Waves Audio has a bunch of plugins designed specifically to save time in the studio when mixing vocals.

For this reason (among other reasons), they’ve become an industry standard, and many people know it.

Download free VST plugins, free synth VST, autotune VST, Drum sound VST, choir VST, Orchestra VST, and much more free VST plugins. Great place to download free VST plugins for music production, updated each week with new VST plugins. By HTMEM on VST Plugins Delay is one of the top mixing effects on any producer’s list no matter what genre they are working with. Delay is an essential effect if you are wanting to create space in a mix without it being overwhelmed by reverb or if you are trying to develop complex patterns with synthesizers or guitars, for example. These days, all you need is a killer VST plugin along with some impulses to achieve stellar results. In some cases, you don’t even need impulses. If that wasn’t awesome enough, you can even get some great sounding VSTs for free. That’s what we’re going to be looking at in this guide – free guitar VST plugins that sound ultra-realistic.

So in this guide, we’ll go over the best Waves plugins for vocals….

… we’ve done the research so you don’t have to.

Quick answer: when it comes to the plugins Waves offers for mixing vocals, there are so many, and each offer different specified features you can use.

That said, CLA Vocals from Waves Audio is sometimes referred to as the one plugin you can use for vocals if you could only choose one.

Make sure you take a look at the others below for other choices specific for what you might need.

Let’s take a closer look 🙂

Table of Contents

• Waves Vocal Plugins Buying Guide

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Waves Vocal Plugins Buying Guide

Common Types of Vocal Effects

You might be surprised to know how much effects are applied to vocal tracks in your typical pop or rock production…

Although much ado is usually made about “clean” and “natural” vocals, most songs would sound pretty boring if the vocals weren’t unprocessed in some way.

Compression

Compression is one of the most commonly applied vocal effects. This serves to balance out the levels in the audio, preventing the peaks from clipping the circuitry and letting softer sections be heard over the music.

Read more about how to compress vocals.

Equalization

EQ is also frequently applied in order to enhance the tonal character of the vocal. In some cases, dynamic EQ is used to reduce brightness or bottom end in some sections, while boosting the same in others.

Effects

Other effects that may be applied to vocal tracks are reverb, delay, chorusing or doubling, or even distortion or modulation effects. Unless you are going for a harsh industrial vocal delivery however, effects are best applied judiciously, and always in the service of the song.

Read more about mixing vocals.

Why You Need the Right Plug-ins for Mixing Vocals

One of the reasons why you’d need any kind of plug-in is to make certain aspects of your recording stand out above the rest. And since vocals arguably are the most important aspect of a song, it makes it easier for vocals to be heard over the instrumental background if you apply the right effects or dynamics plugin.

Effects may also be applied for creative reasons, as would be the case when going for a special effect, or treating vocals in a genre-specific manner.

Then of course, dynamics processors such as limiters and compressors are used to address specific technical concerns (ie. in order to prevent clipping or to allow of an increase in RMS levels), or for artistic or creative purposes.

Who is Waves Audio?

Not that any introduction is needed… but Waves Audio is an audio software company that makes the industry standard plugins for music production. They’ve worked with a number of prominent people and companies in the audio industry over the years to develop audio tools and modeled emulations of hardware processors. They were even honored with a Technical Grammy Award in 2011 for its “contributions of outstanding technical significance” to the recording field.

However, the objective of this guide is not to “push” Waves plugins. If you check many music production and audio engineering forums, the question as to what Waves plugins are best for vocals always arise…

To settle this once and for all, and to make it easier for those that want to know, we’ve put together a buying guide to instruct you on the best choice to make among Waves Audio’s massive collection.

With that said, let us begin 🙂

The Best Waves Plugins for Vocals

CLA Vocals

CLA Vocals is an all-in-one vocal processing plug-in developed in collaboration Chris Lord-Alge, who is an award-winning engineer. It was designed to aid in vocal mixing using Lord-Alge’s very own effects parameter settings to so that users can produce quality vocal tracks in less time that it would normally take.

Six effects are include in the chain, helping you get your vocal tracks radio-ready with less effort as compared to standard vocal processing. This of it as your “instant Chris Lord-Alge” in a box.

Specs and useful features

• All-in-one vocal processor plug-in
• Developed in collaboration with Chris Lord-Alge
• Combines delay, reverb, and pitch modulation effects
• Tone controls for easy shaping of vocal tracks
• Multiple compression types for more control over dynamics
• Helps you achieve radio-ready sound quickly

User impressions

Like all the CLA plug-ins, CLA Vocals gets high marks from users for its sound and consistently results. For users that need polished, radio-friendly vocals quickly, this has become something of a go-to plug-in.

Although the CLA Vocals can do a great job of prettying up vocals in the majority of cases, some users found that it provides a little less control over certain parameters than they would have liked. While there is no doubt that it can provide all the sweetening that a vocal track needs most of the time, there are instances when a custom effects chain provided superior results.

Bottom-line

The CLA Vocals is pretty hard not to like, especially for its price. For perhaps 90% of all vocal-related processing applications, this could be the only plug-in you will need. For the other 10% of the time however, you might be better off rolling your own vocal processing chain using your DAW’s native plugins. Even so, we can heartily recommend the CLA Vocals as a useful addition to your sonic toolbox.

Demonstration

Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter

The Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is modeled after the original Aphex hardware processing unit. Developed in association with Aphex, the plug-in does a good job at capturing the character of the original hardware device, adding presence and brilliance to even the dullest audio. The Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is equally suited to vocal and instrumental tracks, making them stand out in a mix without the need for excessive EQing.

Specs and useful features

• Modeled after original tube-powered hardware processor
• Developed in association with Aphex
• Adds brightness, vibrancy and depth to audio
• Increases presence without increasing levels
• Suitable for vocals as well as instrumental tracks
• Mix and AX modes for insert or send configurations

User impressions

Users that have experience with both the original Aphex hardware unit and the Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter mostly have nice things to say about the plug-in. Although it can handle most any type of audio pumped through it, the plug-in has an especially attractive quality on vocals. In fact, most users that have used the Aural Exciter for vocal processing simply refuse to mix or master a track without it, citing the wonderfully ‘present’ sheen it provides.

