: Classic optical and solid-state compressor emulations used for smoothing out peaks on vocals, bass, and guitars.
– The Glue God
– The Problem Solver
Phase issues kill low end and blur transients. InPhase shows you the phase relationship between two tracks (say, a kick in and a kick out) and lets you rotate, delay, or align them perfectly. Even better: it can correct phase without changing timing. Best for: Multi-miked drums, DI + amp bass, layered synths.
The "best" Waves 14 plugins are the ones that solve your specific problem: RBass for bass translation, SSL EV2 for mix glue, and Smack Attack for drum punch. Start with the five essentials listed above, and you will have a professional-grade mixing suite that rivals plugins costing ten times as much.
