Mix with the Color of Three Classic Analog Consoles
Analog consoles are known for richness, depth, and harmonic complexity—not because they’re perfect, but because they aren’t. This is why pro engineers revere how analog summing colors audio. And now, Waves has spared no effort to capture the sound of 3 superlative analog consoles.
Whether you prefer the solid-state console that launched thousands of hits, the tone of vintage British tubes, or even the console used to record The Dark Side of the Moon—NLS brings them to your DAW, modeled from the consoles of master mixers and producers Mark “Spike” Stent (Paul McCartney), Mike Hedges (The Cure), and Yoad Nevo (Sia).
For an Analog Whole—Sum the Parts
Analog consoles didn’t see mixing as a math problem, but as the fusing of sonic pathways into a cohesive whole. Analog circuitry gives each pathway slight differences that when added together, breathe new life into a mix.
Channels Modeled Individually for Accurate Console Sound
We analyzed and modeled 32 individual channels for each console (yes, it did take forever), so each channel could have the slight differences needed for the historically accurate analog summing sound.
Channel and Bus Components
NLS includes two components—channels to model the channel preamps, and buses to model the bus amplifiers. Combining these two is the secret to NLS’s hyper-realistic sound, feel, and exceptional flexibility.
Combine the Three Consoles Flexibly
Physical consoles can’t swap channels and summing amps, but NLS can. Pick and choose any of the three console colorations, for any channel, and any bus. It’s just like having three consoles in one.
Complete Console Control
NLS’s interface can combine channels into 8 different groups. Maybe you want one console for drum mics, and another for guitars. Assign them to the same group—then control group parameters at once, with a single control.
All this, and VCA Channels
NLS uses automatable VCA channels to control the 8 groups—so if your DAW doesn’t have VCA channels, it does now. Simply choose the channels you want to place under VCA control, and automate as desired.
Consoles Maintained by Master Mixers
Modeled plugins are only as good as the original gear. Spike Stent, Mike Hedges and Yoad Nevo mixed and produced countless hits on the consoles we emulated—and made sure that each console was perfectly maintained to deliver its very best results.
Features
- Models how the summing bus and channel preamps interact
- Mix and match different consoles on different channels
- Add (or don’t add) a whisper of accurately modeled preamp hiss
- For global tweaks, the logical interface groups controls
- Models 96 channels including every input and summing bus amp
- Control harmonic distortion with Drive control
- Choose the “line in” for clarity, or crush the mic preamp-based input
- VCA groups control NLS, and can serve as standard VCA channels
Description
System Requirements
Waves v15 System Requirements
Mac | Windows |
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CPU Intel or Silicon Architecture See notes regarding Apple Silicon based processors | CPU X64 compatible Intel or AMD CPU |
Memory Minimum: 8 GB RAM (16 GB recommended) 16 GB free disk space on the system drive | Memory Minimum: 8 GB RAM (16 GB recommended) 16 GB free disk space on the system drive |
Operating System macOS Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14 | Operating System Windows 10 64 bit (21H2) Windows 11 (21H2) |
Screen Resolution Minimum: 1024x768 Recommended: 1280x1024 / 1600x1024 USB displays are not supported as the primary display. | Screen Resolution Minimum: 1024x768 Recommended: 1280x1024 / 1600x1024 |
Exceptions and Notes
Clarity Vx / Pro and Clarity Vx DeReverb / Pro:
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Waves 15 Supported Hosts
MacApple Silicon Support | Windows |
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Pro Tools 2023.12, 2024 (AAX Native, Audiosuite) | Pro Tools 2022, 2023 (AAX Native, Audiosuite) |
Ableton Live 12 (VST3) | Ableton Live 12 (VST3) |
Audition 24 (VST3) | Audition 24 (VST3) |
Bitwig Studio 5.1 (VST3) | Bitwig Studio 5.1 (VST3) |
Cakewalk by BandLab 2024 (VST3) | |
Cubase 13 (VST3) | Cubase 13 (VST3) |
DaVinci Resolve 18.5 | DaVinci Resolve 18.5 |
Digital Performer 11 (Audio Units) | |
FL Studio 21 (VST3) | FL Studio 21 (VST3) |
Garage Band 10.4 (Audio Units) | |
Komplete Kontrol 3 (VST3) | Komplete Kontrol3 (VST3) |
Logic Pro X 10.8, 11 (Audio Units) | |
Luna 1.6 (Audio Units) | |
Nuendo 13 (VST3) | Nuendo 13 (VST3) |
OBS Studio 29 (Intel Only) Via StudioVerse, Stereo only | OBS Studio 29 (Intel Only) Via StudioVerse, Stereo only |
Premiere Pro 24 (VST3) | Premiere Pro 24 (VST3) |
Maschine 2 (VST3) | |
Main Stage 3 (Audio Units) | |
Pyramix 14 (VST3) | |
REAPER 7 (VST3) | REAPER 7 (VST3) |
Reason 12.7 (VST3) | Reason 12.7 (VST3) |
Samplitude Pro X8 (VST3) | |
Sequoia 16 (VST3) | |
Studio One Professional 6 (VST3) | Studio One Professional 6 (VST3) |
Waves’ latest version works on newer sub-versions of these DAWs, unless stated otherwise.