Bottom-line

The Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is one of those plug-ins that can be easy to overuse f you’re not careful, simply because it just sounds so good. With its ability to add life and vibrancy to even the dullest tracks, it is just way too tempting to slather it all over everything, resulting in a harsh and brittle sound. If you can manage to use the plug-in in moderation, it could be quite a potent ingredient in your recipe for vocal perfection.

Demonstration

Vocal Rider

The Vocal Rider is a vocal and dialog leveling plug-in that adjusts the level of vocal tracks automatically. It has the ability to limit the dynamic range of audio without introducing artifacts, so it saves considerable time and effort in mixing down vocals and making them stand out in a mix.

The Vocal Rider also allows for the drawing of the slider adjustments into an automation track in the DAW, enabling finer control over the level.

A Live component with Spill control is also included, which detects and processes just the vocal part alone without affecting the music or background audio.

Specs and useful features

• Automatic vocal and dialog leveling
• Automation of vocal parts speeds up mixing
• Writable to automation track for fine tuning
• Real-time processing
• Zero latency and no need for pre-scanning
• Vocal Rider Live component

User impressions

If there is one thing about the Vocal Rider that makes users almost fanatical about it, simplicity would have to be it. Many users are absolutely smitten with how easy it is to automatically control vocal levels with the plug-in, citing its great value as a timesaver in the studio.

The Vocal Rider is especially popular among those that want the dynamic limiting effect of compression without the artifacts that compressors can sometimes leech into the sound. For these users, the Vocal Rider is a more transparent and natural-sounding solution that often negates the need for a separate compressor.

Bottom-line

The Vocal Rider is such an amazingly simple plug-in in concept that you have to wonder why no one else has ever thought of it before. For the price, you simply can’t do better than this plug-in if you are after natural and musical volume leveling.

Demonstration

Renaissance Vox

One of the most powerful and versatile compressors in the Waves product line, the Renaissance Vox has been optimized specifically for processing vocals.

The controls you get for compression, gating and expansion, limiting, and level maximization are simple yet effect.

With this plug-in, producing polished-sounding vocals can be done with minimal effort.

Specs and useful features

• Combination compressors, gate, limiter, and level maximizer plug-in
• Soft-knee compression
• Auto make-up gain
• Gentle downward expander for gating noise
• Optimized for vocals
• Peak hold indicators for instant visual feedback on signal peaks
• Clip-Guard Output Limiter prevents clipping

User impressions

The Renaissance Vox has quite a surprising number of devotees, with lots of audio engineer forum users referring this as their go-to choice, which is all the more remarkable considering how long it has been around. The plug-in clearly appeals to those that live by the tenet: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

In any case, most of the complimentary reviews of the Renaissance Vox make mention of its utter simplicity and straightforwardness, which is especially impressive given the amount of control available. /best-free-vst-for-dungeon-synth.html. For many users, the plug-in suffices for most vocal processing applications, with the added benefit of usability for a variety of instrumental tracks.

Bottom-line

The Renaissance Vox is another time saving plug-in that makes quick work of producing polished and radio-ready vocal tracks. If there is anything negative that can be said about it, it is that it sometimes imparts a sort of metallic quality to the top end. But even this can be seen as a unique, distinctive, and not-wholly-undesirable characteristic. In any case, the Renaissance Vox is well worth adding to your plug-in tool chest, even if you already have a bunch of other compressor plug-ins.

Demonstration

Renaissance Compressor

This a multi-purpose compressor that is equally effective on individual tracks as it is on entire mixes, the Renaissance Compressor also works remarkably well on vocals.

“Warm” and “present” are among its most defining sonic characteristics, yet it can be as transparent as you need it to be for natural vocal treatment.

Specs and useful features

• Two compression modes: Vintage Opto and modern Electro
• Internal brickwall limiting prevents clipping
• Auto Release Control (ARC) allows increase of RMS levels
• Double precision bit resolution processing
• Up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution
• Mono and stereo components

User impressions

The Renaissance Compressor seems to attract an equal number of users that praise it for its transparency and those that rave over its distinctive sonic character. Perhaps it is a testament to how versatile it is that people of seemingly different tastes and priorities keep finding uses for this venerable plug-in. As it is, this particular Waves classic is a favorite for vocal processing, but it can quickly switch roles and deliver punchy drum, bass, guitar, and piano tracks at the drop of a hat.

Bottom-line

There is a good reason why the Waves Renaissance Compressor still makes it to compressor plug-in rundowns years after it was released. Even with so many excellent plug-ins littering the market, the Renaissance Compressor still manages to command attention with its ability to be as transparent or as squashed as needed.

Now, you don’t necessarily want this to be the only compressor you have in your collection, and you definitely don’t want to pump all your audio tracks through it as a matter of course. But we would be lying if we said that the Renaissance Compressor didn’t have a place in every studio engineer’s arsenal.

Best Free Vst Plugins

Demonstration

Renaissance DeEsser

As we mentioned in the de-esser plugin guide, the Renaissance DeEsser is one of the best at reducing and eliminating the sibilant “ess” and “shh” sounds that can ruin a great vocal take.

Its ability to reduce unwanted high frequencies while preserving the audio quality is quite good, as it’s an accurate de-essing technology can handle sibilance in male and female vocals.

Specs and useful features

• Simple and effective removal of harsh sibilance from vocal tracks
• Ideally suited for recording, mixing, live sound, and broadcast
• Frequency-dependent dynamics control preserves original sound
• Simple adaptive threshold
• Adjustable gain reduction
• Phase compensated crossover reduces artifacts
• Audio and side-chain monitoring

User impressions

Most users of the Renaissance DeEsser have nothing but good things to say about this supremely useful plug-in. Cleanliness and transparency are among its most frequently-praised characteristics, although many users also attest to its ability to nuke sibilance aggressively without thrashing the source audio.

