# Alternatives to These Waves Plugins



## schrodinger1612 (Nov 14, 2021)

Hey guys. I’ve been using Waves plugins almost exclusively for a few years, but I’m now looking to migrate away from their ecosystem for reasons I don’t want to get into or make the focus of this thread. I have achieved good mixing results with the following plugins, which are a huge part of my workflow, so i’m looking for alternatives that are just as good, if not better. As you can see I particularly like compressors that emulate old analog hardware and the way in which they all impart their own character. The SSL and CLA 2A are faves. It would help if you could copy and paste my list and suggest alternatives for me to check out.

SSL G Master Bus Compressor
CLA 2A
CLA 3A
CLA 76
TG12345
DBX 160
F6 Dynamic Floating Band EQ (By far my most used plugin)
J37 Tape Emulation (Replace with U-he satin?)
Torque (I don’t think there’s anything else like this?)


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## jcrosby (Nov 14, 2021)

Assuming you have Komplete you'd already have alternates to:
CLA 2A, CLA 76, DBX 160, SSL G Bus... (Keep in mind these were developed by Softube, not NI...)

These are the easiest to replace. There are multiple versions by other developers... So many I can't actually list them, but I can list the developers... _Slate, Arturia, IK Multimedia, Analog Obsession, Acustica, UAD_ (hardware dependent obviously), _DMG Audio_ (Track Comp), _Plugin Alliance_, _SSL_... there must be 10 others I don't recall, or am not even aware of...

TG12345 is a tricky one... And it really depends on what you rely on...

The EQ? _Softube/UAD_ (Pricy!), _Acustica_ (Coffee, Vridian_ or _Cream), _Prime Studio_ (Sparkle). (There must be others...

The dynamics? _Acustica (_Coffee, Vridian or Cream_)_, _Primes Studio_ (Sparkle), _Softube_ (Pricy!)... I'm sure there are others, but I don't know of many Chandler/EMI dynamics emulations...

Overall I personally think DMG's TrackComp is the best one stop shop for dynamics if you're cool with _similar_ vs _same_... It has modes for LA2A, 1176, DBX 160, SSL G Bus, even the Chandler Zener (TG12345), plus the Zener mode has a bonus mode for its saturation called THD... And it has an API 2500 model as well...

You might also check out Plugin Alliance's Lindell 80 Channel, It's a similar vs same scenario... The EQ sounds different, so it ultimately comes down to what it is you like about the TG channel...

J37 - Again... Not sure how many are based on the same hardware... _Acustica_ (Taupe), Softube Tape I believe does as well... But again something in the ballpark is probably smarter. I don't own satin but I've demoed it and it's probably a good 1st place to start... IK's tape collection's pretty decent as well, but similar to Acustica, it eats a lot of CPU.

For tape I personally lean on Slate VTM, Ozone 9's Vintage Tape, and as of recently really liking Baby Audio's TAIP. (None of these are zero latency though if that matters)...

F6 - Again tons of dynamic EQs available, especially in the past few years... _FabFilter_, _Izotope_, _Sonnox_, _Tokyo Dawn_, _UVI's Shade_, I'm sure about 10+ more...

In terms of closest? Posts like this will always attract bias for a variety of reasons. For every 10 people that like one developer there are 10 that will tell you why another is better... IMO you really need to demo and come to your own conclusion...

Hope that's helpful as a 1st reply...


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## cedricm (Nov 15, 2021)

Torque: Steven Slate Trigger 2, presently on sales for $49, which isn't only a drum replacer, with Tune. It doesn't make the promises of Torque though regarding "precision and no artifacts".

On the other hand, for drum replacement, UVI Drum Replacer, also regularly on sales, is much more powerful than Trigger 2.


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## schrodinger1612 (Nov 15, 2021)

I think I’m dead set on fab filter to replace the f6.

Any opinions on Presswerk by U-he? Having an all in one set of compressors at my disposal is appealing, but is it a case of quantity over quality? It’s either that or the black rooster bundle / dmg trackcomp. Of course I’ll probably end up getting the lot


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## soundslike72 (Nov 15, 2021)

+1 for DMG Trackcomp, plus I really like its simple interface. I find it forces me to listen to the differencies between emulations instead of looking at funky graphics. If I were to start all over, I'd definitely get this one again, and maybe not 20+ different plugin compressors 

For dynamic EQ, I find there's enough flexibility for me in McDSP's AE600. Also one of my most used plugins, since I discovered what a dynamic equalizer can do for you. On a side note Soothe2 is doing a similar halfway automatic thing, that is just really useful in certain situations.


