Sundown Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 Hey all, Like many, I’ve used Waves plugins for years. I think they’ve become a much cooler company in the last decade with their offerings. My first buy was the Native Powerpack and Renaissance collection (for Cubase VST), but I think they really hit their stride with the SSL, API, Abbey Road, and Urei collections. I also like their monthly pricing specials. All that being said, I’ve never really tried their synths. This past week I bought Element 2.0 and CR8. I’m still working with CR8 to judge it properly, but I have gone through Element 2.0 quite a bit. For the thirty bucks I paid, it’s great bang for the buck. But set aside the price, overall I’m quite happy with the presets and the interface. I’ve found quite a few sounds I like and I can quickly dial-in changes to make them better or more fitting. The only glaring miss is the librarian (or the lack thereof). I’ve come to rely on ratings for sounds to sort the wheat from the chaff, and the lack of a rating system makes sorting presets a bit more difficult. As best I can tell, the functionality isn’t there. Element 2.0 is a bit CPU hungry, but some of that might be the built-in effects. Again, for thirty bucks I can’t really complain about anything. But most everyone offers a rating system now, and I was a bit surprised that Waves hasn’t joined the party (on Element or CR8). Todd Quote Sundown Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361 DAW Platform: Cubase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 I think Waves' instruments are underrated as well. Element is good (especially the sound quality), but for me the real sleepers are Codex and Flow Motion. I use Codex a lot in my music, and Flow Motion on occasion. Their electric pianos are also good if you're into that kind of thing. I agree about presets categorization, though, and it's not better with the other instruments. If I find a preset I like, I put a number in front of it and re-save so that the favorites pop to the top. Quote Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 I found an example of something that uses Codex. It's the keyboard sound in the right channel that complements the guitar part in the left channel. Codex produced a sound that wasn't as cliched as a clav, but provided the same kind of plucked keyboard vibe. Quote Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundown Posted November 4, 2023 Author Share Posted November 4, 2023 Flow Motion sounds pretty cool from the on-line demos … I like FM synths and it seems to have its own unique color and timbre. For 30 bucks I can’t go wrong. Great tip on user preset management, with the preceding number … Todd Quote Sundown Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361 DAW Platform: Cubase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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