It was the dawn of the new millennium, and I was living in Boston with a roommate that attended the Berklee College of Music. After having a basic knowledge of recording from the four track I used in years prior, my roommate introduced me to digital recording. Not only was I shocked to see the amount of music I could record with almost no limitations, but was also impressed with the amount of processing I could implement by utilizing audio plugins.

I was introduced to Waves plugins at an early age, and have stuck with them ever since. While there have been numerous audio plugins to grace my DAW setup, Waves has always been my go-to company for amazing sounding audio. With their recent product line it can be hard to pick favorites, but these five just happen to be the plugins Im currently using on a regular basis, and would highly recommend to anyone who’s recording in the box.

V-EQ4

It’s modeled after a Neve 1081 console, and has become an all-around magic equalizer plugin for the majority of my tracks. Aside from it’s pleasant sounding curves, the ability to high/low shelf select frequencies is an added bonus.

CLA Unplugged

Legendary mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge partnered with Waves to bring a whole series of signature plugins to their product line, and the Unplugged setup is making its way onto all of my keyboard tracks with its unique ability to elevate a sound to the next level by using only a couple faders.

NLS

The NLS console emulator plugin has become somewhat of a magic secret ingredient to both mixes and even masters Im working on. It adds an amazingly subtle amount of body to the audio, and has the ability to push levels without distorting it into oblivion.

Kramer Master Tape

While working in the digital realm, audio can tend to have a brittle or harsh quality that can be somewhat unpleasant to the ears. Kramer Master Tape not only eradicates that harshness, but also adds a bit of life to the track by injecting the unique characteristics of analog tape saturation.

Renaissance Bass

I originally started using the Maxx Bass plugin, but quickly discovered that Renaissance Bass offered the same sound with easier controls. This plugin is more than just a bass boost, its a low-end harmonics processor that takes your current low-end and fills in the gaps to add weight, body, and punch to your lower frequencies.