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L1-Ultramaximizer
Waves' L1-Ultramaximizer is a straightforward limiter plug-in, targeted at anyone looking to maximize audio levels while increasing the perceived resolution of the resulting file. Although other plug-in limiters aim for the same lofty goals, no other product is as universally acclaimed (and adored by its users) as the L1. For music, post-production, multimedia and Web-based audio, L1 reliably delivers clean, loud results -- with virtually no audible artifacts (such as "pumping" or "breathing").
L1 maximizes both the level and resolution of the final file by combining an advanced peak limiter, level maximizer, noise shaper, and a high-performance requantizer based on Waves' proprietary IDR (Increased Digital Resolution) technology. Combined, these technologies can really heat up tracks or an overall mix -- perfect for mastering. Yet while it's designed with mastering in mind, L1 is also ideal for limiting individual tracks that really jump out of a mix -- or for avoiding too-hot "overs" when recording individual tracks.
Using L1 couldn't be simpler: Just adjust the peak limiter's threshold and output ceiling to taste, set the release time (to control how long it takes L1 to recover to constant gain after encountering a peak), and then use the requantizer features to improve resolution. Only the signal above the threshold is limited and all other signals below threshold have a constant gain change that is controlled by the difference between the threshold and output ceiling levels.
Waves' proprietary look-ahead peak control makes it impossible to overshoot maximum audio levels during playback -- delivering true "brick-wall" limiting. The requantizer module provides controls over target bit depth, type of IDR algorithm employed and three levels of noise shaping -- more than enough ways to effectively increase perceived digital audio resolution for most any application. Because requantizing digital audio more than once can add artifacts (even with L1), IDR requantization is best used only when mastering a final mix and L1 is the last plug-in used.
One disconcerting quirk: I did encounter a nasty, loud "pop" when switching between the "8-bit" and "None" IDR quantize settings -- something that wouldn't affect recording or mixing. Waves notes that this is a known problem with some native platforms. According to Seva of Waves USA, "When changing from 8-bit to none, there is a substantial increase in data (16 more bits, or 96dB of information), so the waveform can have a large jump in a single sample, which always is reproduced as a pop/click, because that's exactly what it is: a DC offset shift."
Otherwise, L1 is perfection and simplicity in one. It's the no-brainer choice for turning up the heat in any mix.
C1-Compressor/Gate
Waves' C1-Compressor/Gate plug-in has been called the Swiss Army knife of compressors, and for good reason. This versatile collection includes independent compressor/expander, gate/expander and filter/equalization modules that can be configured and used together in many different ways.
C1's compressor/expander module can perform wideband dynamic processing while the gate/expander gates only high frequencies in one configuration, for example, or the compressor can be used for bass compression while the gate/expander is used to gate low-end rumble in another. The filtering module can perform conventional side-chain dynamics processing and offers a unique "bandsplit" dynamic EQ mode that allows compression, expansion or gating of any desired frequency band -- ideal for de-essing or de-popping a troubling frequency.
C1 is a wildly versatile dynamics processor with numerous applications including voice, instrument and track compression, soft-knee mastering, track gating, de-essing, side-chain drum gating, limiting, expanding and more. The C1's control set can be a bit overwhelming if you're new to compressors and gates, but the manual again does a great job of explaining what each parameter controls and how it interacts with other parameters. Input and gain reduction meters are included for both the compressor and the gate, as are controls over ratio, threshold, attack, release and makeup gain, and a graph shows the transfer function applied to the source track.
The compressor sports a "look-ahead" mode for zero-attack limiting, and the side-chain functions both conventionally (frequencies passing through the built-in EQ control the entire track's dynamics) and in split mode for applying band-specific compression only to those frequencies that pass through the EQ. Split mode divides the main signal into "active" and "passive" bands (indicated on the transfer function graph as red and blue curves, respectively), allowing dynamic equalization of the active band while the passive band remains dynamically unprocessed. The full version of C1 also includes Waves' IDR requantization tools.
Unlike the L1, which is undeniably at the top of its class, the C1 -- while being fine-sounding and extremely functional -- is a more subjective call. This is primarily due to the fact that compressors have respective "characters," which lend themselves to coloring sound in different ways. For instance, the C1's competition includes compressor plug-ins from Focusrite, Drawmer and other respected names, many of which have uniquely desirable sounds.
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