he rips everything by waves. he probably tried to return something and they said no

I'm worried about Waves. If they continue to sell their plugins with the paint so deteriorated, it's very likely that they are also saving on screws, metal chassis, leds, faders... Did you notice if the knobs are wobbling?

psp vintage warmer...long lived and praised plugin for mastering to ad to your list

I think the reason so many plugin companies want to have analog looking UIs is mainly because thats what impresses clients when they come into your studio and see your progress. Even if you don't have expensive hardware, at least they want to feel like you do. I think if you were to do a test showing two masters, one done with purely digital plugins and then one with analog emulation plugins, even if you did a intentionally poorer job with the analog emulation master, the client would prefer it since they can see all the analog gear that that think sounds great rather than a flat utilitarian based UI.

This isn’t snake oil at all. This plugin is amazing. If you know how to use it. Top of the line. Top top. 🔥

It's time for VR daws so we can turn some virtual knobs with our hands tehehe

i was listening to him toy with this plugin on my lap top speakers and i could hear a difference with pretty much every knob he turned

The amount of surprise whenever something is sounding good (or as he states it: "really not that bad!") is a clear indicator that he goes into reviewing that plugin with a bias, and that the whole video is about prooving a point that was already decided...

Demoing a Mastering Plugin on a Mastered track.

For most mortals, the best strip would be Waves Scheps Omni Channel. Seeing that all DAWs can live perfectly well without these 3rd party strips, at least it offers some of that "ooh hello sailor! What boat are you sailing on?" kinda vibe.

The VU meter is usually not just there for shits and giggles but it's kind of a great tool. Since they are modeling analog hardware and its distortion characteristics, there is a certain level where the parts start to distort, which is usually when the VU meter hits 0 and above on the -18 setting. Now you saw that your level was pretty high since with the input level set to 0 your compressor was working pretty hard and you heard distortion right when you engaged the input module's filter. So you had a gainstaging problem which you could have identified with the VU meter calibrated to -18 (or whatever else Waves recommends).

Cheers

The unit is modeled after actual hardware so it's really not expecting levels like you're feeding it.  You need to back off the input gain going into the strip;  I turn down as much as 10-15db if it's a "hard hitting" electronic or metal kind of thing.  Then the initial behavior of the compressor/limiter isn't so extreme.  It was designed to handle levels that would be going from tape masters to vinyl cutters.  You can adjust the ratio and "mix" knobs until you get the gain reduction you want.  The mix knob isn't the full audio into the plugin, it's just a blend of the input into the compressor and the output, so it can be used to compress very lightly.  You can do all your loudness crap after the TG desk.  It'll sound better and perform better if you gain stage.  Also, each module has an expanded version if you click the upper right hand button.  That way you can get more detailed with the EQ and limiter adjustments.   My only complaint is that I wish the GUI was a little larger.

The reason for having Linear Phase filters for the Sidechain is because Phase = Time,  if the filters are not linear phase some frequencies would be delayed and that will affect how the compressor reacts to the audio. That being said Analog sidechains filters have never been linear phase and it doesn't seem to be much of a problem. But 6db/oct filters have much less phase distortion than 48db/oct filters and this could be the reason for going Linear Phase here. I also find 48db/oct on the sidechain quite a strange choose.

I use the Waves TG plugins for mastering when I want that particular sound/vibe. They’re great, very flexible and very powerful at the same time. They sound wonderful and are very much a staple in my tool kit. Of course, YMMV...

Normal filters/eq have a 180 degree phase shift at their resonate point, which cause a left - right swap at that frequency when using on side processing. That's where linear phase stuff comes in handy to avoid this problem.

Linear phase in sidechain because when you use a effect in send (like sidechain) instead insert, it's very likely to have latency. Linear phase effects reduce considerably this latency and are really good to be used in send channels.

Hmm, that rusty front plate has me thinking: I wonder when I will need to replace the emulated power amp tubes in my Axe-FX III ;-)

Puts and already mastered track through a mastering plugin... Wow.

You finished your base trap... that means you will have to re-calibrate your speakers again :P

If you like British mastering gear that’s actually still built by the original Decca engineer… you need to take a listen to DAV electronics. Long time BG3 user here…it’s never leaving my rack.  Side note, Waves TG Mastering Chain is a great plugin! 4 years on, and it’s still getting daily use.