Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter

Waves has released a plugin modeled after the very famous Aphex Aural Exciter. The original hardware device, used throughout the 70s and 80s, was considered to be the pinnacle of technology when it first came out. The plugin itself operates in a complex way of enhancing the vibrancy of whatever bus it's put on, but it's a pretty simple to use plugin. You have a mode selector that selects between Mix 1, Mix 2 and Ax. The Meter is simply a meter to view so you can monitor what's going on with the waveform. The Input controls the input gain, the Ax Mix controls the amount of aural excitement that's being mixed into the original signal, the Output controls the gain, Mains give it a unique analog-esque characteristic that make this act like the original unit and the noise controls the amount of "analog noise" added to the sound.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Waves plugins are pretty well known for being the industry standard plugins out there, and for good reason. First of all, the plugins are cross platform. That means that both PC and Mac guys can use them. Given that I'm a Mac guy, that's a huge plus for me. The plugins themselves are very stable. I've never experienced a crash directly related to inserting a Waves plugin into any audio or MIDI bus in Logic. I've never read the manual, so I can't really comment on that. However, most of these plugins are fairly intuitive when it comes to their usage. While the names may be a touch convoluted if you don't know what they're modeling, you can get a good idea as to what they do if you just mess around. It doesn't take up much memory when in use, even with the 32 bit bridge application in Logic, and I've been using these for quite awhile now.

OVERALL OPINION

I like to use this plugin on the master bus. To me, it's best when used on the overall mix to enhance the complexity of the sound. I don't really use it on guitar tracks alone as I tend to keep those mostly dry with as little effects and EQ as I can get away with. The biggest issue is that this only comes with the Mercury bundle as far as I know. That means that you'll be shelling out a few grand just to get this plugin. If you ever get a chance to find a recording studio with Waves Mercury, give this thing a try.

The Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is a new plug-in that was co-designed by Waves and Aphex and modeled after the original Aural Exciter from Aphex. The plug-in has only been released recently and only in the past few weeks has the studio that I work at picked it up. I wasn't the one to install it, but this process shouldn't present anyone with any problems I don't think. Regardless of if you've used or even heard of the original Aural Exciter, the interface of the plug-in is fairly simple to understand. It gives you parameters of mode (four to choose from), input and output levels, aural excitement level, and an analog setting that is found on almost all of the new Waves plug-ins. The interface also has two different configurations to choose from. It's available across the board in terms of compatibility, as are all Waves plug-ins, so no issues to worry about there. It's easy enough to use where I don't believe a manual is necessary.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I've yet to encounter any issues while running the Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter, but our systems at the studio are all Pro Tools HD anyway, so it's rare that we'll experience lagging of any kind when it comes to plug-ins. This has run smoothly for us and I don't expect that this will change at all. I think that even if you're running the RTAS version of this plug-in that those with a good enough system to run your DAW in the first place should be able handle it.

OVERALL OPINION

The Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is one of the most effective plug-ins that I've used in a while. This plug-in can really liven up a track as it's useful across the board when you're looking for some brightness added to the mix. I've used it thus far for mixing purposes on individual instruments, but will probably try it on a master buss sometime soon as well. I can't say how it compares to the original Aural Exciter, but just having this plug-in alone will do a lot for you. I love using it on vocals and guitars as it's a great tool for helping these sounds cut through the mix a little more. I don't think the Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is part of any bundles yet, but it's definitely worth checking out on an individual basis for any professional DAW owner.