abacab 8,029 Posted February 25 19 minutes ago, ScottfromCanada said: Just to add to the last message I see here: I see nothing at all on the waves website. I received an email about this but the From address and the link in the email are at a different website, NOT the official waves website. There is no way I'd click that link. I also have no idea where to even find serial numbers. I checked Waves Central and I don't see them. I went to the website and I see 2 different numbers for each product, but it doesn't tell me what they are. And there is nothing at all in there after I log in telling me that I need to do anything. If this was real I would expect to get that message as soon as I logged in and probably at the top of a few pages in their site. And lastly, it doesn't say what will happen if we DON'T do this. Will all plugins stop working? No idea. So at this point I don't really know this is real. Your Waves products that are already activated at Waves, or any that you have bought through the Waves store are not at risk. This email only pertains to product codes that you may have purchased through 3rd party distributors, but have not yet registered them at the Waves site. I got this email too, and think this may be a rather shady move, and legally questionable, but if your Waves products are already authorized and working you can safely ignore the message. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fleer 10,796 Posted February 25 Waves’ Unacceptable Practices 3 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
abacab 8,029 Posted February 25 17 minutes ago, Fleer said: Waves’ Unacceptable Practices Whooped by WUP!!! 🤣 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anxiousmofo 410 Posted February 25 March Madness and all bets are off. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kitekrazy 2,675 Posted February 25 15 hours ago, Fleer said: Waves’ Unacceptable Practices Post of the week!!!!!!! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PavlovsCat 3,619 Posted February 25 (edited) WUP and Wave's less than straightforward manner of marketing was enough to get me to move on from them, but this serial number BS makes me even more unlikely to continue buying WAVES in the future. But the good news is that Waves greatly influenced plugin effects pricing in the marketplace. There are excellent alternatives like Plugin Alliance developers, Izotope, Softube and others that have similarly priced sales -- not as often as Waves always on sales (which technically violate the US' FTC regulations, but the market is relatively small enough that it is extremely unlikely to be noticed by the FTC). The only Waves plugins I'd pay WUP for IF they have a problem are my Abbey Road plugins. Other than that, when it comes to my purchasing, this is just another nail in the Waves' coffin (or is brick in the wall a better metaphor for an audio effects developer?). I'd urge anyone just starting out in the DAW world to look beyond Waves, or at least, do research before you buy a Waves plugin to understand what all this talk on WUP and serials is about. Edited February 25 by PavlovsCat 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lionel 250 Posted February 25 What are some your guys’ fave Waves alternatives? Although I just recently heavily invested in Waves plugins, I’m sick of their BS and want to support the other guys. Here are my favorite Waves alternatives: - Melda (free updates for life? Yes, please!) - UAD (Perfect timing for them to go native) - AIR (surprisingly good!) - Softube (just pure quality plugins!) - D16 (creative goodness!) - Audio Damage (secret sauce!) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fleer 10,796 Posted February 25 Yep, native UAD will make ‘em bleed. Some other (major) alternatives: - FabFilter (Total Bundle) - SlateDigital (VMR Rack) but I’d sorely miss my Waves Abbey Road Collection. And maybe those recently refreshed Renaissance plugins. Plus some of the named ones, like Greg Wells and rage beardy Schepps guy. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fleer 10,796 Posted February 25 As for Waves’ version history, here goes: Version 7=Nov. 2009 Version 8=Jan. 2011 Version 9=March 2012 Version 10=June 2018 Version 11=October 2019 Version 12=October 2020 Version 13=October 2021 (M1) Version 14=June 2022 so I guess we’re up for version 15 ”the one without the Wup” 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kitekrazy 2,675 Posted February 25 (edited) 1 hour ago, Lionel said: What are some your guys’ fave Waves alternatives? Although I just recently heavily invested in Waves plugins, I’m sick of their BS and want to support the other guys. Here are my favorite Waves alternatives: - Melda (free updates for life? Yes, please!) - UAD (Perfect timing for them to go native) - AIR (surprisingly good!) - Softube (just pure quality plugins!) - D16 (creative goodness!) - Audio Damage (secret sauce!) They are worse than Waves. Try retrieving downloads to purchased products. IK is also great. What is included in DAWs are often overlooked. I think Waves needs the WUP because their old stuff works. They have to rely on DAW and OS developers to break things so people pay upgrade prices. Edited February 25 by kitekrazy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PavlovsCat 3,619 Posted February 25 (edited) 2 hours ago, Lionel said: What are some your guys’ fave Waves alternatives? Although I just recently heavily invested in Waves plugins, I’m sick of their BS and want to support the other guys. Here are my favorite Waves alternatives: - Melda (free updates for life? Yes, please!) - UAD (Perfect timing for them to go native) - AIR (surprisingly good!) - Softube (just pure quality plugins!) - D16 (creative goodness!) - Audio Damage (secret sauce!) Although I started piano lessons at 3 and drums a short while later, and multitrack recording in my early teens, I'm still a novice when it comes to mixing and mastering and tend to rely on a bunch of incredibly more knowledgeable friends and folks in this forum (who, in my experience, have proven to offer