Some users did complain about the absence of an attenuation meter. Others felt that the graph doesn’t do an adequate job of displaying how much of the audio is being treated. Nevertheless, reviews are generally favorable for the Renaissance DeEsser. Many users even rely on it exclusively, even with many other de-esser plug-ins available on the market.

Bottom-line

In terms of quality, ease of use, and consistency, Renaissance DeEsser is classic Waves through and through. You simply can’t beat a classic, and this one definitely fits into that category. A very effective vocal de-esser that can also work wonders on cymbals, guitars, and other high frequency tracks, the Renaissance DeEsser is an essential add on to your set of studio goodies.

Demonstration

Waves Doubler

The simply-named, Doubler adds a doubling effect to source audio, making it sound bigger, wider, and more present in a mix. This particular plug-in more too, offering delay and pitch modulation effects as well. The Doubler is both a unique effects processor and a time-saver in the studio, negating the need for traditional double-tracking in most cases.

Specs and useful features

• Double-tracking and chorus capabilities
• Adds shimmer and presence
• Produces 1980s-style harmonizing and pitch detune effects
• Automatic vocal doubling
• Two-voice and four-voice capabilities

User impressions

Ease of use and efficiency are pretty much the most mentioned characteristics of the Waves Doubler, and it’s easy to see why. Making short work of turning even the most pedestrian solo vocals into angelic choirs, the Doubler is frequently praised for the ability to thicken and widen vocal tracks without introducing phasing.

Many users especially appreciate how much time they save in the studio by not having to record multiple vocal tracks. That being said, some users did feel that actually recording as many vocal takes as needed provides better results.

Bottom-line

The Doubler is a great way to add depth, width, and ambience to your vocal tracks. Although this won’t substitute for a meticulously-recorded array of vocalists–or even one or two vocalists recording multiple takes–it does have some charm and flavor of its own. Besides, for the price, you not only get a very capable vocal doubler, but a distinctive sounding plug-in that widens up most any sound source nicely.

Demonstration

Final thoughts – Which to Get?

Most of these plug-ins are so different from each other that it would be pointless to say which one is the “best.”

Suffice it to say, each one brings its own unique set of qualities to the table, and each could potentially find use in a studio setting.

That said, the CLA Vocals has to be mentioned as top choice for its convenient and extremely useful blend of multiple signal processors in one unit. There is also no denying how quickly and easily it can enable you to crank out radio-ready vocal tracks. For that reason alone, we would have to give the CLA Vocals top marks.

Both the Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter and the Vocal Rider stand in a class of their own, but for different reasons. The Aural Exciter is at the very least a modern-day classic, with its tone enhancing qualities having become essential for vocal polishing.

The Vocal Rider for its part does what most other compressors are unable to do so simply and so elegantly: control dynamic levels without adding nasty artifacts. Going solely by that, the Vocal Rider deserves special mention.

As for the Renaissance Compressor and the Renaissance Vox, both of these are quite capable plug-ins that will stand proudly with the rest of your audio processing tools. Even though they have been around for a number of years, there is life in these old dogs yet!

Finally, the Renaissance DeEsser–and certainly the Doubler–might not be quite as essential as all the other plug-ins mentioned. Nevertheless, they do have their uses, and at the price they are going for these days, it would be silly not to at least consider them if you are eager to have a full suite of vocal processing tools at your disposal.

Waves is a popular plugin company, so all their plugins are great, but you may be wondering what the best Waves plugins are. There are over 200 Waves plugins and a lot of them are essential in creating a solid mix. Keep reading to find out what the top 25 must-have Waves plugins are that are available in 2020.

Here are the best Waves plugins:

1. Scheps Omni Channel

A one-stop channel strip

The Scheps Omni Channel, designed by the award-winning mix engineer Andrew Scheps, is a top-rated, extremely flexible channel strip unlike ones you have used before. It was made to work with Andrew’s combinations of EQ, compression, saturation, and more to create a great sounding signal chain without having to pull up a bunch of different plugins.

Oftentimes channel strips are based on vintage mixers, but that can mean that you are limited to having all your songs being connected to a certain sonic color. Modular channel strips do not limit you to a certain coloration, but they oftentimes do not mesh together in a cohesive way. This is not the case with Scheps Omni Channel. Andrew Scheps took the best of vintage channel strips and the best of modular strips, certain combinations, and turned them into one channel strip, the Scheps Omni Channel.

Scheps Omni Channel has six modules: Pre, Compression, EQ, DS2, Gate, and a slot for a Waves plugin of your choice. With the Pre module, you can add in analog saturation to color your signal as well as filters. The Compression module allows you to compress and expand your signal, and the EQ module has a 4 band EQ to sculpt your sound. DS2 is a de-esser that takes care of plosives as well as harsh frequencies, and the Gate module allows you to expand and gate the signal but also adjust the amount of noise reduction happening. Waves also provides some presets for the plugin if you need to focus on one module more than the others.

The Scheps Omni Channel really is a great channel strip plugin. Compared to other channel strips, this one makes audio sound extremely cohesive and it does not seem like anything sticks out in a way that’s sonically unpleasant.

I have used it on vocals, guitar, and even some drums, and it sounds amazing. The coloration options are very handy for adding some different character to audio depending on the genre you are making. Everything is easy to use and the interface is very straightforward. You are missing out if you have not used this VST before; it is a definite must-have Waves plugin.

2. Vocal Rider

Taking automation out of the production process

If you are like me and you absolutely hate automating vocal levels, you need Vocal Rider. It is one of the most popular plugins from Waves, and understandably so. Vocal Rider does exactly like the name sounds: it rides the volume level of the vocals to keep it even. And it does all this without coloring the signal.

If you were to try to even it out with compression, for example, you’d get some coloration and quite possibly a heavily squashed signal. That’s not something you want, but automation isn’t exactly fun either. Vocal Rider takes out the guesswork and does it all for you.

