I don't really use Waves plugins anymore, but I have one of their larger bundles.. Diamond, I believe. It better still work after this stupid subscription thing.

 

With Pro-Q and some AA plugins you're covered for the most tasks with much better sound quality and much more economy in a long term (i'm saying if you want top notch plugins that will be forever yours). A lot of companies offer better plugs with the same average price as waves nowdays, if you're a working class hero, but 29$ was cheap for the utility ones, we must say. Now we don't have that option, if your ethical way doesn't let you to use piracy, now your forced to membership a subscription to use their tools, that will never be yours, keep that in mind. I think this was one of the greediest things i saw a company doing on the last times. The gems are the old plugins, the OG's, available at the sister site for free. No interest on anyhting they will ever release from now.

 

They were never my cup of tea, I really don't like the GUIs and how Waveshell wastes resrouces, by the time they got scaled versions I was already on other stuff. I do own and like InPhase and F6 but bought them on sale after more than a decade of not having Waves on my machine and by the time it becomes obsolete so be it.

Everyone has to live, even in the desert, even if it means having to drink your own piss sometimes. It is the way of things. I wish them well and be on my way, I have nothing against subs, but I just don't use enough of their stuff to make it interesting.

 

IMHO, if another company makes an equivalent RBass plugin..... Waves is toast as a company in the Avid type way. There's just too much quality competition out there today, we have too many better tool options.
It's wild to me that Avid and Waves were the leading industry tools for almost two decades and they both self imploded their business. LOL

 

There's a special deal currently available by a company called R2R. They offer all Waves plug-in's for free and even provide updates at no charge to users.

 

Did you try Denise Audio Bass XL or Wavesfactory Spectre? In my case, I get better results with them, than using the RBass.

 

their pricing doesnt make sense in this day and age.
there are newer, more technologically advanced and objectively better plugins (aliasing, oversampling, linear phase + added features)
their pricing is just simply not worth it for a lot of people.

if they would offer EVERYTHING for $89 a year - now thats more like it, they would place themselves in a very hard to beat niche with such price - but they instead went with the $149+ industry standard, and now race against UAD and Slate Digital (yikes).
their plugins are dated, pixelated to work with on big screens and are fully replaceable by better options in my personal opinion.

 

I can confirm all the purchased plugins (even dating back to 9.x versions) remain fully functional,
...of course until next MacOS/Windows release kicks in and makes those incompatible....

Melda MCharacter I believe is what you're looking for then?
"MCharacter is a unique tool that lets you directly control the harmonics of any monophonic audio material. It can be used on vocals, bass, trumpet, saxophone ... It opens up a range of mixing and creative possibilities."
https://www.meldaproduction.com/MCharacter

 

its way too early
they should come back in 20 years and make a subscription style bizness, like winamp.
then they can use nostalgia as basis for their commercial views. And maybe use a hentai/manga logo to rally more people

 

So they finally went Full R2R?

 

Last edited: Mar 27, 2023

So to recap:

• For the last 15 years, Waves have sold people the same code year after year after year by introducing new "version" milestones. The only significant additions to some plugins after 10+ years are resizable GUIs and a Mixknob.
  
• They also limited the range of macOS versions supported by one Waves version much more drastic than for Windows users
  
• So once a new macOS version was released, Waves basically put a Version X+1 out and forced macOS users into paying for upgrade licenses again (WUP). If they timed their versioning to Windows schedules, otherwise there only would be a major version update every 5 or 7 years…
  
• And now they want money every month for either a) half of their plugins or b) all of them
  
• And of course all the goto classic are in bundle b. ;)
• And they actually saying "fuck you" to everybody owning perpetual licenses. So good luck finding old mac hardware to install V9 or V10 plugins in 2023.
  
• Conclusion: Waves has now officially overhauled Avid and Universal audio in terms of being the shittiest and greediest pro audio products company out there.

FUCK 'EM!

 

Last edited: Mar 28, 2023

I don't know, this seems more like a personal issue than actually an actual advantage of subscriptions. Subscriptions are good if you do work very infrequently, that's all. Most plugins have demos (or full alternatives in the sister site) that you can always try and see if it sticks in your workflow before buying. If you have 10 EQs, 20 compressors, 15 reverbs, that's just lack of perspective. I'm also guilty of that, just yesterday I deleted 5 or so tape emulations. Thankfully, I only got those to "demo" over the years.

Plugin companies these days are always trying to make you feel like you're missing out. Their whole business model is not to sell you a tool that will last forever, but instead to convince that you're not good at mixing if your plugins don't have all the newest buzzwords in the description.

 

I haven't owned Waves plugins for that long.. maybe a couple years.. but this could be a long ways off though, no? Either way, I guess that just convinces me more to never buy another Waves plugin, and to stop using the ones I own. Pretty disappointed that I spent this much money on them, and this happens.. but what can you do. I found better stuff to use in most cases anyways.

 

......buh-bye Waves.

 

Well. We will have more time producing music that dealing with 220 plugins lol.

 

Since the only Waves plug-ins I use haven't been updated in years, I'll get over it. For everyone else, I am really sorry. This trend of turning everything possible into a subscription model is a vicious circle: Yes, I can understand that vendors can calculate better with regular revenues. But it's usually not a good deal for users, who often only need and want a fraction of the service. I doubt that this will pay off in the long run. The more companies introduce subscription models, the more each individual will have to decide what they can afford. After all, I can only spend my money once.

Fun fact: I wonder if it's a coincidence that the Waves website is no longer accessible?

 

yeeee got it now...
but in 5 years maybe less, i wouldnt use it them anymore with this behaviour, i can see the evolution of this...
so, right now, im stopping using them.

 

True but I am getting pissed off with all these Companies going full Subscription.

 

FOMO can eat shit and die too. The most fucking scummiest business tactic infecting everything. Can't I just buy something when and how I want to and OWN IT?

Not asking much.

 

They will soon find out how many hobby producers use their stuff .. nobody that just does this for fun is gonna shell out their pocket every month for mediocre plugins .. it's a shame because when I did get some extra money I would almost always check to see what was on sale