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Waves API 550A
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Waves API 550A

Software parametric EQ from Waves belonging to the API series

Hatsubai Hatsubai

« 3 band EQ »

Published on 06/15/11 at 20:24
This is a pretty versatile EQ that Waves offers. It's a three band EQ modeled after the API 550A. There are 15 points of boost that are divided into three different ranges, and they are selectable in five different steps. The high and low frequencies can be selected individually, and you can choose between either peaking or shelving, depending on what you're looking for. You can also have a band-pass filter that can be inserted independently from all the other settings in there.

This EQ is pretty nice compared to the other vintage EQs because it's very versatile. Because of that, I found more usages with this plugin than I have with their other vintage EQ plugins. You can choose a wide variety of sounds thanks to its versatility, and despite it being a three band EQ that is limited to notched frequencies, it can work nicely on vocals, guitar, bass and even drums.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

Waves plugins are some of the best out there, bar none. For one, they're cross platform. For a Mac user, that means the world. I'm always trying to support companies that support Mac, and Waves has been pretty good about that since the whole Intel switch. I've used these in Logic without any problems. Although they're 32 bit plugins, Logic will add a bridge to allow you to use them in a 64 bit environment as to not limit you to the amount of ram you can utilize. On top of that, these things are rock solid. I've never had a crash with Waves plugins at all.

OVERALL OPINION

This is one of the more useful EQs that Waves has created, in terms of vintage EQs, at least. I found quite a few usages for this, where as some of the other ones were a bit geared more towards classic rock. Applying these to some slightly overdriven guitars give it a real vintage-esque EQ sound that can make the mix really pop out. Using it on vocals can give it all kinds of neat effects, too. Try it out.