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## AudioLoco (Nov 15, 2021)

schrodinger1612 said:


> Hey guys. I’ve been using Waves plugins almost exclusively for a few years, but I’m now looking to migrate away from their ecosystem for reasons I don’t want to get into or make the focus of this thread. I have achieved good mixing results with the following plugins, which are a huge part of my workflow, so i’m looking for alternatives that are just as good, if not better. As you can see I particularly like compressors that emulate old analog hardware and the way in which they all impart their own character. The SSL and CLA 2A are faves. It would help if you could copy and paste my list and suggest alternatives for me to check out.
> 
> SSL G Master Bus Compressor
> CLA 2A
> ...


SSL G - Townhouse Bus Compressor
CLA 2A - CA2A
CLA 76 - Black 76
TG12345 - NONE in the universe!
F6- ProQ3 ?
J37 - IK A80
Torque- Nope...


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## fakemaxwell (Nov 15, 2021)

schrodinger1612 said:


> I think I’m dead set on fab filter to replace the f6.
> 
> Any opinions on Presswerk by U-he? Having an all in one set of compressors at my disposal is appealing, but is it a case of quantity over quality? It’s either that or the black rooster bundle / dmg trackcomp. Of course I’ll probably end up getting the lot


That was actually what I was going to recommend. I don't think Presswerk is going to 1-to-1 emulate an 1176 but it will behave close enough to make no difference, while also allowing you to switch up the compression style many other ways. Extremely flexible, underrated compressor.

The only other compressors I use are from Klanghelm (DC8C 3 and MJUC) and FabFilter Pro-C. All of which again are not direct emulations, but have a ton of options within the plugin to change up the style.

Satin would be a good replacement for J37.


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## PeterN (Nov 15, 2021)

schrodinger1612 said:


> Hey guys. I’ve been using Waves plugins almost exclusively for a few years, but I’m now looking to migrate away from their ecosystem for reasons I don’t want to get into or make the focus of this thread. I have achieved good mixing results with the following plugins, which are a huge part of my workflow, so i’m looking for alternatives that are just as good, if not better. As you can see I particularly like compressors that emulate old analog hardware and the way in which they all impart their own character. The SSL and CLA 2A are faves. It would help if you could copy and paste my list and suggest alternatives for me to check out.
> 
> SSL G Master Bus Compressor
> CLA 2A
> ...


A bit off from your list, but for anyone coming around, I switched the Waves Vitamin to Mongoose. Not *exactly* same, but simple enough for stereo widening on certain frequencies. It seems to work well on master bus.

Also not on your list, but good alternatives to MAxBass and LoAir is up next to find.


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## re-peat (Nov 15, 2021)

AudioLoco said:


> TG12345 - NONE in the universe!



Acustica’s Cream2 has (convolution-recreated) line and mic preamps from a 1970s EMI TG12345 console and its tube recreation is done with impulse responses from two EMI tape recorders (one from ’67 and a ’60 BTR 2 ‘green machine’) and from the EMI RS124 compressor.
The ‘B’ filters in Cream2 are also sampled from the TG12345. (The ‘A’ filters were captured from a EMI REDD clone.)
And Cream2’s two compressors are (a) the limiter stage from the EMI TG12345, and (b) the vari-mu RS124 which is an EMI-adaption of the Altec 436B.

In short: all very 60’s-and-70’s Abbey Road.

Cream2 isn’t a very pleasant plugin to operate however. And that is wording it friendly. Apart from the well-known Acustica-caused strain on the system and the latency — which are both considerable —, Cream’s metering is totally unreliable and pretty much useless (some people assume that was done deliberately, to increase the ‘hardware experience’) and most of its knobs, dials and faders are also very fiddly and rather irritating to set. The plugin is quite level-sensitive too, definitely more so than the standard algorithmic plugins we're used to working with.

In other words, you really-really-really have to want to have that sound if Cream2 is to have any appeal to you. But, until someone comes up with something better, this the closest we’ll get to a TG12345 in the box.


- - -


Another vote to replace all your compressors with DMG TrackComp2, *Schrodinger*. You may be put off by its rather sterile, unimaginative appearance — for the same reasons as Soundslike72 mentioned however, I find that a plus actually —, but underneath that bland skin are some of the best compression algorithms at work ever created. TrackComp2 gives you emulations of eight vintage compressors — at least as convincing as anything else out there that claims to offer the same — plus one ‘digital’ compressor, which is basically a clean digital DMG compressor.

