Waves SSL EV2 Channel Strip review
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- Опубликовано: 29 май 2022
- In which I test out the Waves SSL EV2 channel strip and find out if its all that.
Music: dan-worrall.bandcamp.com/trac...
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Waves Bass Fingers: waves.alzt.net/qnXn65
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Waves PRS Supermodels Guitar Amps: waves.alzt.net/JryraR
Waves API 2500 Compressor: waves.alzt.net/dojoX3
Waves Kramer PIE Compressor: waves.alzt.net/Ke3eRv
Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor: waves.alzt.net/DVzVEG
Waves Puigtec EQs: waves.alzt.net/P0N0LM
Waves Puigchild Compressor: waves.alzt.net/5bPbeo
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Waves Abbey Road Plates: waves.alzt.net/gbkbzv
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I am very much looking forward to you dragging more waves plugins in such a thorough fashion
Also Dan, what does the slithery synth line in the beginning?
The opening part? Two sine waves driven by polyrhythmic arpeggiators (3 against 5), with distortion, plus FabFilter Timeless glitches and pitch glides.
I would love to see a review like this for the scheps omni (which is my favourite and main plugin)
"Dragging"? Okay Cassandra from homeroom
Same
this is precisely the type of video which will drive up the quality of products for engineers. even handed and as objective as possible. thanks dan
Thank you for putting waves in their place with this one. It is much needed. When analog emulations we’re a novel thing 20 years ago and Waves and UAD were the only ones doing it, sure, recreating the hardware limitations in the plug-in made a little more sense. But now that the market is saturated with analog emulations, the bar is being raised by companies that are starting to really push the boundaries on combining the best of analog emulations and digital workstations. Companies you feature right here on the channel, like TDR, u-he, and fabfilter to name a few. So when waves had the opportunity to innovate again when they released an update to their SSL channel, but chose not to, I was disappointed, but not surprised. Hopefully having someone like you who isn’t afraid to tell the truth as an affiliate will help them wake up to the fact that times have changed and in order to make compelling, usable modern tools for the DAW means taking hardware emulations beyond the hardware. While it’s not perfect either, look at the amount of extra thought that went into the design of the BX_SSL4000 series.
Brainworx did a great job with there analog emulations. Headroom, input and output, and mix parameters on every plug in is just exactly what we need in every plug in these days
Yeah, another fan of the Brainworx SSL right here.
TDR, U-he and fabfilter are great examples of such companies, couldn't put it better myself.
TDR and FabFilter, two of my favorite companies doing this kinda thing. They give us analog options without being afraid to fully harness digital capabilities.
Pulsar, Tone Empire, Acustica, Arturia, kazrog, and Audified also come to mind, but the list is ever growing these days
Dan is a maestro, i would like to see a plugin company hiring him just to make a channel strip Dan Worrall Edition with all he would find useful and necessary. Really, i would like to see that and then a video by himself explaining why this and that and how it works.
Keep up the good work, man. Cheers! :)
I do mind if the value showed is not exactly the amount of gain I am adding or subtracting, and it has nothing to do with mixing with your ears.
It happens often that I have a chain of plugins, and if I want to subtract one db on one and adding it on another, while at the end of the chain I've got a multiband compressor, I end up hitting the compressor harder without noticing it, just because you are 8 hours in the mix and you don't double check simple math, you trust that 1 - 1 = 0.
Same. Also, for the less experienced it's important correlate values to what your hear, if a change labeled 2db would be different on every plugin then we would never learn how much of a difference 2db really sounds like.
Dan, do you have any actual Mixing videos on the interwebs?
I for one would Love to see your full process, especially after watching this video which I think is the most comprehensive Channels --> Busses --> 2-Bus setup you've shown on this channel.
(I happily admit that I've watched ALL of your videos here numerous times.)
I, like all the rest of your fan club, really appreciate the quality and thoughtfulness of these RUclips episodes (Pretty much everything else goes on pause as soon as I get the alert), and your focus not on "Tips & Tricks" but rather techniques, fundamentals, and philosophies.
However I think MUCH value would come from watching you take a song from Importing raw Multitracks --> Exporting Stems and a Final Mix.
(Maybe a short series of videos with as many parts as you see the stages of a start to finish mix. Say "Dan Worrall Mix Series: 1/5 - Mix Prep", "...2/5 - Static Mix Balance", etc.)
Not that you don't give us Way more than we deserve already, but if such a series were to exist, I would likely watch it once a month for the rest of my life!
He was the engineer that FabFilter hired to create their "Mixing and Mastering" playlist that is extremely helpfu: ruclips.net/video/-jCwIsT0X8M/видео.html
Of course some of them are directly geared towards FabFilter plugins, but there is still great info in there.
His actual songs are pretty meh
These days, I regard WAVES as marketing for 'wealthy enough enthusiasts' rather than professionals. Not that I am claiming to be even competent. But buying loads of plugins seems to be a phase we all go (I went) through and WAVES is there to fulfill that need.
