The complete Waves plugin collection for mixing and mastering, covering equalisation, dynamics, reverb, modelled hardware, vocal processing and repair in one install.
Waves plugins are on more finished records than any other single processing collection, and Ultimate is the bundle that contains essentially all of them. It installs as VST3, VST and AAX components, so it appears in every host that reads those formats, and the plugins load into any project as ordinary inserts on a channel, a bus or a master chain.
The equalisation and dynamics families are the backbone. Modelled channel strips, surgical digital equalisers with mid side operation and dynamic bands, bus compressors that behave like the hardware they were measured from, limiters that hold a master together at competitive loudness without pumping, multiband processors, transient designers and gates with sidechain filtering. Between them they cover the routine mix work that occupies most of a session.
The creative side is just as deep. Convolution and algorithmic reverbs with real room and plate captures, tape and tube saturation models, modulation, delay with tempo synced and analogue modelled paths, stereo imaging, pitch correction and harmonisation, vocal doublers, de essers and the automatic mixing assistants that set a starting point from an analysis of the material. There is also a full repair set for noise, hum, clicks and rumble on problem recordings.
This build installs the plugin binaries and the impulse response and model content locally with the licensing handled at install time, so nothing needs to check in afterwards and sessions open without a dialogue blocking playback. Presets from the factory library are included, and user presets stored by earlier versions are picked up on first scan.
Read the whole list before you start. Most of the reports that come into the desk about this title turn out to be a step taken out of order.
| Processor | Intel or AMD, 64 bit, quad core or better with high single thread performance |
|---|---|
| Memory | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB for large sessions |
| Graphics | Any adapter, the interfaces are lightly accelerated |
| Storage | 20 GB free during install, 12 GB after, SSD recommended for content |
| Display | 1920 by 1080 |
Confirm the plugin folder paths at install time rather than after. Hosts that scanned a different folder will not find the components and rescanning does not always fix it.
Keep the updater and the central manager application disabled. Both will attempt to change the licensing state.
| Title | Waves Ultimate 17 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Waves Audio |
| Version | 17.0 |
| Category | Plugins & Extensions |
| Release type | Full version |
| Operating system | Windows 11, Windows 10 (64 bit) |
| Architecture | x64 |
| Interface language | English |
| Archive size | 8.72 GB |
| File name | waves_ultimate_17_x64_full.rar |
| Shelf updated | 4 days ago |
| Total downloads | 123,343 |
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