Waves CLA Unplugged

CLA Unplugged is part of the CLA bundle that Waves has to offer. These are plugins that were created by/for Chris Lord-Alge, the famous mixer who's done everything from Rocky IV to Slipknot. This program basically gives that very acoustic kind of feel going on. It has sliders for bass, treble, compress, reverb 1, reverb 2, delay, input and output. There are also small buttons at the top for adjusting different frequencies. On top of that, there are two knobs for adjusting the reverbs in the upper left. To use this, you simply enable it on your buss and start adjusting. I didn't experience any compatibility issues, so I can't comment on that. I never read the manual, but I don't think it's really necessary for these plugins. It's very easy and simple to use, so no issues there.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Waves plugins have always been some of the most stable plugins I've experienced. They're cross platform compatible, so they'll work with both PCs and Macs. As a Mac user, that's a huge advantage for someone like me. They run in 32 bit mode, but Logic uses a wrapper-like application that runs so you don't interfere with your 64 bit interface. I've tried this on various different buses, and it seems to work on anything with ease. It even works nicely on MIDI, which I found a bit surprising. There are no performance issues at all, and that's a huge plus when working in a DAW filled with all kinds of synths and tracks running tons of plugins. These plugins came with my Mercury package, and I've had that for a few months now.

OVERALL OPINION

I find myself using this plugin quite a bit on drums for hard rock mixes, actually. You can get some sick reverbs without having to fiddle with too many knobs and buttons. It's real simple to use, and it sounds great. This is one of the better plugins in the CLA bundle, in my opinion.

The Waves Ltd. CLA Unplugged plug-in is one in a series of plug-ins designed by famed engineer Chris Lord-Alge and Waves. It comes as part of the CLA Collection of plug-ins, which are all similarity designed and are made for uses of all different types. I’ve got the full Waves Complete bundle running at home, so when I installed this plug-in I did so at the same time that I did the entire bundle, which will be the case no matter what bundle you’re installing this with (it can’t be purchased individually). The interface of the Waves Ltd. CLA Unplugged isn’t too hard to decipher, and it definitely helps if you’re using the other plug-ins in the bundle since they are so similarity configured. This one has got sliders for controlling bass and treble levels, compression, two forms of reverb, delay, and input and output levels. Each of the main parameters has a few different sort of modes to choose from on top as well. I think it’s easy enough to use where a manual isn’t going to be necessary most of the time.


SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I’m running the Waves Ltd. CLA Unplugged currently on my home rig. We’ve also got it on the systems at the studio where I work, but I’ve used it primarily at home, although I do a lot of going back and forth between the systems. My system at home is comprised of Pro Tools LE 8 and a Mac Book Pro with a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM. At the studio, all of our systems are Pro Tools HD based. Regardless of the system, I can’t say I’ve experienced any issues related to performance with this plug-in.



OVERALL OPINION

For acoustic instruments, the Waves Ltd. CLA Unplugged plug-in is a great way to instantly get a nice palette of sounds. It’s of course not going to allow you as much control over the individual processors as you would if used single effect plug-ins, but again for getting a bunch of sounds in one place for one purpose, this is an awesome plug-in. I usually won’t print with this plug-in, but I’ve used it mostly on acoustic guitar and mandolin for rough mixes. Don’t get me wrong, the sound is one that you can certainly print with, but when I’m doing a full mix I’d rather use individual processors. There’s a whole lot that can be done with the Waves Ltd. CLA Unplugged and I’m hoping to keep exploring the possibilities here…