Now I aim to learn to use a few good plugins well. Maybe I will be inspired by Dan to buy more in future -
Having said that, I got so much from this tutorial and remain an enthusiastic student. Thank you Dan
I couldn't agree more. I bought all of them back in the day (Mercury bundle). Now I mainly use the Fab Filter stuff and a few select others. The only Waves plugins I use frequently now are RVox and Maxx Bass.
Here's the thing (as I suspect you know),: lots of bedroom recorders who've never been anywhere near a real analogue desk have been convinced they "need" an SSL. So what they WANT is something that looks just like the real thing, and they don't know or care if it actually does a good job.
I'd argue that there isn't anything at all that this does that the Scheps Omni Channel doesn't do much better (just to take another Waves plug in as an example). But then that doesn't press that satisfaction button that makes a hobbyist think "now I have an SSL"
The one (big) gripe I have with Waves is how they separate mono and stereo versions for all their plugins. All other plugin producers have managed to make their products intelligent, but not Waves. It slows down my workflow and doubles the number of keyboard shortcuts I need for my plugins. And I can't tell you how often I've wasted time trying to figure out why a stereo track didn't sound right, only to find a mono Waves plugin to be the culprit, followed by the fun of duplicating the settings after installing the stereo one.
I like Waves, but I hate their mono/stereo policy.
It is your DAW actually, Reaper does not have stereo and mono tracks, it is the limitation that exists only in our brain as we're used to this old way of thinking.
@@BojanBojovic, no other company's plugins do this. It's Waves.
Yes, but stereo plugins will use 2x the CPU of a mono plugin.
Or maybe Waves could install a mono/stereo-switch that also dynamically adjusts the cpu load. that's not too complicated
@@rrrafiel, they shouldn't have to if it isn't necessary. Use mono processing for a mono track, and switch to stereo for a stereo one.
This could actually be a great opportunity to debunk some Waves myths like the ones that imply that practically every compressor they designed is an untouched RComp with a saturation stage added.
Whoever said that has no idea what’s talking about
@@AmagrasMUSIC I don't believe it is that simple either! I respect the heck out of Waves for what they've brought us in the DSP realm. However... there ARE some famous myths worth looking into, I believe. I mean, going by the main plugin featured on this video alone, it is somewhat widely believed that EV2 is a stripped down CLA Mixhub.
@@pedrochalkho7629 if you knew the story of waves from the beginning you wouldn’t believe that; but also it’s all in the manuals, forumites don’t read those anymore?
Yeah, sure, the manuals! xD
@@pedrochalkho7629 yes, the manuals explain when they used an algorithm from old plugins
Incredible, Dan. I appreciate your honesty even with a deal with Waves in place.
A very thorough and insightful review. Thank you, Dan. With so many plugin developers and choices available, an informed decision is sometimes hard to acquire.
Thanks Dan! I’d love to watch you go through the Scheps 🙏 (for the same reasons/differences you point out here).
Love your videos Dan, you're the most interesting, articulated and even funny audio geek youtuber out there!
Really love this analytical approach to plugin reviews!
Thanks for this video. Needed to hear that calming voice today!
Great video. I like having the options of all of these things, old school stuff where I'll use my ears, more surgical stuff, and sometimes the Scheps is great just to drop on a background element and mix the entire thing in one plugin.
Channel Strip Plugins
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My point here is that Softube as a company, in close coordination with Solid State Logic, deliberately took the Channel Strip Plugin idea much further than it had ever been. They did stick to "accurately emulating" the sound and workflow of the original console(s), but they added a ton of not-so-obvious advancements over the real thing.
(I wand to go into depth, but this is way longer than intended already. So I'll try to just hit a couple of points. Thanks DAN!)
1) Mixing in the box with a mouse is 1-Click at a time. I have numerous gaming mice, track balls, track pads, pen displays, tablets etc, and they All have their place. Plus in Reaper you can train them to do Amazing tricks. But the Console 1 hardware is essentially a Midi Controller, dedicated to exactly One plugin. That has many implications but one is that you can grab multiple controls at once, like on Analog equipment. And because the hardware is so tightly connected to the software, you develop a Hand/Ear coordination, even with you monitor switched off, that is simply impossible with any mouse or other "Pointing Device".
2) That point and this one have more to do with the Hardware than the Channel Strip plugin concept, but because that hardware is communicating directly with each of the plugins, from the control surface you can fly through all of the channels in your session. If you had a 96-channel session say on a real million-dollar SSL XL9096J, you would roll your chair way over to the left 48 channels, then way over to the right 48 channel strips, standing up and down to reach all the controls, in and out of the sweet spot, so you return to the center and realize you have to go back to readjust, all day. With this system, there's 20 channel buttons that bank up and down, right at your finger tips on a controller the same size as your QWERTY keyboard. So with 5 clicks of a button, one hundred SSL 9000 channel strips Come to You, within seconds, without you moving one inch out of your perfectly triangulated monitoring system. And again, you never have to touch the mouse or look up at the screen!
