Waves: Update or Let it Go?

[bayswater]

Is it worth updating my Waves plugins?

I started with Wave Ren at V3, and bought another dozen or so individual Waves plugins since. Back at V3, Waves was amazing. Now its pretty run of the mill. Most of my plugins are at V9 with a few at V10. The only one that has a sound I find difficult to reproduce is Ren Bass. Despite all the updates from V3 to V9, I can’t say I’ve noticed any improvements in sound or function. It was a PITA doing the last few updates, going back and forth with Waves tech support.

At some point I suppose V9 will stop working as I update the OS and DP. I’ve seen a lot of angst here and other forums about Waves compatibility. Are the last few updates worth the money and effort, or should I just move on?

[HCMarkus]

Do you use them? To me, that seems like the pertinent question.

I use Waves every day, some V9, some V10 and a couple V11. I don't WUP until I need to, and I haven't needed to for some time now. I'll do so when I move to Apple Silicon, as I would miss a bunch of their plugins a lot. They've got their stuff running native on the new Macs, and they support DP.

The one I'm gonna' probably drop is Universal Audio. My PCie card won't be working any more, its Thunderbolt replacement would be expensive (like UA plugins), and I've got substitutes for the few UA plugs I use.

[bayswater]

Similar here. For a while UAD and Waves was pretty much all I used regularly. I dropped UAD a while ago. I kept it going for a while by using an old Mac with the card in it as an external effects rack, but the need declined.

Yes, I do use a couple of the Waves plugins, but I’m sure with a little effort I could do the same things with other plugins I already have. AFAICT, paid Waves updates over the years gave me compatibility with new OS and hardware, but didn't give me better plugins. So I’m skeptical that an update to V13 or wherever they are now is worth it.

IKM is another one. MODO is great, but the rest? Meh.

[pencilina]

I use waves plugs all the time because I can always get the sound I'm looking for with them. I'm sure there are other plugs that are just as good if not better but waves are the tools I use the most. I've found its only worth it to WUPdate if I'm at a technical impasse (ie new versions of HW or SW) or the bundle includes new additions with the update that I'll find useful. Sometimes its more worth it to upgrade rather than update. Authorizing is usually a PITA but seems to get easier with each update and I've found waves support to be totally helpful as long as the daw is supported (ie DP on mac and not 'doze). Because waves is terrible in DP on windows I started using DMG trackcomp for my bread and butter compression for mixes started on my win laptop which I think sounds better and is more flexible then waves. I'd say If it works don't fix it and if you use waves upgrade only when you absolutely have to.

[James Steele]

The one I'm gonna' probably drop is Universal Audio. My PCie card won't be working any more, its Thunderbolt replacement would be expensive (like UA plugins), and I've got substitutes for the few UA plugs I use.

This. I stopped buying UA plug ins years ago. I have a UAD-2 Duo PCIe card. I still use the plugs I have but there are native substitutes and I just don’t like the pricing of their plugs. And with the advances in native processing power investing further in a proprietary outboard processing solution seems unnecessary for my needs.

[HCMarkus]

Inspired by this thread and in anticipation of Apple Silicon, just WUPped myself up to V13 of Waves. Discovered WUP is 25% off at present, plus a scosh extra off the price from AudioDeluxe (and a free Melda EQ plug) to boot. Figured I'd get 'er done during the sale and before a couple of recent Waves purchases would require WUPping.

Booted DP; all seems well but not tested extensively. Nice to have scalable plugin windows for those old V9 and V10 plugs.

[bayswater]

Inspired by your inspiration, I had a look at the options. I can
a) WUP what I have,
b) buy all my plugins again, or
c) upgrade to my current plugins plus Gold.
All three options are within a few dollars of each other. Now I'm confused again.

[pencilina]

I've taken the upgrade route from renaissance to diamond and augmented it with a lot of other bundles and individual plugins over the years. There are a few waves plugins I use on every mix and a lot that always make my job MUCH easier I use from mix to mix. The CLA76. dbx 160 and SSL g bus comps were my goto compressors until I got DMG trackcomp, which is I think is genius and worth every penny and more. For me my most used waves plugins outside the renaissance bundle (and the compressors listed above that Track comp replaced) are F6, PRS amps, API 550b, L2 and G channel. A lot of times the bundles have redundant plugs that are only slightly different from each other. Ie the SSL G eq and G channel and api 550a and b or even VEQ 3 and 4. I know theoretically these have their distinguishing emulative quirks but in the end I can't tell what they are. These days If you want the various flavors of tone shaping that waves offers a few strategic choices when they go on sale(which is very often) might be the best move.