Reaper does have the best plugin management system. You can make you own favorites folders, like one for verbs and one for choruses, have both those folders in the send fx folder, ect. That and being able to find a plug in just by typing a couple letters in the box and it starts refining the list when you type the first letter. Like google desktop for your plugins. I have around 1000 plugs installed now and Reaper flys through em with no scrolling.

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 for Reaper

 

I felt better when I removed all of them.

 

I was being a little satirical. Waves has so many plugins for fixing or complementing almost any recording situation.

Choosing the right one for different situations can be a little daunting to those with little experience.

Mixing or Recording as an engineer involves making hundreds of decisions about how things sound and how to make things sound better.

Simple plugins usually fall into several categories. Think about which categories you are having trouble with?

Amplitude; compressors, vocal rider, limiters. - Frequencies; EQs, Filters. - Time based; Reverb, delays, flangers - Distortion; Gutar amp simulators, Tube saturation.


Waves also has more complicated plugins that may include several of the above categories merged into one plugin. The Signature series is an excellent example.

They are divided into Instrument categories. These plugins might affect amplitude, frequency, time base, saturation - and modify all of them at the same time with a simple interface.

It is like a pro engineer hooking up various components to achieve a customized sound, which you can modify using descriptive controls like punch, attitude or magic.

I call them producer controls, need more punch, well there is your punch slider turn it up. Who knows what combination of audio componets you are using? Great for beginners.

Waves probably has more plugins then you will ever use, But who knows when that new recording situation will require something you have never used before or never even thought of using before,

I use Waves often and still I am finding new uses for them. I hope this helps you out.

 

No doubt Reaper is a great DAW, mate, but so does SONAR since v7 at least
You can create and manage as many menus as you want in.
It also includes a panel you can browse/search through to access all the plugs you hid in these custom menus you've made.
Though I have much less installed plugs than you, it's a very useful tool to have it on a DAW, you're right.
;-)

That's why I took time to make a main selection whose sound and response sticks well to my basic use.
Then, I find it easier to pick and add just a new one or two to solve a specific need when it gets to happen.


Also, we can easily be fooled by the cosmetic appearance of a plug.
The best is to have both sound and good looking plug but sound quality matters more to me.
For example, Waves H-Comp looks much better than some older ones, like the Renaissance series, but I personally find it less interesting.

Have a good day all.

NWK

 

It is so true, that the end listener will never know what your plugins look like.

 

I didn't actually mess with Waves stuff for a while. Once I got hooked on Pensado's Place (and if you're not watching that yet and you're reading these forums - what's wrong with you!?!?), I suddenly realized that just about every pro studio out there are using them constantly while mixing stuff in the box. As I learned to listen (which takes a while) and started developing my ear, I really started to pick up on the quality of Wave's products when you use them.

The C1 and C4 compressors do a fantastic job. The PuigChild is also a nice emulation of a Fairchild 670. Really good stuff. I really like the DeEssers they make as well. You have a lot of control with them. Maxxbass is pretty awesome. Pensado mentioned actually using it on vocals (he did with some Christina Aguilera vocals) to help boost the bottom for a well rounded tone - that's a nice tip. After doing some homework, I immediately dropped the cash and bought the new H-EQ plug. It is....AWESOME. Coming from someone who mixes rock n' roll, it's amazing to be able to boost guitars or vocals a bit using the EXACT frequency in the key of your song. That's pretty powerful stuff. Boosting is one thing...but boosting the harmonic "center" of your sound is crazy cool.

And yeah, Vocal Rider is pretty bad-ass too. But you will still end up going in and automating some of the "attacks" at the beginning of vocal phrases to get things to sound nice and clear. But it makes things much easier.

 

What you need is "Waves Plug-Ins Workshop: Mixing by the Bundle" by Barry Wood (PDF), which can be found at a friendly Audio site near you. This points to a web site where you can download an entire mix's stems, and go through the mixing process (even in Reaper) step-by-step using each plug. What you don't know about Waves plugs (and a lot about mixing too) when you get the end of this, isn't worth knowing.

 

Thanks Fudsey I'll check that out.

 

thanks for that.

ETA - been working through that. A fun and interesting tutorial/instruction/illustration. Having the audio files and presets is a big plus - alongside the explanation it's very helpful and insightful. Thanks.

 

LoAir is my personal fav ;)

 

Pensado's Place?