A pity you have to let go of the Waves F6. It's the one plugin of theirs (next to a few of their instruments) which I like. But if has to go, then it has to go, I suppose. My suggestion for a replacement would be another DMG plugin: the incomparable, peerless, unsurpassable, sublime and supreme-reigning Multiplicity. Does A LOT more than what the F6 does, and does it a lot better too. Not cheap though.

For tape simulation, I like Goodhertz Tupe. And WavesFactory’s Spectre. And a few others. Or, if you merely want some tape-ish wear, dirt and deterioration: Aberrant’s SketchCassette, CHOW Tape and Caelum’s TapePro.
There’s a number of very good convolution-based tape-simulators as well, a.o. LondonAcoustics Taipe and Acustica’s Taupe and the ones from IK Multimedia, but, as with the above mentioned Cream2, these tend to put quite a burden on your system. (Meaning: unless you have an insanely powerful computer, you certainly won’t be able to insert one of these on every track or channel of your mix.)

_


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## jcrosby (Nov 15, 2021)

re-peat said:


> Acustica’s Cream2 has (convolution-recreated) line and mic preamps from a 1970s EMI TG12345 console and its tube recreation is done with impulse responses from two EMI tape recorders (one from ’67 and a ’60 BTR 2 ‘green machine’) and from the EMI RS124 compressor.
> The ‘B’ filters in Cream2 are also sampled from the TG12345. (The ‘A’ filters were captured from a EMI REDD clone.)
> And Cream2’s two compressors are (a) the limiter stage from the EMI TG12345, and (b) the vari-mu RS124 which is an EMI-adaption of the Altec 436B.
> 
> ...


Yup. Acustica (and prime studio) will be the only options for Abbey road short of shelling out a fortune for Softube's Chandler plugins. Acustica/Prime Studio's sound far better IMO... (But mind you it's only an opinion ) And sorry for getting OT but some of Softube's prices have become absolutely ludicrous.

There's actually two options re-peat didn't mention (or my not be aware of?) Coffee is the best bang for the buck and appears to include everything the waves plugin is based on, and then some...I also have a hunch that they sample Prime Studio's EMI console for Coffee, (making the Sparkle Bundle moot)...

Acustica Coffee
Prime Studio Sparkle Bundle

And, there's a free, slimmed down version of the Chandler Tone Control Called *Coffee The PUn*. (Definitely worth grabbing...)



What's Modeled:

*Acustica Coffee* (From the Acustica _Unofficial Master List_):
_The Chandler Collection.
Chandler Limited TG12345 Curve Bender and (B) Chandler Limited Germanium Tone Control
Chandler Limited RS124, Chandler Limited TG12413 Zener Limiter, REDD.47, Little Devil Pre Amp, DI 500_

*Prime Studio Sparkle Bundle* (From the Acustica _Unofficial Master List_):
_"All elements from an EMI TG 12345 Mark IV/Q console. 
- Prime Curve : Eq
- Prime Comp : Compressor
- Prime Mix : input + output stage of 6 different channels (includes Hipass filter and bass Eq)"_



Their main downsides were mentioned in the quoted post, plus they also take up a ton of disk space compared to emulated plugins, (again these are actual hardware impulses, not simply coded simulations)...The upside is that they are about as dead on of a copy of an original piece of hardware as you can get...

Overall I have mixed feelings with either developer. Great for mastering, can be used sparsely in a mix, and damn near impossible to use more than one or two in a production template without eating resources you'd probably want to reserve for instruments...


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## easyrider (Nov 15, 2021)

UHE Satin….different league to the rest….and I have them all!


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## schrodinger1612 (Nov 15, 2021)

I picked up the black rooster and IKM t-racks bundles in a sale - these include a bunch of compressors, and I also got presswerk in the kvr classifieds for good measure  so that’s me covered in that area (still tempted by Acustica Cream despite the CPU and space requirements)

I also picked up Satin for my tape saturation needs.

Now looking for Pro-Q 3 in the classifieds.