very good advice). Consequently, my top favorite brands are developers that make plugins that sound good and are easy to use. My top favorite effects plugin developers are: Izotope Sonible (I use the plugins they make for Focusrite) Softube Native Instruments Arturia Developers that I'd give an honorable mention to (I own multiple plugins from these effects developers) include: Kilohearts XLN Audio Brainworx The brand my developer and skilled mixer friends -- some that don't even know one another -- keep strongly recommending is FabFilter. They're beyond my budget and I'm mostly set for mixing and mastering plugins with Izotope and Sonible. Edited February 25 by PavlovsCat 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lionel 250 Posted February 26 4 hours ago, PavlovsCat said: Although I started piano lessons at 3 and drums a short while later, and multitrack recording in my early teens, I'm still a novice when it comes to mixing and mastering and tend to rely on a bunch of incredibly more knowledgeable friends and folks in this forum (who, in my experience, have proven to offer very good advice). Consequently, my top favorite brands are developers that make plugins that sound good and are easy to use. My top favorite effects plugin developers are: Izotope Sonible (I use the plugins they make for Focusrite) Softube Native Instruments Arturia Developers that I'd give an honorable mention to (I own multiple plugins from these effects developers) include: Kilohearts XLN Audio Brainworx The brand my developer and skilled mixer friends -- some that don't even know one another -- keep strongly recommending is FabFilter. They're beyond my budget and I'm mostly set for mixing and mastering plugins with Izotope and Sonible. I'm in the same boat. If I had the budget, I'd most likely be using FabFilter as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fleer 10,796 Posted February 26 Slate for classic emu and FabFilter for modern mixing and mastering. Their latest outing Twin3 must be the best ITB analog sounding synth around. How for Pete’s sake did they achieve that sound? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eusebio Rufian-Zilbermann 904 Posted February 27 On 2/5/2023 at 2:13 PM, abacab said: If they have official distributors in the US and Europe, wouldn't that make them subject to the laws of the land that they made the sales in? Probably the ones subject to the corresponding local law are the distributors. If you got the code from a distributor in the US or Europe you may be able to get a refund from them when the code no longer works. If you got the code as a promotion from Waves.com it should be Israeli law that applies (otherwise international e-commerce would be a nightmare of legal requirements) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fleer 10,796 Posted February 27 It’s a legal minefield unless they’re preparing to do away with WUP. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Walton 2,177 Posted February 27 On 2/25/2023 at 3:11 PM, Lionel said: What are some your guys’ fave Waves alternatives? Although I just recently heavily invested in Waves plugins, I’m sick of their BS and want to support the other guys. Here are my favorite Waves alternatives: - Melda (free updates for life? Yes, please!) - UAD (Perfect timing for them to go native) - AIR (surprisingly good!) - Softube (just pure quality plugins!) - D16 (creative goodness!) - Audio Damage (secret sauce!) Plugin Alliance for the "simulation" of specific analog stuff. IKM (only purchased through massive group buys - otherwise way too expenisve) for other analog stuff. Melda - I don't view them as a WAVES alternative - but a different stragegy and echosystem to replace EQs, Compressors, Reverbs, etc. Izotope - I view as something different but they have tools I use. Tonebooster - fits in that Melda, Izotope catergory There are other devs, but I tend to not think of them as replacements for things I was using WAVES for. ex. Audiority (Binson Echo emulator, Reverb, esoteric other gear) On 2/25/2023 at 4:10 PM, Fleer said: Yep, native UAD will make ‘em bleed. I personally don't think it is going to make a dent at all, unless they decide to revise the pricing structure. They are way too expensive in the current landscape. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
husker 1,394 Posted February 28 6 hours ago, Fleer said: It’s a legal minefield unless they’re preparing to do away with WUP. Hope springs eternal.... I don't want to to derail the Waves hating, but I do wonder how many hobbyists vs pros would rather see Waves ditch WUP and level all plugins at $100, or keep doing business as is. If so, how long do they support a $100 plugin. The data on that study would be fascinating. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
abacab 8,029 Posted February 28 Meanwhile, most of the Waves competitors have dropped their prices... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grem 4,211 Posted February 28 12 hours ago, abacab said: Meanwhile, most of the Waves competitors have dropped their prices... Thank you Waves!! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kday 13 Posted March 9 On 2/3/2023 at 6:37 AM, bitflipper said: Every once in awhile, I miss some Waves plugin that I used to use. TransX and RBass were once favorites. But they'd routinely stop working because Waves would abruptly decide that my license was no longer valid (e.g. after computer repairs), and the last time that happened I just decided I didn't need Waves anymore. They are more concerned with piracy than with their paying customers. Sorry, but that teenage pirate who wasn't ever going to give you any money anyway isn't my problem. That's the reason I stopped buying Waves myself. The security battle over potential piracy turned my off. If their products were just serial number installs, I probably would've bought their whole collection. I don't buy software no more unless it has a crack for it first, that eliminates the reoccurring registering problem every so many months. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
