Waves equivalent Nuendo Native Plugins

Nuendo
22

The way I see it, Waves almost only offers completely outdated plugins. But we got used to it over the years… There’s little that’s new.
Clarity vx Pro is great, but iZotope RX will surely catch up soon.
So I think this is the last try to get rid of the junk, since other companies are currently offering much better plugins.
It’s just a matter of habit.

Most colleagues I know only use a few plugins from Waves. Often on multiple computers at the same time. When using several computers at the same time, the subscription model no longer makes sense. Since then, it has also been possible to install the licenses individually on different computers.
Fabfilter, iZotope, Voxengo, NugenAudio … allow use on several computers at the same time, as long as it is used by the same person.

1 Like
23

That is not inherent to subscriptions. Subscriptions are just a different payment cadence. It’s all how you configure your subscription model. Everything people are asking for here can be done with proper thinking and execution. And of course an orderly and respectful transition. That’s where Waves face planted.

24

Colleague took the subscription model. The plugins can no longer be installed individually. All 220 plugins at once or none. It is no longer possible to deselect individual plugins.
It is no longer possible to install 100 plugins on computer A and the rest on computer B. out over.
After installation, all 220 plugins are activated. No possibility to uninstall or deactivate individual plugins.

25

Total non starter for me as it slows down app launch and clutters ui. UAD also does that by default, but you can fix ot.

26

In recent years, I feel like Steinberg has really been making improvements to the included stock plug-ins! Multiband Compressor, MultiTap Delay, and Frequency 2, to name just a few. An added bonus for Atmos production, is the multi-channel compatibility.

Only plugs I really wish they would re-write or address, are the vintage compressors. These are still too slow and fragile for anything but subtle compression work. (edit: I should note that I am spoiled on the UAD 1176 and LA-2A compressors, which is what I always compare with FET and tube-style plugs.)

27

I stoped using waves in 2014 /2015 and i must say it was one of the best things i did for my studio.
I focused on nuendo stock plugins + izotope, and i must say that nuendo plugins are great (at least for me).
I mostly work on Tv broadcast stuff.
Give nuendo plugins a chance, they do the job.
I know that there are those things “this eq is more transparent, this comp is a bit better, etc”, but there will always be a “better” one.
And that is why i still drive my fiat panda (and dream of ferrari) :slight_smile:

4 Likes
28

PSP Audioware is doing a sale offer right now. It is the “Tsunami”.
Coupon code is "StayCalm "
Hahaha!

P.S.
40% discount on top of any loyalty discount you already have (as a regular customer).

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29

Harrison Mixbus already jumped on the situation. Their email was titled “Tired of Plugin Subscriptions? We Have The Solution”.

I chuckled.

30

“Dear Waves community,

Over the past few days, many of you have expressed concerns about our decision to discontinue perpetual plugin licenses and our move to an exclusive plugin subscription model. I would like to start by apologizing for the frustration we have caused many of you, our loyal customers. We understand that our move was sudden and disruptive, and did not sufficiently take into consideration your needs, wishes, and preferences. We are genuinely sorry for the distress it has caused.

After respectfully listening to your concerns, I want to share with you that we are bringing back the perpetual plugin license model, side-by-side with the new subscriptions. You will again be able to get plugins as perpetual licenses, just as before.

In addition, those of you who already own perpetual licenses will once again be able to update your plugins and receive a second license via the Waves Update Plan—again, just as before. This option, too, will be available alongside and independently of the subscription program.

We are currently putting all our efforts into making perpetual licenses available to you again, as quickly as possible. In the meantime, you can keep-up-date on this webpage, where we will post real-time updates as they are available.

I would like you to know that we are committed to you, our users. We listened to your feedback, and we will continue to listen to you. Waves is a company filled with users and creators, just like you, and we are all as passionate about the products as you are. With this in mind, we will strive to find the way to make things right by you, and hopefully regain your trust.

Thank you for your feedback and continued support—I wish you all the best,

Meir Shashoua
CTO and Co-Founder
Waves Audio”

2 Likes
31

Was about to share this. Waves realized they messed up big time. glad they changed back. Most companies do offer a dual option.

1 Like
32

That was so quick I got whiplash…

Makes you wonder how they could’ve been so oblivious to their community in the first place.

EDIT: Or (conspiracy hat on) was this the plan all along to spur WUP purchases? Just like how New Coke led to a surge of sales of “old coke” :laughing:

2 Likes
33

If anything I think it was more in line with how New Coke was actually done: It was not something designed to spur sales of Coke Classic. Coke was slowly losing market share to Pepsi (anyone remember the Pepsi challenge commercials?) and they panicked. They actually did work and research on their new formula and it was popular in the lab, it was intended to replace Coke and to compete with Pepsi’s sweeter taste.

Of course that blew up in a massive way on them, people were pissed. They were then able to rebrand the old formula as Coke Classic, hire Joey Diggs to make the catchy Coke song, and turn a product failure into a marketing success. They never intended it to go that way, it was just how it worked out.