3) However, about that screen.... While the knobs on the controller are laid out to match an SSL Channel Strip, spread out and turned on its side (a concept I love, but also one of my pet peeves), and the idea is that your hands already know where to go, plus the controller is full of LED meters and indicators that give you lots of visual feedback for what your hands and ears are telling you, they Also included on On-Screen Display system, that with the click of a button (and maybe not even that) super-imposes a display over whatever is already on your screen and gives you additional Bonus information, audio x-ray vision into your signal that was Never possible on any analog console of the golden years. So the system gives you the sound and the hand/ear mixing workflow of their emulated originals, but with far more of the control and visual feedback of the 21st century mixing experience than was imaginable at the time those studio classics were at their prime.
4) Console 1 is old now, relatively speaking. And it's not the only game in town anymore. Plus it itself has expanded and evolved over the years to include features and functions some of which weren't imagined at the time it was created. That 1 original Analog Console emulation has since expanded to eight, with two SSLs, an API, a NEVE, and others that were never actually Consoles in the real world, but were amazing rack pieces now reimagined into fairly complete console channel strips with the cooperation and endorsement of those companies: Emperical Labs, Chandler Limited, Summit Audio, and Weiss. But that points to another thing that exists within the Console 1 ecosystem... (again this is Not a commercial!)
5) Over the years Console 1 has expanded what you can do with it and it's channel strips. From the beginning you could swap out not only the full console emulations, but the three individual component sections in the chain: you could load the Strip, the Shape, the EQ, or the Comp independently. They've since allowed you to load the Drive section and the Filters separately as well. So you can think of your channel strip as 6 different pieces of gear in a signal chain (like they did with the afore mentioned companies above). And those component sections can come from mixing-n-matching those now 8 Channel Strips, which you can break into 6 parts each giving you 48 pieces of gear (well plugins), but those 6 links in your chain can also come from the hundreds of other plugins Softube themselves as well as Dozens of plugins from their collaboration with Universal Audio. (Plus there's "Apollo Central" mode....but I digress)
6) So again, kinda controller related and not necessarily Channel Strip specific, but putting those buttons knobs and faders from the original hardware, into code, and then Back at your finger-tips rather than mouse clicks, really does change the experience. If you've used any plugins from Softube or Universal Audio with your mouse, and you were happy with the sound and user interface while clicking-n-dragging, putting both hands on two knobs of an LA2A or 1176 finally FEELS right. Your eyes and ears may have been having all the fun, but now your hands get to play as well. I also have to say that, the point of the Console 1 hardware was that the Threshold knob is always the Threshold knob, no matter what emulation you are running. The 4 EQ band gain knobs are always in the exact same place, you don't have to think about it or look for it. And Softube did an amazing job mapping the hundreds of Plugins with thousands of individual Parameters to the 26 FIXED knobs on the hardware controller a when you're using a UAD plugin or UAD Console, it feels like Universal Audio made the hardware. Almost all of it feels intuitive, and the amount of time you do spend looking for something is nothing compared to with the mouse and a plugin window. However this is also its limitation...
(Continued 3 of 5......)
Excellent review!, this is the kind of reviews for plugins I want to see!, Thanks!
I really appreciate the way you analyze in detail every time but, the most important thing is that the music has to be able to get to the listener and this is outstandingly present from the first record that ever came out. I still think about being able to do something that doesn't have to be elaborate on, if it is so thanks for your hard work and I can tell you something, I learned a lot from your content and I really appreciate everything you do for community. My point is that you can inspire people in creative ways.
Bless you good human being.
Greetings from Kosova.
Besim Baftiu.
Dan, you’re on my list of people to have a beer with someday. Your videos are thee best! Thank you sir!!
The only channel strip I use, is the SSL9000 from PA, mainly for the same reason as you Dan, and when I do, I use the THD knob cranked to max, just to get some added harmonics...and often I use FF ProQ3 to further sculpt the sound if needed.
I'm not ashamed I work 100% ITB, and take advantages of every "weird" quirk a software plugin can do, after all in computer world we most often we use the mouse ( can't really say anything about any DAW Control Surface as I haven't tried one yet ). Thanks for the video Dan, really informative. Cheers
Really dig your synth patches this one is glorious, wish i knew what was going on in that intro patch. So pretty and animated
Two sine waves driven by polyrhythmic arpeggiators (3 against 5) with distortion plus glitches and glides from FabFilter Timeless 3.
Really appreciate the review and the content! My only note where I differ is that I always try to gain stage my mix from the fader on a channel strip and not my DAW faders. It makes automation nicer and means I have the same resolution for automation on all channels. Plus I know that if 1 channel is -1.6db then it's because I accidentally knocked it
A million times yes about having two volume knobs with one dedicated to headroom/saturation without any effect on the real level. So many “analog emulation” plugins are SO much harder to use because there’s no simple way to try different gain structures for different modeled preamp behavior!
Always love the content Dan!
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. About as good as reviews get with loads of useful information and just the right amount of opinions too.
You’re channel is stellar man. Much love ❤️
Gotta say Waves got some balls letting Dan go through their plugins with a fine tooth comb and microscope.
