I've installed WAVES Ultimate 15 v25.05.27 and asking myself how does the V.R version actually works. Unlike the R2R version (v.2024.12.18), V.R requires that WAVES Central also be installed, which is usually necessary for licensing and must remain installed at all times.

Is there perhaps a risk that WAVES might deactivate the license in the future? Is that possible?

 

Reminder!

 

There are many releases which require the developers "software manager" to be installed on the system. The plugins only check to see if it is installed on the system. The plugins have no way of using the application to then connect outward to internet domains/ip addresses because the software manager app is not running. Firewall the software manager application too, and you will never see alerts from your firewall of the software manager app attempting outbound connections. Unless you actually run it.

The plugins themselves are what attempt to connect outbound. You will see that traffic attempted by either your DAW application, or other system processes which are already running. To avoid the actual installer sending outbound traffic, you can either disable internet during installation, or firewall in the installer application. Some firewalls will complain about not being able to block installer applications because they aren't installed yet. The simple answer to that is to make sure the installer is located on the system volume, and then firewall it in. A common way for Mac installers to end up with that situation, is by the installer package to be located in a .dmg disk image which first must be mounted to access the pkg file. You just copy the .pkg file and launch that from the local disk.

A good example of an R2R release and the plugins which require the "software manager" application to remain on the system disk is Korg Software Pass. It just needs to be on the system installed, but you never let it connect outward. In cases where anything manages to make an outbound connection and deauthorize the plugins, you usually just have to uninstall, cleanup, and reinstall.

 

I haven't used pirated plugins since last year, but from experience it's the best thing you can do to use it, you know, with the VR patch. You install waves central with any type of account you have. Download everything you want and apply the patch, ready to go. If you want and prefer, you can remove Waves Central, so you won't notice the update notification. The notification is not bad, but once you click on it, it deactivates the V.R. patch. It's not a problem either, just put the patch back on and that's it.

Now my recommendation is that you install waves central, create an offline pack with everything you want to install (you do it in waves central) it creates what you want and leaves you a copy of waves central You used the offline installer, and then when you're offline, you follow the same process and that's it. If you ever want to go back online and don't want to have any update issues, Simply uninstall waves central and you won't receive any notifications or VR patch deactivation. At least in my experience it was better that way because A custom installer with the plugins you want and the versions you want v11, v12, v13 etc etc. I hope this helps you.

 

Yes, this does work. However when in WC (with your offline/online package) and making selections on what you want (or don't want) to install, when you finally press the install button, WC will install EVERYTHING in the package regardless of what selections you made earlier. Somewhat annoying... You can go back after the fact and eliminate the extraneous stuff, but it's an extra tedious step that could be avoided if the installer would just do what it is told...

 

What I did..

Installed Waves Central
Login
Then installed from Offline Package (which already downloaded - VR)
After completing the installation,
Open the Firewall and block Waves Central outbound connection.
Everything is working smoothly.

 

Thank you all and have a great weekend!

 

Hi! I was searching if there's been already someone with the similar problem, and partially it seems that there is but my situation is pretty much different, if you think it deserves to be posted as a whole another different topic I will do it.

Basically, I messed up really bad. Wanted to install Waves Ultimate 16 v25.11.28 Incl V.R. Patch WiN, and since I was really tired and not concentrated, by mistake I logged in to Waves central with my email and the R2R installation installed on my system. The other day when I opened the project I was working on, the plugins I used were missing and I figured out that all of the Waves plugins were removed from my DAW and obviously blocked by Waves.
Since then I've been trying to install this W16 version by V.R. and deleted the leftovers first (at least I think I did) but when trying to do it offline through Waves central I got this and everything broke. Permission issue they say



I know that situations like this probably happen every now and then and that I'm not the first one who got myself in this type of situation but I hope that it can be resolved and fixed. Either way, I'd really appreciate your help, thanks!

 

Hello @citron33, delete Waves completely:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves
C:\Users\Public\Waves Audio
C:\ProgramData\Waves Audio

(Hidden Folder)
C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Waves Audio
C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Waves Audio
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3

WaveShell1-VST3 15.0_x64.vst3
WaveShell1-VST3 15.2_x64.vst3
WaveShell2-VST3 15.0_x64.vst3

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\WPAPI

Scan your hard drive with the term: WaveShell and delete them.

Go to the Registry --> Run --> Regedit and delete the following folder:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Waves

2. Restart the PC, Deactivate Defender, Just reinstall it:

Waves Ultimate 16 v25.11.28 Incl V.R. Patch WiN

 

Thank you for your reply but as far as it totally makea sense, for some reason I still keep getting the same warning again and again, after everything's been deleted and cleaned... I even deleted some other files like ShaderCache from AppData/LocalLow/Intel directory, AAX WaveShell files etc... In Waves central I can't delete cache nor reinstall the new version...
I don't know what else could I do. Why does this feel like, even though I'm not logged in, my system somehow still seems blocked, this is crazy. I'm probably trying this over and over for the fifth time now with the same result...

 

I would install the official Waves Central. Use it to cleanup and delete waves. Hit the Fix Permissions button. Do everything you can to fix it in the new Waves Central you downloaded. Then use Revo Uninstaller Pro to get rid of Waves Central and any leftovers you find.

Plenty of people login to Waves with any email they want so they can use Studioverse. I doubt that even caused your problem in the first place. But you probably do not have your DAW or Waves Central firewalled either. There are a number of ways it could have happened but that is Monday morning quarterbacking now.

Return everything to as pre-Waves install as you can get it. Use a different email if you want. You might want to install Revo before doing any of it, that way you have a monitored install to use for removal. See what you should do about your firewall settings when you get it working again.

