Waves by Subscription

[HCMarkus]

Unless Waves revises their approach (unlikely), the decision will someday be:

Dump Waves and keep updating macOS - or - Convert the Mac into an Appliance, no more OS updates.

I had pretty much gone the "Appliance" route with my last Mac, a 5,1 Mac Pro, some years back. Hadn't WUPped for several years, no worries. We'll see how long it takes for a macOS update to torpedo Waves' functionality on Apple Silicon Macs. Anyone who has relied on Rosetta to keep older Waves plugins functioning on an AS Mac is now at the mercy of Apple and Rosetta in this regard.

Or go PC.

[James Steele]

Or go PC.

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[Michael Canavan]

I've got ten plug ins from them, their practices before this made me only go for the ones they do that are unique. Currently working on an M1 Air, but some upgrade to the OS will kill them a few years from now.

[James Steele]

I've got ten plug ins from them, their practices before this made me only go for the ones they do that are unique. Currently working on an M1 Air, but some upgrade to the OS will kill them a few years from now.

There's pretty much general dissatisfaction about this across the board. I know over at Gearspace someone created a topic for alternatives to specific Waves plugins. I might make one here. It would just list specific Waves plug-ins and a competing, non-subscription plug-in (or plug-ins) that are viable alternatives.

I really think this is a bad move for Waves. They simply are not dominant like they were many years ago and many users will simply switch to other plugs rather than be coerced into a subscription plan. I realize for some a subscription can make sense, but I have a very visceral antipathy towards that business model.

[James Steele]

I just now saw a Waves ad on Facebook for their Creative Access plans and it’s hysterical (and gratifying) to see them being absolutely destroyed in the comments!!

[waterstrum]

A low blow from Waves.
I've defended them in the past, but consider me disgusted.
Now only a subscription model.
No loyalty to long term customers.
Yuck!

[nk_e]

I own a lot of Waves plugins. However, there are lots of alternatives available these days. Overtime, the number of Waves plugins I use has declined. Clarity VX Pro is amazing and the one that I use regularly however.

Now to get access to that plugin, I have to pay $250 a year. Creates quite a market opportunity for new products like Hush.

Their preset sharing thing is an interesting idea. I bet Slate, Plugin Alliance, et al., will be copying that...

[bayswater]

Convert the Mac into an Appliance, no more OS updates.
Or go PC.

That’s where I am. The Mac with DP is frozen in time. When it dies, or some update is too good to ignore, I’ll see what there is, and a PC is not off the list.

As for Waves, no big loss. Their new stuff is not unique. And I don’t recall any updates of the older stuff that sounded better.

[nk_e]

A haiku from ChatGPT:

Waves.com, you wave,
Greedy tides rise up with glee,
Subs prices too high.

[Rick Cornish]

A friend of mine who has one of the most advanced setups I've come across made the point on this that a lot of Waves plugs have fallen out of date and better options are available from iZotope (especially) and Plugin Alliance. Maybe I won't be too sad to lose them.

[James Steele]

A friend of mine who has one of the most advanced setups I've come across made the point on this that a lot of Waves plugs have fallen out of date and better options are available from iZotope (especially) and Plugin Alliance. Maybe I won't be too sad to lose them.

I agree. They've made a serious miscalculation. I can't think of many Waves plugins these days that don't have alternatives out there... often better.

[HCMarkus]

I know over at Gearspace someone created a topic for alternatives to specific Waves plugins. I might make one here. It would just list specific Waves plug-ins and a competing, non-subscription plug-in (or plug-ins) that are viable alternatives.

I found this at VI Control:

https://vi-control.net/community/thread ... st-5312737

[James Steele]

I know over at Gearspace someone created a topic for alternatives to specific Waves plugins. I might make one here. It would just list specific Waves plug-ins and a competing, non-subscription plug-in (or plug-ins) that are viable alternatives.

I found this at VI Control:

https://vi-control.net/community/thread ... st-5312737

Nice. I'll be interested to see if Waves will try to hunker down and ride this out. I can't remember such a major public relations blowback. Closest thing was when Avid (then Digidesign) had promised, in writing, 24-bit audio support for AudioMedia II cards (?) and reneged. It was such a firestorm and I had kicked up such a fuss on forums I received a personal call from Digidesign's lawyer trying smooth things over and buy me off with some NFR plugs.

[BobK]

There was some blowback in 2012 when Avid, having bought Sibelius from the Finn brothers in 2006, fired the Sibelius team in London.

Someone created a "Save Sibelius" Facebook group and collected thousands of signatures. I vaguely recall a photo where they gave the signed petition to someone at Avid, and if I recall correctly, one of the Finns offered to buy it back. Avid rejected all of this.

Then Steinberg hired most of the team and gave them a lot of runway to develop a new notation app from scratch - which became Dorico.

I think I'm nearing the end of my 3-year Sibelius subscription, which I kept to convert all my scores to musicXML (for import into Dorico), and "just in case". I might finally be able to cut the ties.

Sibelius is still around, of course, and nobody but Avid knows how much business they lost.

[James Steele]

Waves does have a post introducing the new subscription program on their own company forum and it's heartwarming to see them getting lit up.

https://forum.waves.com/t/introducing-w ... ccess/6850

If anyone feels like letting them know how you feel, that's the link. I politely told them that my current V14 plugs are the end of the line for me and that when they break sometime in the future due to an OS, etc., they will not get a penny from me in subscription fees.