Plugins Comparable to WAVES

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

I'm a little tired of the massive extravagent pricing for the waves stuff. I'm all about paying good money for the right stuff, but these are plugins afterall! I'm also tired of the fact that one can't mix and match waves plugins forcing one to buy bundles. And the WUP crap pisses me off.

Any plugins out there that can match the quality of the L2 or L3? And the Linear Multiband compressor?

statikcat · 26th November 2006

UAD
Wave Arts
Tracks
Sonalksis
Nomad
PSP
URS

Other than the SSL I am not a big Waves fan at all.. there are only 2-3 plugs out of the Diamond bundle I would ever use considering the competition these days. Most of those have a multband compressor/limiter

johnjm22 · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

I'm a little tired of the massive extravagent pricing for the waves stuff. I'm all about paying good money for the right stuff, but these are plugins afterall! I'm also tired of the fact that one can't mix and match waves plugins forcing one to buy bundles. And the WUP crap pisses me off.

Dude I feel your pain. I just about to start a thread like this.

Quote:

Any plugins out there that can match the quality of the L2 or L3? And the Linear Multiband compressor?

You should try the Massey 2007. It's cheap and just as good as the L2 IMO.

Kappi · 26th November 2006

There's more in life than the waves stuff.
At the beginning (of the digitalpluginworld) there was no alternative, but today its different.
Try Sony Oxford.
You won't regret it.

foldback · 26th November 2006

Anyone have any experience with Roger Nichols plugins? After all, he is the original GEAR SLUT!

johnjm22 · 26th November 2006

What are some good, cheap, alternatives to the Rencomp, RenEQ, and PAZ?

I'm putting together a new rig right now, and switching platforms from Mac to PC. I'm really trying to get away from the Waves stuff, but it's kinda hard for me because the Waves stuff is all I've ever used.

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

oh damn, the massey plugins are not available as VST

zboy2854 · 26th November 2006

If you have PT, I second the Massey L2007 limiter as a replacement for the L2 or L3, and I'd suggest the McDSP MC2000 as a replacement for the multiband comp.

If you don't have PT, I'd suggest the UAD Precision Limiter and Precision Multiband plugs as replacements.

There's really nothing from the Waves Diamond bundle that isn't done as well or better by someone else these days, except maybe for the Renniassance De-esser.

jdjustice · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

Any plugins out there that can match the quality of the L2 or L3?

Sony Oxford limiter

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

sweet. thanks dudes. i'll look into the UAD stuff

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

ya know, its unreal, you pay a good decent price with UAD too, but they at least give you hardware! and that little piece of hardware makes a big difference as far as processing strain goes.
so if you really think about it, WAVES are out of their minds!

zboy2854 · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

ya know, its unreal, you pay a good decent price with UAD too, but they at least give you hardware! and that little piece of hardware makes a big difference as far as processing strain goes.
so if you really think about it, WAVES are out of their minds!

Yes. Yes they are.

REA Engineering · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

Any plugins out there that can match the quality of the L2 or L3? And the Linear Multiband compressor?

MCDSP ML 4000 smokes all three, and is less CPU intensive

and the other stuff is absolutely great for the price...

The UAD stuff rocks too. Though the precision multiband uses a lot of juice on the card. The PreLimiter is awesome too. Loud without the grit....

Rog

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

the only problem with the mcdsp and the massey stuff is that they dont create VST plugins or are accomodating for a sonar environment otherwise i'd love to try those out.

johnjm22 · 26th November 2006

Anyone have experience with Voxengo plugs? I've heard good things about them, and they're priced really well.

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

so dudes, how does this work with the UAD stuff? you can opt to purchase one of the bundles right? ie studio. project, flexi, etc..and then later on if you want to add a particular plugin and buy it separately, it will integrate with the others using the DSP card correct?

JamieMB · 26th November 2006

the roger nichols plugins are just a re-branded version of elemental audio plugins arent they? I think they are okay but nothing mind blowing.

zboy2854 · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

so dudes, how does this work with the UAD stuff? you can opt to purchase one of the bundles right? ie studio. project, flexi, etc..and then later on if you want to add a particular plugin and buy it separately, it will integrate with the others using the DSP card correct?

Yep, once you have the card, you can purchase additional UAD plugs a la carte, and they'll run on the card as well. I just added the EMT 140 plate reverb to my UAD card, love it.

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

very cool. mine eyes have seen a solution to rid myself of the waves tryants... k, that was my share of dramatics

zboy2854 · 26th November 2006

Just to be aware of, the only drawback of the UAD stuff is that the cards aren't as powerful as today's CPU's, so you can quickly max out a single UAD card with some of the plugs, so you might want to get more than one UAD card to run more instances of the plugs.

Also, you should check out the Sonalksis plugins, they're also great alternatives to Waves.

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

nice heads up zboy, thanks. can you give an example of a setup with a certian type of computer thats more or less powerful with a uad plugin count?

zboy2854 · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

nice heads up zboy, thanks. can you give an example of a setup with a certian type of computer thats more or less powerful with a uad plugin count?

The computer doesn't really matter with respect to the UAD plugs, since they all run off of the UAD cards exclusively. In other words, the UAD plugs can't be run off the native CPU, so no matter how much or how little power your computer has, it won't be of any use to the UAD plugs.

