Waves Specials (still going in December...)

[jloeb]

Now, I did do something foolish on my most recent project. Used some SSL plugins in demo mode and sent the thing off to be mastered. Maybe this was a complex unconscious psychological scheme where I "have to" now buy them.

Before you pull the trigger on the Waves SSL4000 stuff, be sure to demo the SSL Duende Native plugs (by: SSL). Just sayin.

[conleycd]

Good point about checking the duende stuff but they are not actually ssl 4000 models. They are the
C200 series I think. Good but a slightly different bag.

CC

[buzzsmith]

I don't mind taking responsibility for that! If you are new to this set of sound-shaping plugins by Waves, there are some things that will get you up to speed quickly.

Shoosh

Got any similar user tips for the H-EQ and L3?

I'm reading the PDF manuals (even put them on my iPad) and trying to get in some work time with the plugs, but the Christmas performances are eating into my studio and study time!

Thanks...

Buzzy

[Shooshie]

Buzzy, in the L3, the key is to realize that you are apportioning relative amounts of limiting to the final summation. The basic limiter isn't much different from the L2 or L1. It's got threshold and ceiling -- two sliders on the left. What makes up its magic is how each band limits its material relative to the other bands.

In each band you can use the individual gain settings for loudness control which accomplishes basic EQ in the limiting, but there the similarity stops. The sliders are not threshold controls. They determine the relative importance of that band in the overall limiting process. A large positive number (+12, for instance) essentially means that the band will be bypassed by the limiting process. The other extreme means it will receive the most limiting. (hmm… the more I think about this, the more those sliders DO sound like threshold controls. It's Waves who say that they are priority controls, not threshold, but maybe there is some subtle difference. I would not know.

You might consider practicing with an easy subject that's perfectly mixed everywhere but the bass, which you might want to bring up to match the rest. I think the controls will tell you who they are as you work with a file like that.

Note also that there are some basic release settings that you can select for more punchy or less aggressive limiting. Listen to these through percussive instruments (including piano) for the way they handle releases. This is all that the L3 Ultramaximizer consists of. But the Multimaximizer offers the relative levels of limiting on a band-by-band basis.

I may not be very helpful -- reading over it I find that I've said nothing new about limiters. But practice makes perfect. Just use the L3 and try things. Don't be afraid to try out ideas.

As for the H-EQ, I'm new to it, too, but I find it easy to use. The biggest choices are which filters to use. Other than that, it's an EQ, just with lots of extras that are fun to try. I find that it REALLY works.

Shooshie

[buzzsmith]

As for the H-EQ, I'm new to it, too, but I find it easy to use. The biggest choices are which filters to use. Other than that, it's an EQ, just with lots of extras that are fun to try. I find that it REALLY works.
Shooshie

Thanks...yes, the H-EQ is pretty self-explanatory. It's just the sophistication of the L3 and the C6 that I'm trying to wrap my head around.
I'm gonna try to find some time today, to do some more experimenting.

For mastering (I know every project is different), would you recommend, in this order on the Master bus...or is this overkill in that I might be duplicating functions?

H-EQ
C6
L3

Inspector XL (just to see what my levels look like)

Buzzy

[Shooshie]

Thanks...yes, the H-EQ is pretty self-explanatory. It's just the sophistication of the L3 and the C6 that I'm trying to wrap my head around.
I'm gonna try to find some time today, to do some more experimenting.

For mastering (I know every project is different), would you recommend, in this order on the Master bus...or is this overkill in that I might be duplicating functions?

H-EQ
C6
L3

Inspector XL (just to see what my levels look like)

Buzzy

Hard to say, Buzzy. Depends on what you're comfortable with, and what we're calling "Mastering." If I were mastering for real, and by that I mean with Bob Katz looking over my shoulder and/or his book in my hand, I'd probably use the Linear Phase Multiband (rather than the C-6), and the Linear Phase EQ -- both from the Masters Bundle -- along with the L3. Once I feel like I know these plugins very well, I might go ahead and use them rather than the Masters Bundle. But I'm talking about mastering with precision, where you know exactly how much and where you've changed anything.

