NAMM 2014: Waves introduces new plug-ins and SoundGrid Studio System

Waves Audio have brought a massive amount of new kit out at this year’s NAMM show including plug-ins and a studio-based SoundGrid offering.

First up, the Waves Abbey Road Reel ADT is the first plug-in to successfully emulate Abbey Road Studios’ process of Artificial Double Tracking – a signature effect created at the studio in the 1960s for The Beatles (who became frustrated with the need to continually re-record vocals to create multi-layered vocal effects).

Abbey Road engineer Ken Townsend created Artificial Double Tracking (ADT) by connecting the primary tape machine to a second, speed-controlled machine, allowing two versions of the same signal to be played back simultaneously.

By gently wobbling the frequency of an oscillator to vary the speed of the second machine, the replayed signal could be moved around just enough to make it sound like a separate take. The Waves ADT plug-in models this unique effect, giving users control of different tape sounds, drive controls, and manual or automatic control.

Waves has also released the MetaFilter Plug-in, a versatile sound-shaping filter.

Designed around a modulatable multimode filter using Waves’ proprietary Virtual Voltage technology, MetaFilter lets users individually modulate the filter cutoff, resonance and delay time using three separate modulators – 16-step sequencer, LFO and Envelope follower – which make it easy to achieve effects such as filter sweeping, tremolo, auto-wah, rhythmic gating, ducking and hypnotic modulating delays with saturation buildups.

Following the success of its DiGiGrid solution for DiGiCo’s SD consoles, Waves Audio and DiGiCo have teamed up to create SoundGrid-based studio hardware. In addition to integrated networking capabilities, upcoming DiGiGrid studio solutions will include a full line of I/Os with world-class converters, pre-amps, headphone amplification, built-in DSP Servers and network switches with solutions for users of Native DAWs, Pro Tools and MADI-enabled consoles.

The SoundGrid Studio System allows users to run a nearly unlimited amount of plugins; track and rehearse with full-on effects and near-zero latency; connect everything and everyone through a centralized hub; and network with multiple DAWs. Furthermore, the system is compatible with both Waves and third-party plugins.

The System includes the SoundGrid Studio Application, eMotion ST (the mixer component that lets users run SoundGrid plug-ins for low-latency monitoring and rehearsing outside of their DAW), and StudioRack Virtual PLugin Rack – A virtual plugin rack designed to run plugin chains and offload plugin processing to a SoundGrid DSP server. The StudioRack plugin opens as an insert on any channel, letting users run chains of up to eight plugins per rack, with the option of directing the processing to a host computer CPU or a SoundGrid DSP server.

www.Waves.com