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## Damarus (Nov 15, 2021)

Now, all plugins are free on Patreon!


https://www.patreon.com/analogobsession



analogobsession.com


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## schrodinger1612 (Nov 16, 2021)

jcrosby said:


> Yup. Acustica (and prime studio) will be the only options for Abbey road short of shelling out a fortune for Softube's Chandler plugins. Acustica/Prime Studio's sound far better IMO... (But mind you it's only an opinion ) And sorry for getting OT but some of Softube's prices have become absolutely ludicrous.
> 
> There's actually two options re-peat didn't mention (or my not be aware of?) Coffee is the best bang for the buck and appears to include everything the waves plugin is based on, and then some...I also have a hunch that they sample Prime Studio's EMI console for Coffee, (making the Sparkle Bundle moot)...
> 
> ...


I actually picked up second hand license of Acustica Cream 2. I’m very curious to hear how it sounds - I imagine the cpu load issue can be navigated by ‘printing’ the effect - when using on many tracks that is. Tbh I mostly reserve this type of effect for mastering so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.


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## jcrosby (Nov 16, 2021)

schrodinger1612 said:


> I actually picked up second hand license of Acustica Cream 2. I’m very curious to hear how it sounds - I imagine the cpu load issue can be navigated by ‘printing’ the effect - when using on many tracks that is. Tbh I mostly reserve this type of effect for mastering so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.


I use them in mastering frequently... If I can get away with them in a mix I will but my mixes often tend to have high track counts, in which case they're great on a few busses. 

One of my favorites is Viridian. It's similar, (a hybrid of Siemens & Helios, same era) and the compressor has some serious thud that I haven't been able to reproduce to quite the same effect with anything else.


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## re-peat (Nov 17, 2021)

jcrosby said:


> One of my favorites is Viridian



Yes, Viridian is a great one as well.

My current Acustica favourites are Brown, Ebony, Cola, Diamond Transient and Indigo. Plus DibiQuadro’s Bronze and LondonAcoustic’s Verona. That selection changes though depending on the sort of music I’m working on. If you ask me next week, I might give 4 or 5 different choices — Blond, Camel, Pink or Desert, perhaps — although I’m pretty sure that Ebony and Indigo would be part of that selection as well.

Ever since I got on the Acustica train, I have to freeze tracks (or bounce them to audio) a lot more than I used to, but I’m finding that’s actually a good thing because it forces me to make decisions and stick with them (the way you had to in the pre-DAW era), rather then leave all the options open all the way through a production, which often results in you keeping changing your mind again and again until you loose all perspective on what it is you want to accomplish.

With Acustica’s, that paralyzing luxury of leaving all possible avenues open until the end, doesn’t exist. (Unless you have a monster mega-computer.) Those plugins are most of the time a bloody nuisance to work with and they frequently upset the work flow, but those inconveniences are, I find, largely outweighed by that insistence of theirs that you commit, early on, to your decisions regarding the sound. Which, in the case of Acustica, is a pretty good sound. Which greatly helps the decision-making of course.

Another satisfying way to work with the Acustica’s, in my experience anyway, is to leave the MasterOut of your DAW as free from plugins as possible. Mix your track to the best of your abilities through that (near-)empty MasterOut, and, finally, import your mix in an audio editor where you add the final touches with (various) Acustica(s) and, in the very last slot, if necessary, an additional limiter. That's how I work since a few months.

_


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## schrodinger1612 (Nov 17, 2021)

Dammit guys, you're going to get me to go on an acoustica marathon now!  Think i'll need a new SSD drive...


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## re-peat (Nov 17, 2021)

Tell me about it. It’s a curse, the siren-like lure of Acustica. To alleviate the financial burden a bit, maybe check *Knob Cloud* once every while, there’s plenty of 2nd hand Acustica’s for sale there, frequently surprisingly friendly priced. (Haven't had any bad experience myself yet buying via Knob Cloud.)

I've just checked and there's someone who sells Cream2 for as little as €26 at the moment ...

_


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## proggermusic (Nov 18, 2021)

I was gonna recommend grabbing the Black Rooster bundle, and it looks like you already did. Along with a couple other smaller developers (and some not-so-small, like Plugin Alliance) they've replaced everything I've used Waves for in the past. Although for surgical EQ I still just use Logic's stock EQs, they do everything I've ever needed. (I love Black Rooster's Pultec models for color.)

For reverb and delay, I think Valhalla DSP is crushing the game at the moment. Valhalla Vintage Verb, Room, and Delay are all over everything I do.


