Waves Audio

Waves Audio Ltd. is a developer and supplier of professional audio signal processing technologies and audio effects, used in recording, mixing, mastering, post production, surround, live, and broadcast sound. Since the early 1990s, Waves processors have been available as plugins for most popular audio hosts and platforms, including Audio Units, TDM, DirectX, MAS, and VST.

Under its Maxx brand, Waves offers its technologies as DSP semiconductors and licensable algorithms for consumer electronics, and are currently used in products from companies including Sony, Sanyo, JVC, Toshiba, and Altec Lansing. Maxx technologies are used to enhance audio performance and improve sound in televisions, laptop computers, mobile phones, VoIP, multimedia speakers, and portable audio systems.

The company's corporate headquarters and development facilities are located in Tel Aviv, Israel, with additional offices in the United States in Knoxville, Tennessee and Shenzen, China.

History

Founded in October 1992 by Gilad Keren and Meir Sha'ashua, Waves pioneered the use of software extension applications, or "plug-ins", for digital audio signal processing and manipulation. Waves' first plug-in was the Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer.¹ The Q10 was innovative in three main ways. First, it was one of the earliest third-party plug-ins for the nascent Pro Tools platform, which has since become the industry standard. Second, its intuitive graphic user interface (GUI) provided easy access to and control over more parameters than had previously been possible. Finally, the Q10 offered sound quality equal to or better than its hardware counterparts.

Further stimulating Waves’ first decade of success was the development of the L1 Ultramaximizer Peak Limiter, which established a new benchmark for dynamic controls, and introduced the concept of "look-ahead" limiting, a term which is now in general use throughout the audio software industry. The L1 was the first in Waves L-Series, which now includes the L2, L3, L3-LL, and L3-16 Ultramaximizers and Multimaximizers.

Psycho-Acoustic Modeling

By analyzing and applying psychoacoustics (the way the human brain perceives sound), Waves developed proprietary modeling techniques used to re-create the sonic characteristics of the world's most desirable analog hardware. Their SSL 4000 Collection was developed in association with Solid State Logic, makers of the original SSL 4000 mixing consoles. The API Collection was created in conjunction with Automated Processes Inc. (makers of API components), while the V-Series is based on Rupert Neve console modules. Waves also offers a collection of modeled guitar amplifiers, speaker cabinets, and stomp effects called GTR, which includes software emulations of popular amps and cabs by Marshall, Fender, Mesa/Boogie, Vox, and others.

Audio Processors

Today, the Waves product line includes over 20 bundles comprised of over 90 processors and almost 300 component plug-ins. In addition to the 26 processors included in the GTR bundle, Waves currently offers 69 audio processor plug-ins:

Additionally, Waves manufactures several hardware processors for live, studio, and broadcast applications, including MaxxBCL, which includes compression, bass extension, and limiting functions.