 

thats why I always say dont bother with complex protection plugins VR releases unless you know what you do
It's not worth the effort, it's better to stay on the old version.


What i suggest get install that VR release one more time but only through the Revo Uninstaller, the Installation Monitor will trace all the files and changes VR makes, after that use Revo to delete all leftovers

 

Last edited: Dec 16, 2025 at 10:30 PM

Please install the Net Framework, Visual C++ and scan your PC for errors using sfc /scannow.

There's a new version of Waves. Waves Ultimate 16 v25.12.15 Incl V.R Patch WiN
- Uninstall Waves following the instructions and then restart your PC.
- Install Waves Ultimate 16 v25.12.15 following the instructions.

1.)
.NET Framework (e.g., version 3.5 or 4.8)
Many programs (e.g., older software) require it to run.
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48

Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One Dec 2025
www.techpowerup.com/download/visual-c-redistributable-runtime-package-all-in-one/

Run System File Checker ---> In the Command Prompt window, type the following command, and press ENTER:
sfc /scannow
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e

2.)
Waves Ultimate 16 v25.12.15 Incl V.R Patch WiN

WiN (Incl V.R Patch) | 15 December 2025 | 11.6 GB
Notes: - Included Waves Ultimate 2025.3-V.R Patch

Stay offline!

1. Go to 1- Installer folder and Install Waves Central and Run.
3. Select Offline Installer and Click Install from an Offline Installer
4. Browse the Waves folder you downloaded (Inside : 1 - Installer)
5. Select Waves Ultimate or any other plugins and applications and select Install (Uncheck SD/HD)
6. Run V.R Patch
7. Reboot
9 Done.

 

If you block outgoing connections via Lulu / Little Snitch or hosts file - no.
And if, eventually, waves.com might find a way to revert the patch, that would only affect future versions, until [k]-teams will find another way to revert the reverse.

 

Thanks everyone for the involvement and help, trying out this latest version right now...

The one I got has a ReadMe file for the patch as well which reads:

"
1. Install_Waves_Central
2. Run Waves Central
3. Create account & login
4. Press "Install Product" => "All Products"
(or select "Offline installer" if have prepared installer)...
"
So basically more or less the same as the main ReadMe file but the third step seems as it's really needed to create account & login which I previously skipped last few days since I accidentally logged in so I just wanted to check is it really mandatory or not.
I cleaned everything again, installed waves central, created account with another email and logged in (before the installation OFC - I don't have any Waves plugins installed on the system anymore), logged out and did the offline installation and same thing happens again, got stuck at 20-something percent with installation failed permission issue popup warning screen.

Now I'll try to make it work with Waves.Complete.v2025.08.20.Patched.and.Keygen.Only-R2R version, wish me luck lol.

 

A picture would be helpful, or the exact wording of the warning message!

 

Sorry, the same picture from my first post:



Ok sorry for everything and big thank you, I finally did it! I skipped obviously very important step during the whole process and hope this would be helpful to others having the same problem...

ReadMe file has all the steps covered, but some of them may be a bit confusing...

This has been my problem:

2.Uninstall previous versions and run Fix Permissions from Waves Central Settings and Login to Waves (If you want Studio Verse). (Backup Presets and other data if needed)

I figured out that "run Fix Permissions from Waves Central Settings" part was the integral step only in the case if you want Studio Verse (I didn't want it, so I kept skipping it), but you NEED to run Fix Permissions in every case... After I did it, everything went smoothly and is working again...

Thanks again to all of you, especially PulseWave!

 

Last edited: Dec 17, 2025 at 6:55 PM

How to Solve ‘Installation Failed’ Errors in Waves Central
https://www.waves.com/support/error-during-product-installation-using-waves-central

This means that Waves Central is encountering an issue when attempting to write files to your computer.

Try each of the following steps, one at a time, then try to install again. If the issue persists, move on to the next step.

1. Restart Waves Central.
2. Quit all running programs/applications except for Waves Central.
3. Access Waves Central’s Settings tab, then press Clear next to ‘Clear Central cache’.
4. Restart your machine.
5. Make sure the system Time and Date are correct. If they are not, set them correctly and then relaunch Waves Central.
6. If you are using a firewall or antivirus software, add an exception for Waves Central in the software’s settings, or temporarily disable these programs one by one to verify that Waves Central is not being blocked.
7. The following applications may interfere with Waves Central. If any of them are installed on your system, temporarily disable them:
   AdAware, AhnLab V3, Backblaze, Comodo, F-Secure, Hyper-V, Little Snitch, LuLu, MacKeeper, MagicPrefs, Nero Video Downloader Ultimate Pro, Premier Opinion, Radio Silence, SecureIT, Security Suite, STOPzilla antivirus, Wacom Controllers, Witch, Ziggo Safe Online.
8. Verify that you have Administrator privileges on your operating system.
   If you do not, or if the issue persists, create a new Administrator user account.
9. Windows users: Set User Account Control Settings to “Never Notify”:
   • Press the [Win key], type UAC and click Change User Account Control settings.
   • Move the slider to the Never notify position, and click OK. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
   • Restart your computer to apply this change.
10. This error may also occur if the sample library location is not accessible to Waves Central.
    • Access Waves Central’s Settings tab, then press Change next to ‘Sample libraries data folder'.
    • Set the location to:
      • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\Data\Instrument Data
      • Mac: Applications > Waves > Data > Instrument Data.

 

Run Fix Permissions from Waves Central Settings fixed it, I didn't know it was mandatory, I did all the other steps you mentioned every time, but I thought run Fix Permissions was optional. Concerning the problem I got into, I had to be super cautious, that's why I kept skipping that step until now and it worked immediately, thank you once again!

 

Last edited by a moderator: Dec 18, 2025 at 1:16 AM