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## schrodinger1612 (Nov 18, 2021)

proggermusic said:


> I was gonna recommend grabbing the Black Rooster bundle, and it looks like you already did. Along with a couple other smaller developers (and some not-so-small, like Plugin Alliance) they've replaced everything I've used Waves for in the past. Although for surgical EQ I still just use Logic's stock EQs, they do everything I've ever needed. (I love Black Rooster's Pultec models for color.)
> 
> For reverb and delay, I think Valhalla DSP is crushing the game at the moment. Valhalla Vintage Verb, Room, and Delay are all over everything I do.


Yeah the valhalla stuff's great.

I did indeed snap up the black rooster bundle. It was mainly for the compressors, but i've been messing around with the spring reverb and it's absolutely killer - I was never entirely happy with the u-he or audiothing offerings but it looks like i've accidentally stumbled across something better.


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## proggermusic (Nov 18, 2021)

Yep. Their compressors are all really great, and I honestly don't even use compression all THAT much. I mainly use them for color and saturation, and I love their LA2A model. (Their K-Comp is also great on drums and percussion, which are really the main things I use compression for at all...) Their "Magnetite" tape plugin is also really great, and as I mentioned, their Pultec EQs are my most-used of theirs at the moment. Really really nice.

Their VPRE73 also sounds EXTREMELY good as a saturation/color tool, and its high shelf EQ sounds excellent. Very simple, straightforward, easy to use, and excellent.

The plugins I've been using most for "vintage warmth" (saturation/color) the most lately are the Fuse VPRE376 and VCL373, which are close cousins to Black Rooster (one of the same developers). Fuse, BR, and Valhalla are almost all I use, these days.


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## timbit2006 (Nov 18, 2021)

Arturia FX Collection or Black Rooster Audios current black friday sales will make you never use your waves plugins again.


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## Living Fossil (Nov 18, 2021)

schrodinger1612 said:


> Now looking for Pro-Q 3 in the classifieds.


You should take a look at the Kirchhof EQ, which is still on intro sale:









Kirchhoff-EQ - Effects - Three-Body Technology


Kirchhoff-EQ is an ultimate 32-band parametric EQ plugin built for all critical professional applications. It has refined sound quality, analogue-matched curves, 11 filter types with continuously variable shape and 30 vintage EQ types modelled from realworld devices. The builtin dynamic...



www.threebodytech.com





It's a fantastic EQ with some quite unique features that makes it even stand out between Dynamic EQs.

(one of the features of the dynamic section is the ability to treat a band both above and below the threshold, which can be used e.g. for averaging a frequency band by upwards compressing it if it's below the threshold and compressing it above.
And you also can set an attack and release time.


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## fortunoquack (Nov 18, 2021)

is it free tho?


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## Soundbed (Nov 18, 2021)

schrodinger1612 said:


> SSL G Master Bus Compressor
> CLA 2A
> CLA 3A
> CLA 76
> ...


SSL G - I use this instead: https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/bx_townhouse_buss_compressor.html

CLA 2A - I don't often find myself reaching for any virtual LA-2A compression but I recently did a demo of https://blackroosteraudio.com/en/products/vla-2a and was quite impressed.

CLA 3A - I use the BF-3A from this instead: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BombComp2--avid-bf-classic-compressors-bundle

CLA 76 - I use these instead: https://slatedigital.com/fg-116-blue-series-fet-compressors/ (Slate also has a "modern" and a blacky version but I gravitate to this one)

TG12345 - I don't have a non-Waves alternative to this, sorry.

DBX 160 - Although not equivalent you may consider https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/vertigo_vsc-2.html 

F6 Dynamic Floating Band EQ (By far my most used plugin) - Fabfilter Pro-Q3 without question. https://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-q-3-equalizer-plug-in but a budget version (which I've never tried but is probably quite close) would be https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/hornet-total-eq/ 

J37 Tape Emulation - I really like J37 ... if I didn't have it I would probably use something in UJAM RETRO Finisher to get similar effects. Sounds crazy but UJAM RETRO is great for creative uses IMHO.

Torque - Fabfilter Pro-Q3 can do a similar thing. Sasquatch would be better because it has a keyboard and tunes the notes: https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/sasquatch-kick-machine-2/ 

Other things I like and recommend checking out:
Boz Trangressor 2
Elysia Mpressor and Alpha Compressor
Eiosis e2deesser
Soothe2


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## proggermusic (Nov 18, 2021)

Oh yeah, should have mentioned: You could probably mix every project with nothing but Tokyo Dawn plugins (even the free versions) and have everything you need for great results.


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