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

ok so how many plugins can you run? i would assume you could by default be able to run at least one of each of even the ultra pak, logically speaking. but if thats not the case, i have to say it is strange to build a bundle in which the proprietary dsp cant handle, really. right? just to be honest

doubledecker · 26th November 2006

Waves SSL is good.New Waves Neve is excellent.
Everything else from Waves is just old and you can hear it.
Urs is very good, Psp is very good, and L2 is easily replaceable by much better Voxengo Elephant.
And i've only mentioned some of the options for native PC platform.

zboy2854 · 26th November 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by somsto75

ok so how many plugins can you run? i would assume you could by default be able to run at least one of each of even the ultra pak, logically speaking. but if thats not the case, i have to say it is strange to build a bundle in which the proprietary dsp cant handle, really. right? just to be honest

Well, that's one of the knocks some of us UAD users have had with UA for a while. They haven't upgraded their UAD cards in terms of DSP power, so the cards are somewhat behind the power curve by todays standards.

UA has a chart that shows the expected number of each plug that can be run off of one UAD card here:
http://www.uaudio.com/products/digit...pak/specs.html

Methlab · 26th November 2006

I like the URS EQs more then anything..even the Waves SSL. I was wondering what you Sonar guys thought of the included channel plugins they talk about in there ads.

trent · 26th November 2006

Yeah... Try the Massey's. If anything, he's tryin to do the right thing in terms of price while giving Waves a huge slap in the face in terms of competative quality. I think you can get an RTAS to VST wrapper to inteegrate them into your DAW too.

somsto75 · 26th November 2006

thanks zboy, i guess its still not that easy to figuring it all out as far as what to get. everything has its downsides.

any links to a rtas to vst wrapper?

zboy2854 · 27th November 2006

There is no RTAS to VST wrapper, only VST to RTAS.

If you don't want to deal with UAD cards, I highly suggest you check out the Sonalksis plugs. They have a terrific multiband compressor plugin, and their EQ and compressor plugs are great as well, you definitely won't miss the Waves stuff using Sonalksis. Then for an L2 substitute maybe you can still get a UAD card with the Precision Limiter, since you don't usually need to use a lot of those in a session.

somsto75 · 27th November 2006

i will look into sonalkis zboy, thanks

26th November 2006	#1
somsto75 Gear maniac Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: oimpit suburbia Posts: 264 Thread Starter	Plugins Comparable to WAVES I'm a little tired of the massive extravagent pricing for the waves stuff. I'm all about paying good money for the right stuff, but these are plugins afterall! I'm also tired of the fact that one can't mix and match waves plugins forcing one to buy bundles. And the WUP crap pisses me off. Any plugins out there that can match the quality of the L2 or L3? And the Linear Multiband compressor?

26th November 2006	#8
zboy2854 Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Posts: 7,936	If you have PT, I second the Massey L2007 limiter as a replacement for the L2 or L3, and I'd suggest the McDSP MC2000 as a replacement for the multiband comp. If you don't have PT, I'd suggest the UAD Precision Limiter and Precision Multiband plugs as replacements. There's really nothing from the Waves Diamond bundle that isn't done as well or better by someone else these days, except maybe for the Renniassance De-esser. __________________ What the wise man does in the beginning, fools do in the end. --Warren Buffett The four most expensive words in the English language are: "This time it's different." --John Marks Templeton

26th November 2006	#26
Methlab Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Orlando Posts: 3,642	I like the URS EQs more then anything..even the Waves SSL. I was wondering what you Sonar guys thought of the included channel plugins they talk about in there ads. __________________ Professionally played Basslines for $35 a Track. www.professionalbassguitar.com

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26th November 2006	#2
statikcat Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: USA - Indiana Posts: 799	UAD Wave Arts Tracks Sonalksis Nomad PSP URS Other than the SSL I am not a big Waves fan at all.. there are only 2-3 plugs out of the Diamond bundle I would ever use considering the competition these days. Most of those have a multband compressor/limiter

26th November 2006	#4
Kappi Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Cologne Posts: 153	There's more in life than the waves stuff. At the beginning (of the digitalpluginworld) there was no alternative, but today its different. Try Sony Oxford. You won't regret it.

26th November 2006	#5
foldback Lives for gear Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Los Angeles, Southbay Area Posts: 1,109 1 Review written	Anyone have any experience with Roger Nichols plugins? After all, he is the original GEAR SLUT!

26th November 2006	#6
johnjm22 Gear addict Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Barstow, CA Posts: 372	What are some good, cheap, alternatives to the Rencomp, RenEQ, and PAZ? I'm putting together a new rig right now, and switching platforms from Mac to PC. I'm really trying to get away from the Waves stuff, but it's kinda hard for me because the Waves stuff is all I've ever used.

26th November 2006	#17
JamieMB Gear maniac Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 220	the roger nichols plugins are just a re-branded version of elemental audio plugins arent they? I think they are okay but nothing mind blowing.

26th November 2006	#24
doubledecker Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 896	Waves SSL is good.New Waves Neve is excellent. Everything else from Waves is just old and you can hear it. Urs is very good, Psp is very good, and L2 is easily replaceable by much better Voxengo Elephant. And i've only mentioned some of the options for native PC platform.

26th November 2006	#27
trent Gear Head Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 42	Yeah... Try the Massey's. If anything, he's tryin to do the right thing in terms of price while giving Waves a huge slap in the face in terms of competative quality. I think you can get an RTAS to VST wrapper to inteegrate them into your DAW too.

27th November 2006	#29
zboy2854 Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL Posts: 7,936	There is no RTAS to VST wrapper, only VST to RTAS. If you don't want to deal with UAD cards, I highly suggest you check out the Sonalksis plugs. They have a terrific multiband compressor plugin, and their EQ and compressor plugs are great as well, you definitely won't miss the Waves stuff using Sonalksis. Then for an L2 substitute maybe you can still get a UAD card with the Precision Limiter, since you don't usually need to use a lot of those in a session.