Waves gave Dan all access to evaluate their plugins and mentioned SSL EV2 as their top seller and they instantly regret it 🤣🤣🤣 as you were giving your honest critics, I've heard that they replicated the 1st SSL, added some features which i consider not a big deal and marketed it well so they can sell it, still not even close to bx_console SSL 4000E which has been there for years.
Great video 🙏👍 thanks
New video from you brings a smile to my face, regardless. Also, loved your recommended channel! 💯
This turns out as a high quality, very detailed QA review. Now Waves knows how to make this a good channel strip. Hope, you get your fee for this QA, Dan. ;-) It is most important that you keep being honest and fair, and it's great to see you do!
Exactly my thought,.. Waves coders and R&D will be getting some invaluable information to employ or remove features with just a NFR .. Brilliant!
Question is.... Since this really is the first full Waves review, will they actually take on board what Dan has pointed out?
If in a few months there are options as suggested, I bet it'll be another version and another cost. Say the "SSL almost EV Virtual 3"
Great work on the review - very informative - and very entertaining!
Personally I’ve tried most “SSL type” channel strips (and the Omni Channel and others) but the one I’ve finally settled on is the SSL “SSL type” channel strip which, in conjunction with their 360 app, I find quick, accurate and effective.
Agree 100%. Same with me.
But it's too clean :(((
@@TransistorLSD - what I've found is that a good channel strip compressor is more sonically pleasing to me than channel strip saturation.
Besides, the original hardware SSL channel didn't really "saturate" - it was intended to be pretty much linear right up to the point that it clipped (which is fine for limiting transients).
The "saturation" came from tape and outboard gear.
That's how I remember it anyway.
YMMV.
And it becomes a dream with the UC1 controller.
Same here, SSL Native rocks!
Very much enjoying your tunes and great advice.
fantastic and thorough as always-- I'd love to see a scheps omni channel review sometime-- love this channel!
Dan, thank you for this very in-depth video. You are one of a handful of people that makes reviews that really makes sense. Waves, are you listening...? I really do hope you will review the Scheps Omni-channel as well. I expect you like the workflow much better of this all-in-one channel solution than any thing else you've put your hands on so far.
Thanks again for your contribution, thumbs up!
I love the scheps omni channel. Literally use it on every mix. Especially for bus processing. Would love the see a full review 🙏
It could be interesting to see you look at Waves' "NX" plugins, and speak to their efficacy in a realistic scenario.
Finally a proper review for the plugin ... and the developers could easily create the modern version, with switch of a button. So u can choose the original setup channel strip or modernised with all your suggestions
Another fantastic video. Thank you. I'm getting weary of skeuomorphism in general, but especially in plugins. Why are we limiting ourselves to controlling our sound with cute little knobs that look like SSL knobs? The sound is what matters. Make an interface that is intuitive, easy to control with a mouse, and visually informative as well as appealing. FabFilter figured it out.
Yeah, that's part of why I love Goodhertz plugins
well... if that is all you need, it can be good. but theres good no reason to limit yourself to anything anymore. haha.
The designs that basically mimic hardware are somewhat lazy. So often, there has been little to no consideration for the UX of an interface's navigation or interpretation in a digital environment.
Totally agree @Jim. I'm getting weary of anything that looks like a channel strip. Channel strips are shaped that way because of a space *limitation* - it was the only way to put multiple processors side-by-side on a mix console. It's a terrible way to arrange knobs and buttons unless you physically have to. In the computer era, we can design things any way we want - we should design them in a way that facilitates intelligibility and workflow, and stop cloning limitations.
@@lyingpancake95 skeumorphism can be done well imo. Some plugins, like U-He plugins or TDR plugins look like real hardware but often deviate completely from what a real unit would look like and function, for the purpose of being a better to use plugin
A possible benefit of creating a channel strip with the same layout and limitations of the corresponding hardware is that the users can go back and forth between the two with no learning curve and work the way they're used to working. It's not as flexible as it could be, but it's perhaps faster for those who are used to working that way. This approach could also function as a good training tool for aspiring engineers to come to grips with the hardware before they get to sit down in front of it.
Nonetheless, imposed limitations can limit the usefulness of a plugin; and I appreciate you illustrating these issues in your usual, detailed way. Well done!
I think Arturia take the "recreate but make it better" approach and I appreciate that.
McDSP has been doing This Since Filter Bank. Its not a recreation,, nor does it look like it, But its there....
Superb - as always. The difference in the bypassed (channel plugins) mix is certainly there, but it seems to me you could replicate this with with many other EQ's and compressors we've all bought over the years, including the native DAW plugs which are rather good on all DAW platforms methinks - could save a lot of CPU in the process. Something I wish I'd known years ago before being seduced by fancy looking GUI's and raving reviews in magazines !
One of the best reviews I have ever seen. Thank you very much. I‘d like to see more waves stuff. Most of all the Abbey Road Mastering Suite.
Another great informative review. This kinda thing is why I have quit using Waves a long time ago. The name is more important than the quality/usability of their plugins it seems. Hopefully these critical deep dives will help them get back on track. I doubt it, but the info is good for us mere mortals nonetheless.
