Waves Audio – Tony Maserati Collection – The Test

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The Tony Maserati collection represents an assembly of industry titans. Waves, one of the earliest and maximum enduring audio plug-ins companies, has made its popularity on the best bundles of their own plug-ins, which includes the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond bundles, as well as emulations of some of the most reputable names in the studio hardware from API to SSL. Tony Maserati is a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning engineer with mixing credits, Mariah Carey, Destiny’s Child, the Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson. What Waves and Tony Maserati have finished is to put together several of Tony’s tried and actual combos of EQ, compression, and results into a simple, intuitive bundle. Basically, we are being invited into Tony’s audio international and getting a chance to the advantage of his revel in our mixes.

Tony Maserati Collection

What You Get

The Maserati series is six plug-ins specially designed for the primary contraptions of maximum mixes. The VX1 for lead and concord vocals, the ACG for acoustic guitars, the GTi for electric guitars (and horns relying on the present), and the HMX for keyboards, the B72 for bass, and ultimately the DRM for all the individual drums in a fashionable studio kit. Atypical of most EQ and compression plug-ins, the Maserati collection additionally gives built-in effects on every one of the six plugs. These consequences encompass reverb and sometimes a delay as nicely (like on the GTi and VX1). The FX knobs control the general quantity of the effect but in a totally well-known way. On occasion, you’re also provided a few extra controls like a “Wet” knob(on the HMX), a “Tone” manipulate (at the B72), “Excite” and “Pre Delay” (on the ACG), or even “Vibro” and “Chorus” (at the Gti). Overall, the results are well notion out, appropriate, and sound super.

The Look and Feel

The first component I noticed approximately the Tony Maserati collection is that visually it stands apart from several available audio plug-ins in that it is extra fanciful and inventive in its layout and would not have hardware equal in the bodily equipment world. The exceptional description I can supply would be to mention it looks like a go among a vintage wooden radio and the dashboard of a few vintage cars. The knobs work, and the lighting glow has a totally comforting, heat look and sense. There’s a technique to this insanity as nicely: By leaving out actual frequency notations, delay instances, and nearly all numbers, we’re forced (within the high-quality viable way) to apply our ears and no longer our eyes to combine. This is a borderline radical notion nowadays while we’ve ended up used to typing 200hz and minus 1.Five into the windows of our EQ plug-ins. By changing our workflow, we are forced to pay attention in preference to virtually looking ahead to a result that we have gotten loads of instances earlier than.

Download and Setup

There’s absolute confidence that the parents at Waves spend a good deal of time thinking about their advertising as they do their plug-ins, and it suggests on their internet site. Waves have a web page on their website with video interviews to select engineering and production luminaries as a promotional device. To immerse me in Tony’s global, I watched his video that takes us via New York and into his studio whilst he discusses in very standard phrases his approach to mixing. It’s not a twist of fate that Tony’s interview mirrors his plug-in collection in that he would not talk an awful lot about the particulars; however, as an alternative, addresses his typical philosophical and emotional approach and leaves it as much as us to pay attention to his paintings as evidence that the details are running. Make no mistake. The video is not designed as a “the way to” for the plug-ins. Tony briefly discusses the plug-ins at the quit, and at the same time, as it’s not much, it is certainly useful to hear what he has to say. He discusses how the plug-ins are not supposed to mimic any specific piece of tools but instead behave as a device that he based on his preferred presets. While we don’t get any actual nuts and bolts advice on the way to use the plug-ins, we do get to hang out with a multi-platinum, Grammy-triumphing engineer for about a half of an hour that’s quite darn cool.

The Waves website alongside your iLok is the preferred technique of set up. After a little looking around, I changed into locating the download section that blanketed the proper version and OS. After the download (that can take a while, given we’re talking about loads of megs of data), the setup becomes a totally trustworthy process of clicking on the deploy button and following the commands. I also went to the site and downloaded the pdf manuals for the six plug-ins but apart from some easy sentences, approximately what made every plug-in unique; the rest becomes pretty repetitive.

Tony Maserati Collection

Before and After

Recording and mixing drums are, via ways, the hardest challenge for me as an engineer. I’ve spent years putting in place and tweaking the gate, EQ, and compressor preset in Metric Halo’s Channel Strip to offer an excellent baseline sound for the drums recorded in my studio. Within the DRM plug-in, there are presets for every character drum inside the kit, after which some extra tweaks wrote in layman’s terms like a thump and snap. I became curious to peer how the simple buttons, knobs, and dials of the DRM plug-in handled the uncooked consultation audio. Other than the sensitivity (essentially enter) and output knobs, the thump, snap, and treble knobs were all that remained to tweak. Again, it’s difficult to be unique without actual number markings, but I spent some time transferring the knobs until I carried out what felt just like the nice drum sound I should get. At the end of the day, the drum sound failed to quite hold up for me. After switching from side to side sometimes, I felt just like the Maserati plugs couldn’t deliver the warm temperature and presence to the drums that the Metric Halo ones did. This isn’t to say that with a touch of additional EQ and probable gating, I could not get it there, but in an immediate assessment, it wasn’t as strong as what I had.

ACG- Acoustic Guitar

My standard method of mixing acoustic guitars includes a high skip filter at 120hz, which leaves room for the bass and kick drum. Now and then, I’ll also upload a chunk of compression to either bring up the general performance or even out some inconsistencies in dynamics. While the acoustic in my original mix become first-class, I sure liked what the ACG did for its sound in the new mix. I spent a bit of time evaluating the 2 popular settings, ACG1 and ACG2, finally deciding on ACG 1. Then I determined myself pulling back a piece of the punch, mid and excessive knobs, and boosting the output. Not simplest became their greater presence; however, the element became better and extra sonically thrilling. If you’re trying to get an acoustic to preserve its own in a full, dynamic blend, the ACG is a high-quality region to begin.

B72- Bass

This bass plug-in has two settings. A DI encompasses most actual electric powered and upright basses, and then a synth setting, which spreads out the sound and provides greater outcomes. I favored the sound of these plug-in lots, and it in comparison nicely to my authentic Waves four-band Renaissance EQ and the Waves Renaissance compressor. Although I do not do a lot of synth bass, I like having the choice to get spacier consequences within the rare times after I do.

GTi- Electric Guitar & Horns

Tony Maserati Collection

Wow! By a long way in a manner the excellent Maserati plugin of the bunch. George Marinelli (Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Hornsby), the song’s electric guitarist, is one of the amazing gamers accessible, and I already cherished his performance. Although his electric-powered elements had been recorded using an SM57 on an amp, I determined to attempt going for walks them thru the GTi’s Clean guitar setting. Not handiest did the electrics gain a real presence; however, I changed into listening to info inside the performances that I’d never heard, and I recognize those performances! This can be a cross-to plug-in on electric-powered guitars for me going ahead for positive. And, here’s where the Waves literature did me an awesome flip. At their advice, I ran the horn components at the music through the Thick Rhythm placing, and, after dialing down the Vibro knob a chunk, I became truly blown away via the effects. The readability, spread, and presence of the horn elements had been lovely.

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Harlan J. Whelan
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