But if by Master bus you just mean my Submaster Fader or DP's Master fader, then YES! I think you have an ideal list. In fact, that's precisely what I seem to be replacing everything with on my existing projects. If I can't get it with those three things, then it's probably not doable. Of course, I'm not talking about things like delays, triggers, reverb, and so forth. For the basic sound-shaping, EQing, and limiting, these three plugins are currently my go-to chain, along with the S1 stereo imager, and the occasional Trim plugin for precise, magnified metering.

I don't think it's overkill. Sure, you could do it with DP's Masterworks EQ, Masterworks Compressor, and MW Limiter and/or Leveler. But to get the same sound would require a lot of work, if it's even possible. And I don't think that there's much duplication in that list. Sure, they all overlap a little, but the overlap is incidental and not the core function of each plugin.

Also, if I want a deeply analog sound, I might add Nomad Factory's "Magnetic" plugin, perhaps in place of one of the above if I could get away with it.

By the way… just an aside here; did you notice that in the H-EQ you can EQ the L&R tracks separately? Now that's just freaking cool. I wonder how long before all my tracks are filled up with comb-filtering? Guess I'd better watch out for that. But still, just the ability to do that is so cool. I can EQ with a bias toward the bass on whatever channel it is predominant, while keeping the inevitable mid-range clutter out of the other channel where some of my higher instruments may predominate.

Or I could create a 1962 stereo LP with bass on the left and treble on the right!

Shooshie

[buzzsmith]

Or I could create a 1962 stereo LP with bass on the left and treble on the right!
Shooshie

Or an early Beatles "stereo" recording with instruments on the left and vocals on the right!

Buzzy

[Tobor]

Hey Shooshie!

Thanks for all the tips and recommendations for these powerful processors on this and the other Waves threads.

I'm backing up to your first post and comments about Z-Noise. Decided to investigate further and found X-Noise, X-Hum, X-Click as well. How is Z-Noise different? I'm guessing it's a 'latest and greatest' that does all of the above (hum and click etc.), but slightly confused vs. X-Noise as they are listed for the same price (and discount).

Not the sexiest of plug-ins for me, but it might indeed be useful and fun to revisit those old cassette tapes and see if they could take on new life. Tape slam already built in!

Tobor

[Gravity Jim]

Shooshie's comments above are exactly why I just upgraded my Gold bundle to Platinum: the only plugs I've really wanted we're the Linear Phase Multiband, the Linear Phase EQ and the L3. But I also got a bunch of other great things... the whole set of Renaissance stuff, which I love (but only had a couple in the Gold Bundle) the Puigtec plugs and the V-series. It was a huge step up for the price, and the Linear Phase plugs really suit my approach to mastering, anyway (not only do they sound better than the L1/C4 combo, but I love having another band in the compressor).

[Tobor]

....and I'll just interject another random comment about these plug shopping frenzies.

It's important to realize that these great processors may become our little magic bullets in the days and years ahead, but that some effort, study, and trial and error will be needed to control this awesome power. And it to remember that a little processing goes a long way!

After slapping the L3 multi, C6, and H-Eq on the master bus as well as other new processors all over a recent project, I was digging the sound and enjoying the enhancements. Then I listened to an early incarnation of the same song, with Ozone 5 on the bus (liking the new M/S module presets), and my usual combination of Masterworks and iK plugs on the tracks (really like the Fairchild and Pultec plugs in particular) and lo and behold if it didn't sound better. The early version did have the H-EQ on a couple tracks and the CLA Guitar plug on acoustic.

Certainly not having buyer's remorse, just sayin'....

So far, however, I can't believe how awesome the H-EQ and L3 Multimaximizer are, and I'm excited about exploring the rest of these little treasures to try to get a handle on how best to integrate them into my list of faves. Just noticed Jim's post above as I was writing this, and I echo his excitement about this bounty of great plugs like the Renaissance series, V-series et. al. at very affordable prices for the time being. Again, lots to explore.

Tobor

[labman]

By the way… just an aside here; did you notice that in the H-EQ you can EQ the L&R tracks separately?
Shooshie

Couldnt we do that with Q10 back in the day? And I guess still now? But we didnt have all the cool types of eq's that H-EQ had.

[daveyboy]

••••... I'm having an idea... maybe a bad idea.

I have an album in the can that I've been sitting on because it hasn't been mastered. I was going to send it to a mastering house, maybe a nightly rate (since I'm kinda hard up for cash right now). Now the idea has struck me that I could take some of that money and get the L3 and C6, (maybe H-EQ) and do it myself. I've been trying to study mastering for a while now, but so much of it is still a black art that the idea is kinda worrisome, though I'd love to be able to master my own material!