The layout of Vocal Rider is simple. There are three sliders. One is the actual vocal rider slider, one is the output level, and the other is the range slider. The range slider is what you use to set the average level that your vocals need to be at in relation to the rest of the mix. Once you have set that, if you need to boost the output volume, you do that with the output slider. In the meantime, the rider slider detects the levels of your incoming audio and instantly changes the volume to match the volume that’s within your selected range.

Vocal Rider also works extremely well for live vocals, so if you do live mixing you can easily add it to your workflow. If I were to pinpoint a certain genre that this plugin would be best for, I’d say it is the best Waves plugin for rap vocals due to the frequent need of automation on rap vocals.

Vocal Rider saves so much time and keeps you from getting frustrated with changing automation and sitting in front of the computer for hours trying to get it right. Forget about manually automating your vocals and just get Vocal Rider from Waves.

3. Scheps 73

A classic preamp and EQ combo

Another great plugin designed by the world-renowned Andrew Scheps, the Waves Scheps 73 is a 3-band EQ and mic preamp module modeled on the classic 1073 console. The Scheps 73’s EQ is so closely modeled after the 1073 that it emulates its behavior with lots of precision.

The specs of the EQ include a fixed 12 kHz high frequency band, switchable low and midrange bands with cut and boost controls for each, and a high-pass filter with a ratio of 18 dB per octave. A 10 kHz midrange band is also made to be operable in the plugin, although it was made to be operated on the 1078 channel strip. Saturation (controlled by the drive knob) is modeled after the 1073’s saturation and captures all of the harmonic details and sonic characteristics of the 1073. It sounds extremely authentic and warm.

Other features include the ability to monitor the stereo channel, mono channel, and left and right channels separately. You can also EQ the mid and side channels with this plugin. If you do like coloration and want a very warm, rich, full sounding vocal or instrument, use the Scheps 73 and you will be beyond satisfied.

4. Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain

Achieve the Abbey Road sound with ease

Abbey Road TG is a modular mastering chain plugin modeled after the EMI TG12410 transfer console used in all of Abbey Road’s mastering suites. The TG Mastering Chain is made out of modules (or cassettes) just like the original console. Included is: an input module, tone (EQ) module, compressor and limiter module, filter module, and a VAL module incorporated into the output module.

Except for the input and output modules, they can be swapped around to create custom mastering chains and switched on and off. They can also be used individually or mixed and matched if you do not want to use all of them together.

The compressor and limiter module offers two colorations, original and modern. Original is an aggressive and ‘dirty’ type of compression and modern is one that was designed by Waves to help you retain the highest quality of audio while keeping the loudness.

The TG Mastering Chain has proven to be a flexible plugin while retaining the classic Abbey Road sound found on many popular albums or giving it a bit of a new flavor with the more modern sounding compressor option. The flexibility continues even more, as you can process signals in stereo, duo, or mid/side, and monitor the signal in stereo, mono, left, right, and mid/side if you need to. There is also a live performance mode, so if you want to do live mastering as everything is coming through the system, you can do that with ease and not have to worry about latency.

If you have found that mastering with plugins from companies like iZotope or UAD just do not match the final sound you are trying to achieve, take the best Waves plugin for mastering, the TG Mastering Chain, for a spin.

5. SSL E-Channel

A slice of the world’s greatest hit making machine

The SSL E-Channel is another amazing-sounding channel strip modeled after the Solid State Logic 4000 series console. The sections included in this plugin are equalization and dynamics. On the equalization side of the plugin, it is based on the renowned Black Knob equalizer that was developed with the legendary producer George Martin in the 80s. The equalization section features a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, and a parametric EQ with four bands.

The dynamics section gives you a compressor and limiter with a soft knee, and an expander and gate that was modeled after the Solid State Logic LS611E. Staying true to the original design, the compressor/limiter and expander/gate can be placed before or after the equalization section to make your signal chain flow just how you want it.

The SSL E-Channel also has a button for turning the analog sound on and off, so depending on how you want your sound to come out, you can use that button to get the classic SSL sound or bypass it for a more modern sound.

The SSL E-Channel is especially good for drums and makes them hit really hard, so I suggest you use it primarily for your percussive elements, but it is a great plugin for really any element of a song.

6. F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ

EQ and compression with surgical precision

The F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ is one of the best dynamic EQs Waves has to offer, in my opinion. With the F6 Dynamic EQ, you get a dynamic EQ with 6 floating bands for parametric EQing, plenty of advanced EQ controls as well as compression and expansion controls per band.

Mid/side processing is available to help you carve out even more space in the mix, and you also get to view everything on a real-time frequency analyzer with adjustable resolution and reaction speed, pre and post EQ, note and amplitude display, and sidechain options.

The F6 is ideal for solving problems. Not only can it be used for equalization and compression, but it can also be used for de-essing. The F6 Dynamic EQ lets you focus on problem spots and only treat them when the problems arise in those areas. F6 is extremely precise and Waves made it while keeping in mind that details matter, so the EQ’s settings are so sensitive that you can precisely specify when a certain frequency will be boosted, cut, expanded, or compressed.

More specifics on the EQ include variable EQ shapes, overlapping bands, and threshold sensitive EQ settings. The interface of the plugin is modern and simple even with so many knobs, buttons, and options. F6 is a great dynamic EQ.

7. Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter

A tone you can’t get anywhere else

The Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is an exciter plugin that was modeled on one of the few tube powered units ever made. If you are not sure what an exciter does, it is basically a saturation plugin but instead of adding low end distortion, it adds it in the high end.

The original Aphex Aural Exciter has an extremely distinct sound and so does the Waves Aphex Vintage Exciter. The exciter adds brightness, presence, vibrance, and depth without increasing volume. It slightly colors the audio signal with those high-frequency harmonics, which makes it perfect for vocals as well as instruments.

In the interface, you will see several knobs. One is for the excitement mode, one is for picking what signal the meter reads and delivers, another is for input volume, one is for the wet/dry mix, another is for the output volume, and there’s also a section for applying a low cut and adding some analog noise to the signal. This exciter plugin is great to use while mixing or even in the mastering process, and it provides an awesome tone that is hard to replicate with other plugins. Check it out.

