Waves CLA Vocals

CLA Vocals 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 plugin is great for those wanting to master your vocals. It has sliders for bass, treble, compress, reverb, delay, pitch, input and output. On top of that, there are small switches on top of each slider to adjust for different frequencies. To use this, you simply enable it on your vocal 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

This is the other CLA plugin I find myself using quite a bit. It can really add another dimension when it comes to mixing vocals. I find myself treating vocals very similar to guitar leads. They generally act the same in a mix, and they have similar frequencies. As a guitarist, it's easier for me to visualize them that way and mix, so if you're a guitarist who's having trouble with vocals, try it out.

The Waves Ltd. CLA Vocals plug-in is one of a bunch in the Chris Lord-Alge (CLA) bundle of plug-ins. Each is geared toward a particular instrument or application, with this one obviously focusing on vocals. I've got all of the Waves plug-ins on my system at home, which I installed all at once and didn't encounter any problems. As far as the interface of the plug-in goes, it shares the same sort of configuration as the others in the CLA bundle, with sliders for bass and treble control, compression, reverb, delay, and pitch. It also has independent control over input and output level. Each of the main effect sliders gives you three different modes to choose from as well. It's easy enough to use where I don't believe you'll need the help of a manual.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I'm currently running the Waves Ltd. CLA Vocals plug-in and the full CLA bundle on my system at home. My home studio is made up of Pro Tools LE 8 which I run with a Digi 002R audio interface, along with a Mac Book Pro lap top consisting of 4 GB of RAM and a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. This system has been adequate for running this plug-in all the way, as I've yet to encounter any issues with it. I've only had a need to run one or two of them at once however.

OVERALL OPINION

Like all of the Chris Lord-Alge plug-ins, there's a whole lot that can been done with the Waves Ltd. CLA Vocals. It's the perfect one stop shop for getting vocal sound and effects. I'll use it a lot on scratch vocals where I'm hoping to get them to sound a bit better, mostly for perspective purposes to get an idea of what a mix might sound like with a real vocal. I do like to use individual processors and effects to get more control over my sound, but this definitely gives you a good amount of options considering how many different effects you're getting in one place here. The CLA bundle is an awesome set of plug-ins and the CLA Vocals plug-in in particular is no different...