Waves TrueVerb

There were no compatibility or installation issues getting Waves' TrueVerb up and running. Although basic reverb parameters are easily accessible, the more expressive and in turn more complicated ins and outs of the plug-in take a little while to figure out. However, the graphical interface helps to bridge the gap, bringing the reverberations and reflections together as your custom visual acoustic environment. In turns the presets allow for an easier understanding of the fine tunings of the plug-in that can eventually impart on a track some very professional sounding reverb. The manual for TrueVerb, as with all of the other Waves plug-ins I have used is well indexed and helpful.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Running in Ableton Live 8 on my MacBook Pro with a 2.7Ghz Intel Core i7 processor and 4GBs of RAM, Waves' TrueVerb is as smooth as clockwork, but worry not Windows users as this plug-in is cross compatible. Being fairly light with regards to overall CPU usage, it is stable and reliable even in situations where many other effects and VSTs are operating simultaneously. As far as performance is concerned, I give TrueVerb a thumbs up. Although it is not perfect for every scenario that I use reverb in, it certainly holds a high rank on my list of top Waves plug-ins and is certainly Waves' best reverb VST yet. I've had it for almost four months now and I certainly don't regret my purchase.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall Waves' TrueVerb is a must-have if you are a producer who is a fan of the Waves series and needs a reliable reverb plug-in. Despite the slight learning curve, TrueVerb has a fabulous sound and is not too demanding on your system or your patience. As far as price is concerned, you can pick this up in its Native version or the Mercury bundle deal. This is one of the few Waves plug-ins I wouldn't discourage picking up in its Native version. Originally $150, it is now on sale for $64 on the Waves website. Not a bad deal for such a versatile device, but probably still more bang for your buck if you get the Mercury bundle deal.

Like all Waves stuff it's quick install and easy setup. Not too complicated with the menu and controls either. I like how their plugins are laid out. No tricky menus and the controls have precise parameters that make sense. Their manuals are great too and explain basically everything you would want to know. Trueverb is described as an emulation plugin. I just got it to try the reverb though.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Performance is great of course. Typical waves stability and reliable quality. There's a ton of parameters here and it can be daunting sometimes. I feel like I'm restricted with what I can do. Sure I use the mix and some other controls but there's a lot of controls here that I don't even know what they mean. The manual sort of explains them but when I read what they do I'm left wondering why they're even included. Some of the presets and settings leave me scratching my head. I'm sitting here wondering why I would ever use some of this stuff. The room verbs are good but some of the other emulations seem borderline useless. Maybe if I did a different genre I would see the use here, but I can't imagine using some of these anywhere honestly. The questionable emulations, mediocre presets, and droves of random parameters really turned me off of this reverb.

The bottom line though, is that it doesn't even sound too good to me. Don't get me wrong. It's not terrible sounding. But it's awful digital to my ears. Not warm or organic like a good reverb should be. I think this is what happens when you try to hard. You get an overdone plugin that's too processed to sound good. It's very sterile and just not that spectacular in my mixes I used it in. Sorry Waves.

OVERALL OPINION

I like a lot of a Waves plugins. I mean really, a lot of them. I have their biggest bundle and I use almost all of it. But their reverbs aren't good. I've used them all. This one tried too hard or something. Just sounds to digitized and sterile. The value isn't too great considering it's just a meg plugin.

There are quite a few reverb plugins in the Waves lineup, and it's no surprise as reverb is almost always used in a mix somewhere, in some form. A good sounding reverb can make a mix really breathe and give it some nice air. In the 80s, it was shoved down everyone's throats, but people seem to have learned since then that tons of reverb can actually make a mix sound muddy. This plugin is super versatile in that there are tons of different features you can choose from. It has adjustments for decorrelation, reflection variations, reverb variations, dimension, room size, distance, link parameters, balance, decay, pre-delay, density, low cut, high shelf, absorption, frequency, damping, various ratios in the EQ, mix, direct, and tons of other adjustments in here. To use this, simply enable it on whatever buss you want to use it on, and start adjusting. It's a bit more complex than some of the other plugins that Waves offers, so it might be worth reading the manual. Personally, I never read it as it's still a fairly straight forward plugin.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Waves is the king when it comes to things such as stability and overall performance. For one, this plugin doesn't take up too much RAM or processing power, and that's a big plus considering a DAW can have tons of different plugins and virtual synths running at any time. The plugins are all cross platform compatible, so anybody with an OS X or Windows machine can run these without any problems. I've never experienced a single issue while running this plugin when it came to things like stability and overall performance. There is one issue, however, that I did come across. These plugins are 32 bit inside of OS X. For me to utilize these in Logic Pro, it needs to run a special bridge application as my DAW is a 64 bit DAW. I'm not a huge fan as to how Logic Pro implements this, and I'm hoping that Waves updates these later on. I've been using the Mercury bundle for the past half a year or so, and it's been awesome.

OVERALL OPINION

I've used this on the master buss successfully. I've also used it on guitar tones to help space them out a bit and give them some more depth. Personally, I tend to reach for either a basic reverb plugin or Space Designer inside of Logic, but if I want a different flavor, I'll reach for this from time to time. It's never failed me, that's for sure. It all depends on what type of reverb and style you're going for. It also helps to choose the plugin you're most comfortable with.

With waves truverb it was a very easy installation, I had it in one of the bundle packs that I bought but I have forgot the name of it at the moment.
There was a big manual in the bundle pack but I have not gone through it as I know quite a bit about effects plug ins from some vast experience that I have had. I am sure that it is very sufficient though.
The installation was basically installing the whole bundle pack which was very easy and adding them to the vst folder of my digital audio workspace which is common for all plug in installations.
everything is pretty easy and self explanatory in my opinion. It is all really well set out and you do not really need to use anything apart from the presets given but having a nice preset tweaked to your taste is the best thing to do I must admit.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Yes everything works as it should do on my configuration which is a laptop with 4gb ram and a 1.8GHz processor.
The performance is great but running too many on my computer can cause it to lag significantly which is really annoying I must admit but creating a lot of sends is the best way to combat this problem I think.
Everything is stable unless you use too much of the plugins.
I have been using it for about 3 months now and it is a great plugin.

OVERALL OPINION

I like the default presets on the pack they are very good and only some slight tweaking is needed for optimum reverb in my eyes.
Value is pretty decent I would say.
I would like it to be cheaper though.
Quality of sound it great. Really realistic if you use it well.
I would use this again and again until someone shows me something better.