8. Reel ADT

Abbey Road style double tracking and lush delay

The Waves/Abbey Road Reel ADT is a plugin that emulates Abbey Road Studios’ process of Artificial Double Tracking. The double tracking effect became an essential sound that Abbey Road Studios used when mixing for The Beatles. Reel ADT gets you a lush-sounding delay and variations in pitch as well as tape saturation.

Reel ADT sounds super authentic to a real tape machine with all the fluttering and other tape noises, and it really does sound like there are multiple takes playing as if it really was double tracked.

This plugin does more than double track emulation though – it can do other tape effects like flanging and phasing. You can choose between different tape sounds depending on the source you use, and there’s a drive control and a pan control for each source path so you can make it as wide as you want it or leave it more narrow sounding to get almost a simulated room reverb sound.

Everything is MIDI-assignable, so you can control it with a MIDI controller, but you can also control it manually or set it to process audio automatically. Reel ADT can also be used in live shows since it has extremely low latency.

If you want a double tracked sound but do not have time to manually double track your audio, or if you want a special-sounding delay effect and other delay plugins do not seem to cut it, Reel ADT is a plugin worth trying. It is a huge time saver and you can get some really cool, unforgettable panoramic sounds and a ton of character out of it.

9. J37 Tape

An Abbey Road tape saturation masterpiece

Another essential Waves plugin that sounds fantastic is the J37 Tape. It is a tape saturation plugin modeled after the tape machine at Abbey Road Studios that was used to record so many modern hits as well as popular tracks from the 60s.

This thing is packed with controls to sculpt the sound of the tape. Tape speed, bias, noise, saturation, wow and flutter are all adjustable controls. While the J37 has its own character and flavor, three other oxide tape formulas have been modeled and can be used instead of the J37’s sound. Each formula has a unique frequency response and harmonic distortion.

Adding onto all of this, the J37 Tape plugin also has a built-in tape delay module with different delay types, sync, and low-pass and high-pass filters to add to the warm tones you get from the saturation. The plugin is extremely warm and models the analog software to a T.

I have never heard such a realistic sounding plugin and that makes the J37 Tape one of my favorite Waves plugins for sure. Try it out, it might become yours too!

10. Vitamin Sonic Enhancer

Add some extra oomph to your music

Waves Vitamin Sonic Enhancer is essentially a compressor, EQ, and saturator all in one. If we’re going to get technical, it is a multi-band harmonic enhancer that can be used to shape the tone of your songs by mixing an enhanced version with the original signal. If you do not want to mess around with tone shaping plugins like EQ, compression, and saturation to get the tone you want, you should try Vitamin.

Vitamin has no latency, so if you are a mix engineer in the studio or a mix engineer for a live show, you will be able to use the plugin with no problem. Ideally you should use Vitamin Sonic Enhancer on a track insert or a bus. Instantly you can get a warm result that also brightens your output audio without having to mess with a bunch of different plugins.

Vitamin Sonic Enhancer certainly does not take the place of EQs, compressors, and saturators, but it is a really handy plugin if you want to save time or if you cannot achieve a certain goal for tone when you have used EQs, compressors, and other plugins. With a few pushes of a slider you can get more punchiness, smoother dynamics, enhance harmonics, and make the stereo field wider.

You can use Vitamin in mono or stereo mode when using the EQ sliders in the plugin, and when you have it in stereo mode you can change the width of each of the individual five bands to make room for more in the mix. Vitamin is great on vocals, guitars, synths, drums, and also is great if used when mastering a full song.

Vitamin Sonic Enhancer is easily an essential Waves plugin and I strongly suggest you check it out if you want to save time, resources, and add a little extra oomph to your music.

11. Abbey Road Chambers

Huge, beautiful reverbs at your fingertips

The Abbey Road Chambers plugin is the fastest way to get absolutely beautiful-sounding reverbs in the style of Abbey Road Studio’s echo chamber, featuring the STEED (send tape echo echo delay) technique.

The plugin recreates the same sonic characters from their echo chamber to create reverbs, delays, and other spatial effects they used on so many records. Abbey Road Chambers helps you achieve the echos from Abbey Road’s Studio Two chamber and even models the crisp, clear recording abilities due to their use of the Neumann KM 53 microphones and Altec 605 speaker. To sculpt the reverbs and delays even further, included is a high and low-pass filter from EMI as well as an EMI presence EQ.

As I mentioned, Abbey Road Chambers includes a recreation of their STEED setup. STEED was a system that split the signal and created a feedback loop that would go through their mixing console, through a tape delay, through two EQ filters, and to the chamber and back. It gives you a gorgeous-sounding reverb like nothing you have heard before and it is something you have got to listen to in order to understand just how much it stretches the chambers’ sonic qualities.

Abbey Road Chambers also includes two other spaces as a bonus: their Mirror Room and the Stone Room from Olympic Studios in London. This gives you so much more creative freedom.

Using Abbey Road Chambers is easy, you can send your tracks to the chamber, mirror room, or stone room, isolate the STEED setup effect, or combine both. The plugin opens up a whole world of hybrid reverbs, delays, and more. ARC is an amazing plugin that would be best used if you make atmospheric music or have a lot of lush, experimental sounds that need to be pushed through a wide open stereo field.

12. Abbey Road Reverb Plates

Legendary plate reverbs

Easily the best Waves reverb plugin is Abbey Road Reverb Plates. Waves modeled four legendary plates from Abbey Road Studios – ones that were even used by the Beatles and Pink Floyd.

A little behind their reverb setup: the plate reverbs were originally set up to complement their echo chambers. Drive amps were specially designed to keep noise to a minimum for three of the plates, while the last one was fully valve powered. This allowed for a huge variation of sonic qualities and characteristics in the reverbs. Waves has modeled that in a plugin and now you get to use and enjoy the modeled harmonic distortion and even the behaviors of the plates.