Thanks Dan.
C-1 is my favourite compressor in the world. I think I've been using it maybe 20 years. Reviewing that would be so cool!
Also using it for 17 years, Unless I want ultra clean sound and than FirComp has won :)
love your guitar playing awesome. nice review of plugin
*More incredible insights from the "Rainman" of audio!* 😎👍
The mix sounded really good!
Good review. The reason for all "Why would they do this" because it's a faithful reproduction of an SSL chan. Many pro engineers used or own a real SSL console, like SSL 4000. They feel at home on this. If it was redesigned, it would be different beast. It's not for everyone, for sure. The simple answer to why, because its a faithful plugin version of an SSL console strip. I understand Waves worked with SSL on this.
Channel Strip Plugins
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The original Waves SSL channel strip & G-Comp (not this EV2) are probably the suspect zero of All channel strip plugins to follow.
The promise was, as in this video: Put this on Every channel, with the Bus Comp on your master bus, and Boom you're mixing on an SSL 4000E, signed off on by Solid State Logic themselves.
The bus comp became more omnipresent than the channel strip I think mainly because people's computers back then couldn't run that many instances of the channel strip without maxing CPU and RAM. The limitations of the channels strip EQs and Dynamics, when compared with every other option in our rapidly expanding plugin folders was another blow. And for me, the inflexibility of inserting any other processor into the chain, say after the input stage or between the EQ & Compressor, another Con.
What I've wondered about for over a decade now, is what Dan touched on in this video.
There are many Pros to working with channel strip plugins, and for me they far outweigh the Cons.
But why the hell are the Cons coded into the virtual products at all?
Or if you are going to code it in, to make some purists happy, at least give us a way Around the limitations of the 1980s in the 21st century.
FFWD to 2022, and now almost every plugin maker has some form of SSL, NEVE, & API "Analog Emulation" plugin, some endorsed some not.
I might have a Dozen SSLs at this point.
To contradict my self, I actually Love the concept, at least the illusion, that I can buy an emulation of an high end piece of studio equipment, that would cost thousands of dollars per unit, and performs similarly enough to the original hardware that the Actual Company puts their own logo on the plugin, all for a hundred bucks. (we all know that with Waves the real price is $29, but others hover around a hundred for the first year or so.). Even at their full MSRP of maybe $350 bucks, which I Never pay, the deal if you can suspend disbelief, is two good to be true Even if you only inserted that plugin on one channel, but you get to use it as many times as your poor little Mac can handle.
Now, I bought, love, and am touching right now, the original Softube Console 1 system (actually manufactured in Sweden) shortly after it came out for $1,000, and it only came with one SSL 4000E channel strip emulation and the option to buy the SSL XL9000K for a few hundred more, which I also did. And it changed everything, for me.
The first obvious difference between the Console 1 SSL and all the others, is the dedicated Hardware Channel Strip. The philosophy was the same as the OG Waves: install the plugin on every channel in your DAW and you move from channel to identical channel intuitively knowing the controls and what they will do to your sound. But Console 1 added the Muscle Memory back into the equation. Your ears hear, your mind know what to do, and now your hands are already doing it.
(This is sounding like a commercial for console one, which it is definitely not as you will see. Plus my on-screen display app is broken right now and I'm not happy about it.)
(Continued 2 of 5......)
Was always wondering when you would do a proper waves analysis... Please continue this project, thank you!!! 🙏❤️
the best review of SSL EV2. Thanks! :)
Your pre-emphasis EQ video blew my mind. Might be worth revisiting that concept with Waves Studio Rack. Studio Rack lets you save chains of multiple waves plugins. You can assign macros to any parameters and have them inversely proportional, so it would allow users of Daw's that don't have that sort of functionality natively to create emphasis/pre-emphasis templates for their waves plugins.
Dan, you make great points about the need to modernize "console emulation" workflow in a modern DAW. I use them, love them but have often found myself frustrated for having to(for example) choose where I will dedicate my HP/LP filter on SSL emulations.
The SSL channels from Waves are OUTSTANDING!! I don’t rave often, but really, I’d mix whole shows or records with nothing else if I had to. I’ve been a Waves customer since virtually day one. I remember sending an email with a tech question and getting a phone call in my back yard on July 4 from the founder of the company, saying in a heavy accent “Hoppy Indeepandance Day, Peter”. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I realized what was going on. He spent nearly an hour with me and sent me a Gold bundle from the kindness of his heart which was at the time something really special. It represented at least $800 upgrade from the 6 or 7 plugs I had alreadly purchased. Customer forever.
I like the brainworks ssl strips much better.
When you asked the listeners to suggest other Waves plugins that you could review, the thing that immediately came to my mind was their Enigma, which seems to be included in several of their bundles.
