" Someday business schools will use Waves as a case study on how destroy your company by disrespecting your customers. "
Byron Dickens
BIAB. CbB. Mixbus 32C 8 HP Envy. Intel core i7. 16GB RAM W10. Focusrite Scarlett 18i 20. Various instruments played with varying degrees of proficiency.
I have a bunch of their plug-ins, and they're great.
That said, as the previous poster indicated, their customer service leaves a whole lot to be desired. Lots of hidden upcharges, almost impossible to transfer your licenses if you get a new computer, etc.
So far I haven't encountered any nightmare scenarios myself, but I've talked to enough people who have to be aware they exist. But as I said, they are great plug-ins as far as the functionality and doing what they say they'll do. Quite a few of them are "go-to" plugins for me.
If so, which ones and what do you specifically like about them?
Their SSL G-Masterbus compressor lives on my master bus.
No serious compression, just a 2/1 ratio and a high threshold, 2db of compression at most, never more and almost inaudible. But it does something with the low-end that I like.
And even when it's called a 'Masterbus compressor', I use it here and there for vocals.
No idea how it compares to more expensive versions of the same compressor, but I got it (almost) for free and like what it does.
I own a couple of the Waves plugins. The one I use the most is Vocal Rider. Which works just like someone riding the fader up and down on the vocal track. I also have the Bass Rider but don't use it at all. The Vocal Rider can be had for under $30 on sale. If I remember right I had to pay for a upgrade to a newer OS at one point which I am sure you will find plenty of negative comments from waves users.
BIAB 2026 Ultrapack- Fender Studio Pro 8, Windows 11, Mac Mini M4 with Logic Pro 11, Melodyne Studio, Luna Pro
Tom Adams got me into them years ago. The ones I use most often:
CLA Drums CLA Unplugged CLA Vocals Bass Rider Linear Phase Multi-band compressor Torque Magma Tubes
And I own about a dozen more
Bud
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
Their products are good, and I use a number of them.
But... their sales tactics leave a lot to be desired.
Waves is well know for having running non-stop "sales", with "lowest price ever" meaning it's the same "lowest price ever" that it was last time.
They also constantly push their upgrade plans. This is mostly an issue for Mac users, since Windows often has excellent backwards compatibility between versions. Mac users, not so much. So you either buy into the upgrade plan, or re-purchase the products when an upgrade breaks the old plugins.
A couple of months back Waves announced without warning they were switching to a subscription-only model.
Glossing over many, many details, this did not go well.
Waves eventually backpedaled, but many users thought the way that Waves chose to do this showed a willingness to throw many long-time users under the bus simply to maximize profits.
That said, they have many excellent plugins. For example, they just announced a neural network based de-reverberation.
Waves plugs don,t work in real band! I know i tried rob!
Correct - Waves uses a "shell" plugin, which is one single DLL file that masquerades itself as multiple different plugins, and quite a few programs don't support that. Band-in-a-Box does, however RealBand and PowerTracks do not.
As for Waves plugins themself, I quite like the Renaissance Compressor, though I typically use it for expansion rather than compression.
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
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With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
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