The plugin allows you to set input volume, select a plate (plates A through D), set the damper level, and typical reverb controls you’d find on any reverb plugin, like pre-delay and the dry/wet mix. An analog knob as well as a drive knob is available to use and there’s also an EQ section included to take care of harsh frequencies or muddiness. These reverbs sound so good, and you can get a ton of different tones out of them, whether you want something lush, dark, bright, or rich.

13. Tune Real-Time

Smooth, latency-free live vocal tuning

It cannot be denied that auto tune is used in pretty much every song these days. Even if it is not noticeable, it is likely that at least a little bit was used on the vocals of a recent song. Waves Tune Real-Time is a plugin that ensures that the vocalist is on key, so they do not have to worry and instead they can focus on giving a great performance.

If you are familiar with Antares Autotune, Waves Tune Real-Time is pretty much the same thing. Waves Tune Real-Time was made for live performances, but can be used during pre-production, tracking, and mixing. Since it was made for live performances especially, it has no latency and out of tune notes are instantly corrected as soon as they leave the singer’s mouth.

The algorithms used in Waves Tune Real-Time ensure that the vocalist’s vocal sound won’t be changed at all, unlike other autotune plugins (Antares, for example) that add extra brightness to the vocal signal. Waves Tune Real-Time is ideal for subtle vocal pitch correction (or the hard-tuned T-Pain effect) and gives you vocals that are ready to go in literally no time.

The plugin’s design is very intuitive and easy to navigate. You can control the vocal range, scale, specific notes to fix or avoid, the sensitivity of the plugin, and you can even tune the vibrato without messing up its natural movement, which is something that not many plugins do right.

Waves Tune Real-Time is also MIDI compatible, so you can make the plugin follow a melody set in advance or in real time if you do not know the scale or key of the song. Waves Tune Real-Time is easily one of the most ideal and intuitive vocal tuning plugins out there.

14. Tune

Manual pitch correction made easy

If you want the power of Waves Tune Real-Time but do not want a live program to retune the vocals and would prefer to do it yourself in your DAW, Waves Tune is the plugin you need.

If you are familiar with Melodyne by Celemony, Waves Tune is pretty similar to that. Waves Tune is set up to give you precise vocal retuning with ease. The plugin has a ton of pitch shaping and pitch transforming tools, a timeline, a piano roll to further ensure you are matching the vocals to the correct notes, and an intuitive pitch editor.

Using Waves Tune is easy, all you have to do is apply it to a track with vocals or a monophonic instrument, and drag the notes that need tuning to the correct spot that correlates with the piano roll on the pitch editor. You can set the speed of the retuned audio, length of the note transitions, and more to get things sounding just right. Like Waves Tune Real-Time, you are able to retune vibrato without taking away the wavering qualities or changing the speed of it.

Waves Tune sounds great and does not degrade your voice or add any extra tones or formants to your processed vocals. Get Waves Tune if you prefer to process and retune vocals after they’ve been recorded. If you do not have a preference, just get Waves Tune Real Time.

15. SSL G-Master Buss Compressor

The absolute best analog Waves compressor

The SSL G-Master Buss Compressor plugin is based on the world-renowned master buss compressor on the Solid State Logic 4000 G console. Waves has captured the sound of the console’s input and twin VCA gain reduction amp design.

The SSL G-Master Buss Compressor plugin is ideal for gluing tracks together, so it will especially shine in a mastering chain or just on the master channel in your DAW. The plugin is also awesome for adding punchiness to drums, taming dynamics of a piano, or just tightening up a final mix.

The layout is very simple: you have all your major controls that you’d find on any compressor. There’s a threshold knob, an attack knob, a release knob, a ratio knob, and a make up gain knob. You can also turn off the analog sound if you choose to do so. Additionally, the plugin comes with presets by the famous engineer Chris Lord-Alge, so if you need some inspiration or a head start, you can use those.

While it is not an ideal compressor for every single instrument and there are other popular compressors out there that are made by Waves, the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor is easily the best Waves compressor in my opinion. It sounds so much like the real thing, and it does not add any type of harsh coloring in the lower or upper frequencies or give it any muddiness or negative characteristics.

It does what it is supposed to: glues together tracks. I use it on every one of my songs in the master channel, and honestly, you should too. Sadly, there are no free Waves plugins, but I wish this one was free, so that everyone could get a taste of it.

16. H-Reverb Hybrid Reverb

Deep reverb tails with crisp air

H-Reverb is a newer hybrid reverb plugin powered by Finite Impulse Response technology, or FIR. FIR gives extremely rich reverbs, gives more air to your tracks, and helps your instruments and vocals to sit perfectly in the mix.

New technologies open new creative horizons. The FIR technology allows you to customize the decay envelope of the reverb beyond linear forms, which means that you will get gated, real reverse, and dense reverb that does not add muddiness to your mix. With H-Reverb, you also get a drive control that gives the signal a bit more analog saturation.

On top of that, you get a ton of presets created by the music industry’s best mix engineers and presets inspired by classic reverb units, so if you need a starting point, you will have some strong ones.

The interface of H-Reverb is one of the more detailed reverb GUIs I have seen. Aside from the typical reverb controls (attack and release, pre-delay, size, wet and dry signal), there are modules for the decay envelope, LFO, input echoes, output echoes, modulation, and EQ and dynamics.

This type of technology and flexibility in a reverb plugin is something unheard of until now. By putting together classic reverb concepts with modern features and controls, H-Reverb has become one of the ultimate modern reverb plugins from Waves.

17. C6 Multiband Compressor

Flexible multiband compression

Similar to the C4 Multiband Compressor from Waves, the C6 is an even better model of the well-loved C4 with a few more exciting features. The C6 is a popular favorite among mix engineers and is not a plugin to pass up.

The C6 Multiband Compressor is great for expanding, compressing, limiting, and fixing problems that span through a whole frequency band, but can also be awesome for de-essing, controlling plosives, and fixing problem frequencies with surgical precision.