Thanks for linking the Reaper Theme
Thanks for this fine plugin review! Another Waves SSL "channel strip" is CLA MixHub (apart from the hub functionality). However it also sports a switchable 1176 compressor algorithm plus dedicated side chain filters & EQ, plus a built-in parallel compression mix knob. A review/comparison with the EV2 channel strip would be interesting. :)
I kind of feel bad for developers and “analog” channel strips: they are huge sellers and as soon as you deviate from the hardware people complain, even though you are absolutely correct that many hardware quirks don’t make sense in a modern DAW at all. It’s funny about the gate: a small dev I like made an SSL style channel strip excluding the gate section…. The main complaint on the forums over and over was that people wanted a gate section. “Why isn’t a gate there?? It’s not an SSL without it”. Devs can’t win with channel strips. People think they want what they want, hardware accuracy, and that’s just the way it is even if I’m completely of your mind: give me vintage *inspired* tools that fit seamlessly into a modern workflow.
I also have to ask Dan: did you use the Mutronics Mutator on that guitar solo?? There’s some very cool stuff happening there occasionally that reminds me of it :)
FabFilter Timeless 3
@@DanWorrall 🙏🙏
It's interesting to me that this is the first Waves plugin you've done a deep dive on, as the SSL EV2 was the plugin that finally convinced me to wean myself off of Waves in general.
I was already not pleased with their Update Plan and how they keep crucial bugfixes and performance updates behind that. I understand that they need to make money and they can't be expected to keep things up to date for free... but then again, almost every other plugin manufacturer does. So I'm not convinced.
But the nail in the coffin for me was Paul Third's video on this that showed that they essentially just took one of their old channel strips, removed a bunch of features, added some harmonic distortion, and slapped a new UI on it to sell as the "updated" SSL Channel strip. I've been using the classic SSL E- and G- channel strips in my professional capacity and have integrated them into my personal workflow so I was initially excited at an update; but I wasn't about to pay Waves another $50 CAD for a plugin that it turns out I already owned.
I don't know how accurate Paul's video was as I am but a lowly pleb, but it was convincing enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
You say "added some harmonic distortion" as if that's not the hardest bit to get right ;) I haven't tried the older strips properly yet however, can't really comment.
@@DanWorrall Aha, see what I mean? Lowly pleb reporting in 💀
I still think there's a difference in the high end as well, and the saturation on it is fantastic.
I've been stepping away from Waves for a while now. Still love the omni channel though. The video that made me not even desire this in the least was an SSL shootout that Adam from the channel " Hi RUclips I'm dad" did and the follow up to it concerning the response he got from Waves' support.
I saw that same video from Paul Third and that was the nail in the coffin for me too, plus I was already starting to not like the sound of their plugins as well and no longer use them.
dan + waves, been waiting this for so long :D
You need to consider the live reasoning behind Waves plugins for Soundgrid. Yes the fader needs to be there on the waves at least since it is used in the Soundgrid systems and when using the soundgrid live system the MIC can be used to control the Pre Amp gain. But yea it's kind of dumb in a DAW plugin but my guess is, it is cheaper to build an all in one plugin GUI for both live and the studio.
I didn’t know the plug-in mic gain affected Soundgrid preamps-that’s kinda awesome
@@chrisk.6246 Yep as long as it is the first insert, a ton of guys run just SSL EV2 or Mixhub with Soundgrid to have an SSL for live, especially the guys who grew up using the ATI Paragons which were API's live SSL clone.
@@joesalyers That’s pretty freakin’ sweet. I know it’s intended for foh/etc., but I imagine that Soundgrid could be fun as a tracking console in a studio, too-have you tried that, and if so, how did it do?
This reaffirms my opinion on why I don't use channel strip plugins. Cheers!
As a hobbyist that is self taught from RUclips and other self help sites. I’ve always stayed away from waves due to the insane amount of hate they get from content creators and commenters saying they suck. Leave it to Dan Worrall to show their power.
One thing I did buy in my early days was the waves JJP series, which are all in one plugins to treat drums, strings, keys, etc.. with faders for brightness, punch, ambience and things along those lines. Would love to see a review of those style of waves plugins which streamline workflows for non technic producers.
I'm also self taught from yt and other sites, but until recently I've never seen the hate or dislike towards waves. There was always one or lot more plugins from them on tutorials, ssl stuff, pultec, rvox/bass/whatever, even the ugly 20 years old eq, etc. It has changed since the slate stuff became the cool thing to use, and now there's even more companies making emulations.
Crazy to think we saw completely different stuff from the same learning process, there is such much stuff to read and watch from so many different people
Over the years I grew such a hatred towards waves. Waves Central Installer and placing plugins traces all over the hard drive. Not worth it.
I feel your pain!! Tho i paid for the waves plug in. I use the CRACK version 😂 hassle free 🎉🙏🏽
You're the best mate!! Keep up the hard work
"I, now, officially have too many plugins."
me too man
I haven’t used this channel strip but I have a ton of waves plugins and I absolutely love the way they sound.
I like the channel strips from Waves, expecially the G, but what i love is actually 9000j from plugin alliance. 9000J is such an awesome channel strip.
One of THE best ever made.
With you on the 9000. Made me appreciate why SSL was such a presence in the audio biz....brilliant design.