Waves plugins comply with the major audio plugin formats (VST3, AU, AAX).
If your DAW is not listed below, but supports VST3, AU or AAX, it should work fine with our software.
Your DAW must be running on an operating system that supports it in order for plugins to work properly. To confirm that your DAW version is supported on your operating system, please refer to your DAW’s website.
Exceptions & Notes:
General:
- These specs are for software version 15.
- V15 supports 64-bit only.
- In hosts that support both VST and VST3 plugins, we highly recommend using only VST3 plugins in new sessions from now on, and migrating plugins in old sessions to VST3.
- With the release of Waves V13 plugins, we announce full official Apple Silicon support for host applications that are themselves Apple Silicon-compatible. We will work to provide official ARM support for more host applications as they become Silicon-compatible. We will update this page with new developments as they are available.
- MIDI Support: The following hosts do not offer MIDI support: Pyramix, Premiere, Audition and OBS.
- MIDI Learn:
Not supported in the following plugins: Scheps Omni Channel 2, MultiMod Rack, CLA MixHub, Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain.
Native Instrument hosts: MIDI learn is not supported in effect plugins if they’re inserted after a virtual instrument plugin in Maschine and Komplete Kontrol.
Logic Pro, MainStage, Digital Performer, Luna: Only certain plugins support MIDI learn. Click here for a full list.
GarageBand: MIDI Learn is supported only with Waves Virtual Instrument plugins. - Mono to Stereo components are not supported in Cakewalk by BandLab, GarageBand and Luna.
- Sidechaining is supported on the following hosts: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Nuendo, Cubase, Cakewalk by BandLab, Audition, Ableton Live, FL Studio, REAPER, Bitwig Studio, Samplitude, Sequoia and Studio One.
- Demo Mode: Audio mutes are not synced between plug-ins running in Demo Mode, when tracks are set to Input Monitoring and the transport is stopped.
- Surround plugins are supported on the following hosts: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Digital Performer, Nuendo, Cubase, Audition, Premiere, REAPER, Pyramix and DaVinci Resolve.
- Drag and Drop support: ‘Drag and Drop' of samples and audio files in to CR8 Creative Sampler is possible only on DAWs that support this feature: Ableton Live, Cubase, Nuendo and Studio One.
- GarageBand: The Preset Browser is not available on Intel Mac computers.
- Adobe Premiere on Apple Silicon Macs: While loading plugins / changing parameters, you may experience a slow graphic refresh rate.
- Maschine/ Komplete Kontrol: The following plugins will not function correctly when loaded as VST3 plugins: API-2500, C1 Compressor, dbx160 Compressor / Limiter, H-Comp Hybrid Compressor, Renaissance Compressor, SSL G-Master Bus Compressor, V-Comp. Maschine 2.17.2 and Komplete Kontrol 2.9.2 include a fix for this issue.
- FL Studio: FL Studio 21.1.1.3318 may produce graphics issues on Mac computers with Intel processors.
Solution: Update FL Studio to the latest version (21.0.3.3352 or later). - DaVinci Resolve: Tempo Sync is not supported.
See all exceptions here
Change Log
View All Waves Release Notes here |
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All Waves Plugins: Across-the-board software update to V15New Features & Improvements in Waves V15
Bug fixes in all Waves plugins
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