The C6 has six bands, four normal crossover bands and two floating bands for high and low shelving and cutting. Something that’s not in the C4 that is in the C6 is a sidechain feature. With all that it can do, the C6 is a complete powerhouse and that makes it one of the best Waves plugins for vocals, but it is also fantastic on instruments too.

The C6 has a dynamic EQ and the sidechain feature is specific to each band, so if you only want to control a certain portion of frequencies (for example control the higher frequencies on the beginning of a snare drum hit and leave the low end untouched), it is very easy to do that.

I like to slap the C6 on vocals, drums, and guitars to control any harsh frequencies I find that are a nuisance to my ears. The C6 is really great at controlling and shaping sounds while fixing very specific frequency problems. If you wanted to, you could use it as an all-in-one type plugin; I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, but it definitely could be done and it would sound great.

18. NLS Non-Linear Summer

Three legendary consoles in one plugin

The NLS Non-Linear Summer is easily one of the best Waves plugins for mixing. NLS is essentially three consoles coming together as one plugin. The consoles featured are the SSL 4000 G (the Spike), the EMI TG12345 Mk4 (the Mike), and the Neve 5116s (the Nevo).

The Non-Linear Summer consists of the NLS channels of the three consoles and the NLS busses to match. Waves modeled over 100 channels over all three consoles to fully capture the magical color, character, and behavior of each input and buss amp. NLS Non-Linear Summer has a ton of richness, depth, and a ton of harmonic qualities that make it seem like you have used the physical hardware of the consoles themselves to record and mix.

The NLS channels are set up with a drive knob and a VCA knob. You can turn the microphone on and off and also add analog noise to bring even more character to the signal. The NLS Non-Linear Summer is a sonic piece of art.

19. Grand Rhapsody Piano

A Grammy Award-winning piano in VST form

The Grand Rhapsody Piano plugin from Waves was sampled from the Fazioli F228 grand piano from Metropolis Studios in London. The Fazioli F228 is an Italian piano made with the same type of wood that Antonio Stradivari made his famous violins from. The tone wood gives the piano a deep bass, rich resonance, and a bright, clear tone that make it extremely famed.

The samples of the Fazioli F228 were recorded at Metropolis Studios with 8 different pairs of microphones (from the Neumann U 87 to the Shure SM57) and preamps and converters of the highest-quality, so you are getting the best sound reproduction possible.

The Grand Rhapsody is great for a variety of genres, from pop to electronic to jazz. The Grand Rhapsody Piano plugin allows you to blend up to 3 microphone pairs and choose the position they’re in. You can control how much of the pedal and resonance are mixed into the overall sound of the piano, and you can incorporate Waves’ high-quality EQs, compressors, limiters, delays, and reverb with the signal, so you do not have to have a dry piano sound.

The plugin can be used in your DAW or standalone, and is MIDI compatible. Although I have not used this piano plugin much myself, it is one that deserves a lot more attention than it gets. It is incredibly warm and rich and just sounds absolutely beautiful. Make sure you check out our picks for the best piano VST plugins in 2020.

20. CLA-76 Compressor / Limiter

Punchy compression with snappy attack

The CLA-76 is another best-selling compressor bundle that also has a limiter feature. The CLA-76 was inspired by two famous analog compressors, the UREI/Universal Audio 1176 Blue Stripe and 1176 Blackface, called Bluey and Blacky by Waves.

As per usual, on both models of the compressor, you get your typical attack and release knobs, and your input and output controls. A ratio control is also included, but there is a button labeled ‘all’ that models the original compressor’s explosive ratio mode that made it famous in the first place for its insanely powerful drum sounds.

Because of this, the obvious go-to instruments for this plugin to be used with are drums and percussive instruments, but the CLA-76 is also great for vocals and guitar. It smooths out vocals and brings them forward in the mix with ease, and solves tons of dynamics problems that oftentimes aren’t solved with other compressors.

Using this compressor is an absolute dream, and the different models carry a slightly different sonic character, so you will find that there is some pleasing coloration when using them. With the capability of having a super-fast attack and smooth release, as well as rich preamp distortion modeling, the CLA-76 is a prized plugin that every producer should have in their arsenal.

21. Kramer Master Tape

Rich reel-to-reel tape saturation

Kramer Master Tape is a plugin modeled on a reel-to-reel tape machine, designed with help from Eddie Kramer. Kramer Master Tape gives your songs a richness and warmth through real analog tape saturation and breathes new life into what was previously boring and static.

The plugin looks like a real tape deck and is set up with knobs that control tape speed, record level, playback level, flux, wow/flutter, and noise. The Kramer Master Tape is ideal for rock, dance, and many other genres and comes with built-in slap and feedback delay to help facilitate that.

Whether you are using it for recording, mixing, or mastering the Kramer Master Tape plugin sounds great no matter the application. I like to use it with vocals and piano to give them a slightly wobbly effect and add the perfect amount of saturation to keep them sounding rich and full if the mix is busy and they get lost in it.

Tape saturation is a plugin that is starting to become more popular, and if you like the vintage sound it adds and the full, warm quality it brings to recordings, get Kramer Master Tape and see how it holds up against modern tape saturation. Kramer Master Tape does not disappoint.

22. CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter

Smooth, subtle compression

The CLA-2A is a compressor that was modeled on a legendary tube compressor. As far as I know, this is the only compression plugin by Waves that has this quality to it. The CLA-2A accurately reproduces the smooth, frequency dependent behaviors that the tube compressor also had, which make it a popular choice for mixing vocals, guitar, and bass.

While the plugin is extremely nice-sounding when used on guitar and bass, it really shines on vocals, especially on slow songs. Because of its smooth approach to signal processing, vocals sound buttery and rich while being subtly controlled by the compression. The plugin is a great choice when recording R&B or jazz but also can hold its own with pop and rock songs that need just a little compression.

In comparison to other compressors, the CLA-2A does not color the signal, which is something that is a benefit if you are already using a channel strip that adds color or saturation to the signal.