Elegant as always
Would love to see something Waves has/does uniquely. Something like MaxxBass, possibly comparing against RBass, and other offerings from other companies (off the top of my head, Melda, Voxengo, Refuse, and whoever made Bass Landscapes).
I'm one of those guys who adjust balance through trim or channel strip output knobs/faders instead of the DAW faders. I only like to write automation on those. However for anything EQ, comp and saturation related I think every plugin should have an EL gain compensation these days.
for me it's the other way around. i use the DAW's faders to mix, as they are literally giving me all sounds next to each other, and load an extra plugin if i need a gain automation to have it seperated from the mixer volume.
Reapers trim/read automation mode is good for being able to do both on your faders, though admittedly having layers of volumes on a single fader quickly felt like a recipe for confusing myself and I went back to read only @@Beatsbasteln
Great video as usual. Always admire your work. That's a really nice Reaper theme, by the way. Would love to see an analysis of the Waves, Scheps Omni Channel sometime in the future.
Yeah, I was keen on that theme too. Any idea what it is?
I would love to see this plugin against the previous SSL channel strips and/or the Schoeps Omni strip
Thanks for the awesome video!
Best videos on youtube for audio nerds, thank you
I have the bucket and water and watched a few detailing videos on youtube, so just say when and where and I'll help get your car spotless Dan. Then I can always say, I actually know this man irl. I used to wash his car when he didn't have 1m subscribers yet. Some have bigger accomplishments than others, but maybe I should focus on cleaning my own car first...anyway finally subscribed after watching all your videos. The car washing request did it for me.
Excellent video! Thanks a bunch!
I’m glad you pointed out the 96k sample rate limit on this plug-several Waves plugins top out @96k, and they even have a few that can’t go past 48k (yet). I imagine we’ll see more of Waves’ catalog become compatible with 192k in the next couple of years…
Is there a point in mixing at 192? Legit asking, that's insanely high.
That’s a fair question. At present, I don’t feel the need to go beyond 96k in my recording/mixing, but if the gear can handle it, I’d like my plugins to have the option, too…
@@BrofUJu mixing, no, since your stems have to be 192k as well, taking up huge space and processing time would be very slow even for a monster cpu. But for mastering with a single file It can absolutely make sense. Some plugins sounds better as the sample rate go up, and aliasing can almost entirely be avoided.
@@AboveEmAllProduction isn't it going to be exported to 48 anyway? I work in TV and everything needs to end up 48 anyway, unless you're just meaning how the plugins behave
@@BrofUJu yes, but the conversion happens at the very last stage. So every bit of processing would be 192k. Then dithered and converted to 44/48k at the very final step.
Brilliant review..
Dan Worrall's channel is where I go when I want to go to my happy place. 🙂
Great review! Now that you're partnered with Waves I'd love to hear your take on their analog-style compressor plugins like the LA-2A, SSL Buss, and 1176
Logical Fallatio is a wonderful track. Loved it !
As a musician who's only ever used daws and plugins, it's products like this that make me steer clear of anything that emulates classic hardware. I'm sure there are a lot of great plugins I'm missing out on, but it's just such a hassle to decipher which ones are useful and which are needlessly pandering to nostalgia without really considering usability. At least with tools that were built from the ground up for a computer screen I know that the features and UI will generally make sense and do what they say they're doing.
I use the Brainworx Focusrite Console strip, and it definitely offers a sound that can only come from it. I think most modern channel strips do the same. My guess is that you'd probably prefer the emulation of the actual console you'd prefer if you used a desk. For me there is something comforting about having one interface that could create a polished mix by itself, but also allows to add other processing if needed. I trust the Focusrite Console strip to get most of my tracks to a musical place.
Too add to this, I’ve found that they can colour the sound too much . Like they’re making mix decisions for you without the user really doing anything. Their eq shaping on vintage style compressors for example is very unsubtle and often inaccurate to the one it’s trying to emulate.
Nice analysis!
I’ve made only a handful of RUclips comments in my whole life, but was compelled to do one now, as it would be extremely interesting to hear your thoughts on the Scheps Omni Channel as I use it ALL the time.
This channel is a Gem!
Sweet little Reaper tweak at 21:00 - The 'Imperial' skin. Always wondered what it looked like in real life. And using that skin must give the mix more wonderful warm analog vibe Ha ha!
I grew up on 4k and 6k consoles and Waves did a pretty good job restraining themselves to the limitations of the hardware. It should be said that at the time, limitation was the last word that came to SSL users. Their consoles brought us a rainbow of sonic joy, in a league of their own for quite a while. Very repeatable and exact pot laws even! An SSL allowed the engineer to actually change their game, cutting loads of time, and making new sounds not only easy, but possible for the first time without a vanload of outboard gear. I used the SSL bundle for the first time mixing the Latin Grammys live in Las Vegas and bought the rather expensive bundle the day I got home. Maybe my best investment in years. The Puigchild and Puigtec are likewise almost too good to be true.