I can just hear my production mentor cussing me out right now for even thinking about doing this, maybe I'm completely nuts. I'm just not going to do the same quality job as someone who does this 8 hours a day for a few decades.

I gotta think about this for a bit.

one of the gigantic benefits of a real mastering engineer is that he's never heard it before. Also, all he does is mastering and thusly knows exactly what to do. Most of my important CDs I produce (over 70 now) get professionally mastered. There are a few that I do the mastering on if and when the budget is very low or it's a single, but, I usually push for the real deal.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kgdrum]

Well I have 1 coupon remaining & the one Waves software I might be inclined to get is Z-noise .
I need something for digitizing cassette tapes would this be a good app for this?
Any Z-noise users here?

[Shooshie]

Z-Noise, IMO, is better than X-Noise -- the older of the two. X-Noise was and is capable of learning a noise and subtracting it from the audio, and it did a great job of it, to a point. Where X-Noise fell down was when the noise was continuously modulating, changing pitch, moving around, and changing timbre. Z-Noise was designed to track a noise as it changes. I've tried it on a very tricky set of tapes I've had for 30 years, and I can attest to its effectiveness. It works.

I'd tried X-Noise on them previously, but it would only go so far. Then I'd have to try to find an instant in which I could teach it the new version of the noise, then fix that section, and as the noise modulated I'd keep repeating it. The result was much better than the original tape, but still fell short by a mile. I could never have actually played that tape for someone.

Z-Noise, on the other hand, gets on the trail, and it stays on it. I was able to draw all the noise off that same tape. The only downside is that for extreme examples like that, you will end up losing a little of your original sound. It's unavoidable, I think. Not that you can really tell it. I only know from listening to the "Noise" section, which plays what is being removed. I could hear bits of the melody, on the very edge of its frequency. But that's irrelevant. That's just the way it is with noise-reduction software. And I repeat -- it was only a tiny bit. It's not like another type of noise reduction software could have cleaned the noise with zero loss of original information.

When Z-Noise first came out, it cost more than the entire X-Noise bundle. It's affordable right now, and I recommend getting X-Click, X-Hum, and the other cheap one (can't think of it) along with Z-Noise. The specialty noise removers (the cheaper ones) are just easier to set up for a particular thing like a 60 cycle hum and its harmonics, or getting clicks off a record. But Z-Noise can do those things, too. They just work better as a bundle. Seriously, Waves should bundle them and either drop X-Noise or quit charging extra for it. But for difficult noise removal, Z-Noise is the way to go.

Shooshie

[Shooshie]

....and I'll just interject another random comment about these plug shopping frenzies.

It's important to realize that these great processors may become our little magic bullets in the days and years ahead, but that some effort, study, and trial and error will be needed to control this awesome power. And it to remember that a little processing goes a long way!

After slapping the L3 multi, C6, and H-Eq on the master bus as well as other new processors all over a recent project, I was digging the sound and enjoying the enhancements. Then I listened to an early incarnation of the same song, with Ozone 5 on the bus (liking the new M/S module presets), and my usual combination of Masterworks and iK plugs on the tracks (really like the Fairchild and Pultec plugs in particular) and lo and behold if it didn't sound better. The early version did have the H-EQ on a couple tracks and the CLA Guitar plug on acoustic.

Certainly not having buyer's remorse, just sayin'....

So far, however, I can't believe how awesome the H-EQ and L3 Multimaximizer are, and I'm excited about exploring the rest of these little treasures to try to get a handle on how best to integrate them into my list of faves. Just noticed Jim's post above as I was writing this, and I echo his excitement about this bounty of great plugs like the Renaissance series, V-series et. al. at very affordable prices for the time being. Again, lots to explore.

Tobor

That's why I keep iterating: A/B a lot. Always try backing down on the controls and seeing if you can get a better sound. It's tempting to USE all that power, but we have to remember that 99% of the time it's better just to use only as much as it takes to get what you want.

I've compared to Ozone before, and frankly I thought the Waves stuff stomped Ozone. But the reality is that someone who is very familiar with Ozone could probably have gotten the exact same sound as I had in Waves. I just find it very easy to work in Waves stuff, and the sound is always very good.

Shoosh