The interface is ridiculously easy to navigate through, as it has only two knobs: one for gain and another for peak reduction. There is also a sidechain frequency filter in the limiter side of this compressor, which has the same gain and peak reduction controls as the compressor side does. This brilliant plugin comes with a bunch of presets to get you started on your CLA-2A journey, one that you will greatly enjoy.

23. EMI TG12345 Channel Strip

The classic Abbey Road channel strip

Waves and Abbey Road Studios have come together to model the famous console, the EMI TG12345, in plugin form. This legendary console was used on records from the Beatles and Pink Floyd.

The channel strip includes some of the most important elements of the console, including the preamp, the EQ module (that consists of a bass band, a treble EQ band, and a presence EQ band), a spreader to widen the stereo signal, and the crisp sounding compressor/limiter combo.

Along with the preamp and tone controls, the plugin offers routing options rather than allowing you to move the modules around to where you need them in the signal chain. Modern features have been added to some of the modules to allow for more modern mixing techniques including a high pass filter on the compressor sidechain, and a drive control. There is little to no latency on the channel strip, so you can easily use it for live performances as well as studio use without timing problems occurring.

The EMI TG12345 gives your songs a crisp, bright, and rich sound just like the original console no matter what it is being used for, and the unforgettable tone delivered by Abbey Road Studios is sure to turn heads.

24. NS1 Noise Suppressor

Noise suppression and gating

If you are forced to record in areas where there’s a lot of background noise or if you often get bleed from your headphones while recording, the Waves NS1 Noise Suppressor is a plugin you should have in your arsenal.

The NS1 Noise Suppressor is a wickedly intuitive plugin that intelligently differentiates between noise, dialog, and musical qualities. NS1 analyzes your input audio signal and eliminates background noise while bringing dialog, singing, or an instrument forward in the signal.

The interface is super easy to navigate as it only has one slider to remove noise. While NS1 Noise Suppressor isn’t a fix-all for your background noise problems, it does extremely well at managing it. Unfortunately it won’t get rid of any electromagnetic field feedback or humming that’s coming through your microphone and into the plugin since it would be up front with your voice, but it does a great job at background noise, which is what it is supposed to take care of.

NS1 Noise Suppressor does not work like a noise gate, although if your background noise is loud enough and your slider is down quite a ways, you will get a gate-like effect, which will likely mess up your main audio signal.

Make sure to remember that if you do a lot of noise suppression, since it reduces the signal and tries to filter out the frequencies of the background noise, you’ll want to put an EQ and possibly even a compressor after NS1 in your signal chain to make up for any lost harmonics

If your signal isn’t super heavily-laden with noise, NS1 Noise Suppressor should react smoothly and solve your noise problem in no time without taking away much of the sonic character. The plugin has a more analog sound so it may slightly color the signal going into it, although it shouldn’t be much. NS1 is great for many uses, whether you are doing a quick noise suppression fix or taking your time with it and using it delicately.

25. PRS SuperModels

Paul Reed Smith guitar amps

If you play guitar, you have almost definitely heard of Paul Reed Smith. In the day and age where amp and cabinet modeling is becoming more and more popular, Waves was right on trend and created a plugin to satisfy guitarists into digital amp and cab modeling for their guitars.

Vst Plugin Presence Plugin

PRS SuperModels is a plugin that models three Paul Reed Smith guitar amps: the PRS Archon, the PRS Dallas, and the PRS Blue Sierra/V9. With PRS SuperModels, you get outstanding tones right out of the box, and the amp models are insanely accurate to the real hardware amps.

Vst Plugin Presonus

Waves modeled every piece of circuitry and every tube to get every last detail of the sound right. The Paul Reed Smith Archon amp is ideal for bright, lush cleans or overdrive. If you really push the limits of the amp, you get a great sounding distortion out of it. The gain on it is incredibly lush, which makes the Archon perfect for playing lead or a crunchy rhythm while also supplying a pristine clean channel for all genres.

The Paul Reed Smith Blue Sierra/V9 is an extremely rare amp that has now morphed into what we know as the PRS J-MOD 100 amp. The Blue Sierra/V9 is reminiscent of boutique American amps and is perfect for clean sounds and overdriven tones with not too much gain. You can get a really huge, wide sound out of this amp that sounds amazing to the ears without having to do much tweaking.

Presence Vst Plugin

The Paul Reed Smith Dallas is modeled after an all tube design that gives out sounds from classic American amps with reverb. It is easily the most classic-sounding amp that lets you play huge cleans and plenty of overdriven tones with reverb that sounds natural no matter how far you push it. The lows are very solid and do not get too muddy, the highs are crisp, and the midrange tones of this amp are rich and full-sounding.

PRS SuperModels includes eight different speaker cabinets captured by Paul Reed Smith’s own personal mics and preamps. The plugin also has a latency fix technology that solves any latency issues between the signal coming from your guitar and the signal reaching the cabinet. The perceived volume is balanced when using multiple cabinets. You do not have to worry about clicking around in the plugin and instead you can just play, either in your DAW or in standalone mode.

Since this is a plugin, there are some added features you won’t find in the hardware, including a tone booster, a sensitive digital guitar tuner, and a noise gate to keep input feedback at bay when you’re not playing and keep output feedback from occurring. With a creator like Paul Reed Smith, the PRS SuperModels plugin is sure to suit your playing for any genre and sound amazing the whole time.

Conclusion

Free Vst Audio Plugins Downloads

Even though the best Waves plugins debate is subjective based on things like your needs and the genre of music you are making or producing, we all know one thing: that Waves VSTs are easily some of the absolute best. I strongly recommend that you go to the Waves website and take a look at what they have to offer there. They may be a bit expensive but they have sales a lot of the time, and really none of their plugins are worth passing up. Stay tuned for more Waves plugin reviews in the future!

Vst Plugin Presence Download

Jordan is a music producer, content creator, writer, and session musician. He has been producing music and engineering live performances for over 7 years. He is an experienced guitarist and enjoys listening to and playing many different genres of music.