Hi, Peter. Good to hear from you. 👍❤️
Being the old git I am, I have lived through the evolution of having no option but to use a recording studio to where we are today when all options are on the table including the modern approach of "working from home". Waves have 30 years experience in the digital plugin market starting back at the beginning of the move from analogue to digital, to where we are today when almost all music is digitally recorded mixed and mastered. How times have changed. For some people, 30 years might be a life time for me it has been most of my working life, others potentially less than half their life. Why might you ask is any of that relevant? Back when the digital era started, engineers wanted evolution not revolution, they wanted plugins that they already understood and knew its purpose and how to use it. That transition was a migration from a physical analogue mixing desk with numerous coloured knobs, buttons and faders to a computer screen with a keyboard and a mouse. Todays music industry has been built on thousands of hours of dedicated work programming software algorithms that accurately replicates yesterdays physical hardware we should all be incredibly appreciative of companies like Waves and what they have contributed over the past few decades.
Why did Waves plugins once cost so much? Simple business economics, supply demand on top of the research experience knowledge and development costs needed to deliver a working finished product. If they did not replace with considerable accuracy a physical channel strip no engineer would buy and use them, no studio would want them. Now everyone has access to them, we should be grateful and thankful and appreciate the work done by companies like Waves to make todays home studios possible and a reality.
I hope that this will make them make better plugins. THANK YOU DAN !
Thank you for doing this Dan. This proves that Waves really need to step up their game if they want to stay relevant in the future. They have so many plugins with big names written on them... And the beginner mixing engineers and producers buy into it. Also, what's up with them having a sale 24/7 every day in the year?! :D
For the same reason almost all plug-in sellers do, it increases perceived value. You’re more likely to buy it if you *think* the original cost is $200 and you magically found it at the right time for $30. The eternal sale also conceals the average price amongst all these price fluctuations.
Great analysis of EV2! I hope you will do this for Scheps Omni Channel & AR TG Mastering Chain in the future!!
While I do understand the desire for the plugin to go beyond the “limitations” and “inaccuracies” of the original hardware, I think you would be missing the point. The whole point of having a hardware emulation is for people who can’t get their hands on an original SSL or have worked on one in the past to get that same experience with all its limitations and inaccuracies, because like it or not this is what made the SSL an SSL. If you want something less limited or more accurate you can always reach for your favorite digital EQ or your favorite digital channel strip, but in my opinion the only reason you would reach for an SSL channel strip is to get a faithful emulation of the real thing and in that regard I believe they nailed it.
Personally, I like the SSL Ev2 a lot because I'm the kind of mixer who needs to go fast and straight to the point. I use a mixing template in reaper with the ev2 ssl on each channel and one or two other plug-ins in "offline" mode which are different for each channel. The SSL EV2's knobs are placed at specific points that I like for each instrument. example, for Kick, compressor ratio at 4, release at 100, open attack, expander at -18, release at 150, EQ points placed at 70, 250, 500 and 8000 with the Q value also defined . which allows me during the mix to make my first "usual movements" very quickly and see if it works. if so, I move on, if not, I also move on knowing that I will have to come back to this line and explore with something else but I move forward and try to bring the mix to 80-90% what I want in the first 15 minutes. once I have something solid, then I explore with more "precise" plug-ins to tweak and go back to lines where the SSL channel didn't give me satisfaction. one things that I like à lot in this channel is the EQ monitor buttons which I personnaly enable by default and so, I could easily feel if I'm in the right spot or not.
DBX 160 and BSS DPR 402. I really like those two
One aspect I rarely see mentioned in any reviews is whether a program's controls are multipoint touch-sensitive. It's convenient to be able to, for example, alter an EQ stage frequency while also adjusting the bandwidth, or change a synth's envelope shape while also adjusting the velocity response. EV2 and most Waves plug-ins handle multipoint touch well. However, regarding touch in general, it took me a while to figure out that I didn't need to have my hand over the control where I couldn't see what I was adjusting, but could touch the knob, then slide my finger to the side while still being able to adjust the control. I particularly like multitouch with signal processors and synthesizers, to avoid the "one parameter at a time" mouse issue.
I didn't buy the EV2 as I already got CLA Mixhub which is the exact same plugin but with the hub-feature incorporated. However, recently I bought SSL's own Essential bundle v2 . I have to say: this tops every attempt of other plugin devs. It might not be your go-to saturation tool, but it sounds fantastic. The compressor alone is 👌
I first had the SSL CS and Buss comp , which was based on the Duende code.... But with the V2 release , supposedly the code from there Duality desk., (also UC1 support ) the Buss comp and CS are just , well.. SMOKIN.. They already sounded great.. But damn... due to that FREE upgrade (had the assets automatically deposited in my ilok account) , I went trial their other plugs....Purchased many,... there really is some SSL magic ..
TLDR?
SSL doing SSL....... Whats there not to like?
@@Rhythmattica yes! SSL's plugs are KILLER
I think we need you to explain what RBass actually does. I’ve heard people say it adds harmonics, but it sounds like synthesizing extra low end. That said, with my own attempts at testing I couldn’t figure it out. So if there’s one guy who can… it’s gotta be you!