update- I added the SSL plugin with CLA presets followed by CLA compressors 1176, LA2A, and LA3A appropriately. It's really hard not to tweak some of the extreme EQ settings, but I wanted to stay true to the preset test. Because I bypassed the dynamics on the SSL, I lost some gates too, which makes the drums more woooly.

+1thumbsup I found this very helpful thanks Michael. Amazing how far the original recording can come in only 5 minutes with these tools. I think I prefer the SSL+Comps mix followed closely by the CLA mix.

Nice one!