I think Waves was similar in that they fully intended to move to a subscription only model. Some exec got all worked up about how much more money they’d make if all their customers were subscription and paid every month. Someone, probably more than one someone, told him it was a bad idea that and they’d lose customers but he wouldn’t listen. They did this, the backlash was beyond anything they could have imagined, and here we are.

If they keep both, I’m 100% ok with it. I think hybrid models are nice. Some people do like subscriptions and that’s great, so it is nice to offer them. I’m just not ok with that being the only option.

2 Likes
34

I was kidding about a conspiracy. It’s just another good old fashioned idiot corporate decision that got redacted somewhat when reality kicked in.

Like many others I’m not opposed to subscription plans in and of themselves, but Waves handled this whole thing about as poorly as one can imagine, and now they have a lot of egg on their faces and broken trust with their customers.

1 Like
35

There would be a second lesson in all the comments, which we don’t know if they picked up on.

They have a few plugins that people value and then a lot of aging and kind of blah ones. In fact if they’re smart (big if, considering what just went down), they got some great market research how people look at their plugin portfolio and what the competition does. That could allow them to cull the catalog of some old crud and see what they need to focus on so that they actually have a lineup that is harder to replace than it appeared.

Reading the comments most people stuck with Waves primarily for the convenience because that’s what everyone had for a long time. But most folks seemed to rely on Fabfilter and some other brand’s plugins as the preferred/premium ones. The fact that some still comment that they might switch anyway, overcome their inertia should be more alarming than the backlash on subscriptions. That means their core product is leaking water left and right.

I spent some time yesterday looking at what plugins I’m using and alternatives if they didn’t change their tune. There were only 6. For 3 I already had alternatives that I had acquired over the last few months anyway. For one I realized I had a replacement that I didn’t consider and acquired one more yesterday. For the remaining 2: Clarity Vx Pro is in a list of similar plugins, which are all AI based and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, so having multiple improves your odds. I have alternatives to Clarity Vx, but I like keeping it in the mix. As such glad they reconsidered. And DeBreath has a unique set of features among breath control plugins that’s helpful but not essential.

I’ll keep them as they’re already paid for, but there’s only two that I’ll keep on WUP and might get away from as soon as better ones emerge. I never cared for Waves, and this episode hasn’t helped at all. That’s the part they should be really more scared about, because the comments have shown I’m not the only one. Many are Waves customers mostly because we have more time critical things than changing what’s working, even if it’s not fantastic.

36

Very true. A lot of their collection, particularly the older stuff, is fine, but nothing special. Like C1 is a competent basic compressor. Nothing wrong with it… but it is actually less capable than the compressor in Nuendo itself, and much less capable than something like Pro-C2. So while I don’t mind it, it isn’t something that I use or would care about.

Some other things were really impressive when they came out but haven’t kept up as things have progressed. IR-1 is an example. One of the first “convolution but let’s you do algo crap” reverbs. Back in the day most were just “we convolve the IR and that is that.” Neat, but lots of others do that these days, and do a much better job. Likewise the algo verbs have gotten so good that you can use them exclusively if you want, they don’t have the artifacts they used to.

There’s just a real big list of plugins they have that are pretty “meh”. Not bad by any standard, but nothing that you have to have, or couldn’t easily replace. I actually already had replaced most of them, not because of this, but just over time I found other things I like better.

Currently I have only two that are things I don’t have a more favorite replacement for:

  1. S1 Imager. I like the way it can do panning but keep the stereo image better than most other panners. I don’t use it a lot, and I’m sure I could probably get what I want out of something else, but it remains one I like because it works well and is easy to use for that purpose.

  2. Abbey Road Nx. For doing surround on headphones, I have not found its peer. I have a bunch of programs that do the same thing, it is a big interest of mine, but it is bar-none the most realistic. Part of that is the head tracking, which none of the rest do.

Both nice, both I would (and already did) pay for, neither good enough to pay $25/month for.

1 Like
37

After Waves’ gratifying endorsement, I’m sticking with their products for a number of reasons.
One reason is that with the plugins you can set the values ​​with the arrow keys. Since I have to fine-tune the values ​​on the Q10 or L1 on audio clips (digitized tapes) hundreds of times a day, this is a time advantage over the mouse-pushing with all other manufacturers.
This haptic advantage and the time saving is the most important reason why I stay with Waves.
For editing digitized sound carriers they are good.

38

I feel sorry for them as Atmos overnight makes all the hardware and software emulations obsolete, look how they are struggling with their Spherix compressor and limiter, In Atmos you actually don’t need one. Noise cleanup and Reverb/Delay are certainly essential but…Anyway, My issue was related to payment gateways in a fast changing political economy.

39

That depends on how you define the term “need”. :smiley:

There are whole sub-genres of modern pop music that rely on the effect of a pumping bus compressor, so it really comes down to your own expectations (and those of your target audience) whether you need bus processing or not.

1 Like
40

Anyone else notice that almost every plugin is $29.99 now over there?

Waves: “C’mon baby, come back! I can change! Please!”

And I agree that even with Atmos you still need compression and limiting to get the music sounding the way it’s expected to these days (especially with vocals).

41

Have tried any of the Eventide plug-ins? No subscriptions and they have free trials and deals. …steve