Newer isn’t always better. This hold true to plugins as well. I have always been a fan of the old school Waves plugins. The Horizon bundle is full of those good old, robust workhorse tools. That’s why I bought it.
Disclaimer: I have bought the Waves Horizon bundle. This article contains sponsored links. It helps to keep this blog going.
Waves Horizon Review 2024
Waves Audio just came out with version 13 of their plugins. I decided to get the Horizon Bundle in an upgrade deal. I owned a bunch of the plugins already, but all my upgrade plans had expired years back (I was on version 9 mostly).
So now that I have it all freshened up, here is my Waves Horizon review. Besides my thoughts, I am also including answers to some of the common questions you may be having.
Quick links to navigate this article:
- What is Waves Horizon Bundle?
- What Plugins are in Waves Horizon?
- How Much is Waves Horizon?
- How to Install and Activate Waves Plugins
- Waves Update Plan Explained
- Is Waves Horizon Worth It?
- Waves Horizon Bundle Review – Conclusion
What is Waves Horizon Bundle?
The Horizon bundle is a collection of 83 audio plugins by Waves Audio. It’s designed for music production, mixing and mastering work.
It includes a whole host of those “good old” Waves plugins which I personally really like and gravitate towards. You know, plugins like the S1, Trans-X and Doubler – they’ve always been there for me and never let me down.
Horizon doesn’t have many of the newer flashy Waves plugins. And frankly I prefer it like that.
With the new version 13, Waves plugins are now natively compatible with Mac M1. Good news for me!
What Plugins are in Waves Horizon?
The Waves Horizon bundle includes 83 plugins. It focuses quite a bit on the older generation of classic Waves plugins (which I personally think is a good thing).
You can find the full Waves Horizon plugin list here.
My Personal Highlights
There are so many plugins in the Horizon bundle that your favourites will likely be somewhat different to mine. I don’t use many of the included plugins ever. But then there are plugins in there that I have been using consistently for almost 20 years now. Below is a list of my favourites.
- The Renaissance collection plugins (8 in total). Excellent quality workhorse package for mixing and other audio work. I think the recent user interface remake on these is spot on. I wish the same would happen for the rest of the older Waves plugins.
- C1 Compressor/Expander/Gate. Classic workhorse plugin. If you just need a precise, clean, low CPU compression, expansion or gating, the C1 gets the job done.
- C4 Multiband compressor. Another classic workhorse. Good precision.
- Doppler. It’s very useful if you are doing film stuff. But for the rest of us, it’s a pretty cool tool for crafting experimental sound design. A lot of craziness to be had there.
- Doubler. Great for making just about anything fat and wide. It has a unique “hard and solid” sonic character which I am quite fond of. A ton of great presets.
- H-Comp. Good for drums amongst other things. I really dig that you can sync the release time with the BPM of your project. Great for pumping effects. I wonder why not more compressors do that. The punch switch is also a nice touch – helps retain transient energy.
- L2 Ultramaximizer. It’s not the loudest or the most transparent limiter in this day and age, but has a forward sound that often works well on drums and other things (switch of ARC, set a fairly short release and hit it fairly hard). You can also use the L2 just for the dither if you need one.
- Linear Phase EQ. It’s a good tool to have in your kit, even if you don’t use it often.Be careful with it, especially in the low end.
- Linear Phase Multiband Compressor. For sensitive mastering duties. Again – careful with anything linear phase. If used wrong, linear phase processing creates pre-ringing (smearing of transients and loss of punch).
- MaxxBass. A classic plugin for enhancing the low end and the upper bass region in particular.
- MaxxVolume. The low level compression in this plugin is a great trick for making things louder without crushing them. It also has high level compression, gate and a leveler. Great utility.
- Metafilter. Sounds fat. But beyond that, its modulation capabilities (including a step sequencer and an envelope follower) make it great for adding subtle movement and life to boring sounds.
- Metaflanger. Has a unique sound. I love it and have used it on a lot of tracks throughout the years. Try the “Mutron Biphase” preset. Used that one on the original amen version of “Fall” – those who know, know.
- PuigTec EQP1A. I think many of the analog emulations in the Waves catalog are dated and there are better options out there now. But this Pultec still does a great job. There are many great competing products out there. But if you don’t have one yet and decide to get Horizon, I don’ t think you need to look any further.
- Renaissance Reverb. Great reverb! 12 different types to choose from, great (freshly redesigned) UI, tons of good presets.
- S1 Stereo Imager. Having control over the stereo image of your mix is important. The S1 will help you out with that.
- Soundshifter. It is not a transparent pitch shifter by any stretch, but that’s why I love it. It has a sound of its own that you won’t get anywhere else. I’ve used it a ton for pitch shifting breakbeats.
- Submarine. Generates super solid sub bass based on your material. Like all other similar plugins, it won’t work in every situation. That’s why I keep several of this type of plugins. But Submarine is one of my favs. Tune it carefully and when it works, it’s bowl movement good.
- Trans-X. One of the punchiest transient shapers out there. Try the Pensado 808 preset on drums (it’s been my go-to for many years).
- Vitamin Sonic Enhancer. Used subtly this can really add a some nice character and bring boring material to life – especially anything live recorded.
- Vocal Rider. Prime the vocal with this first. Then hit it with compression and you’re well on your way to a professional vocal sound. I like that you can have the plugin record automation so that you can then edit the details.
How much is Waves Horizon?
The regular list price for Waves Horizon is $3999. I don’t think anyone ever pays that much as it’s frequently discounted. These kind of pricing schemes are gimmicky. But companies are free to choose their strategy. I can respect that. We just have to be aware as customers.
The lowest price I’ve seen for Waves Horizon bundle is $329.99.
If you already own some Waves plugins, you should check out the “Upgrades” section inside your Waves user account. You might be able to upgrade to the Horizons bundle for a very attractive price (that’s what I did).
If you are looking to buy it… Wait for a sale. Black Friday is a good time to grab it. But there are other sales throughout the year as well.
Waves Horizon Black Friday 2024
I will update the black friday 2024 pricing for the Waves Horizon bundle here as soon as it’s available.
How to Install and Activate Waves Plugins
Waves plugins are installed and activated via the Waves Central app. Waves plugins do not use iLok.
Follow the instructions on this page to download and install your Waves plugins.
Waves Horizon system requirements
Click here for the system requirements for the current version.
Waves Horizon manual
There is no manual for the bundle. All the included plugins have their own manuals. I actually much prefer it that way.
In general, I think the Waves documentation is good. The manuals of some of their older products are downright phenomenal (check out the S1 manual here for example). I highly recommend you to read them – you will learn a lot.
You can download all of the manuals in PDF format from this page on the Waves website.
Waves Update Plan Explained
The Waves Update Plan (or WUP) has been a controversial topic in the online space. What is Waves Update Plan?
When you purchase or upgrade a Waves software product, you get one free year of the Waves Update Plan for that product.
The products you own remain yours forever. But your update plan expires after one year.
An active update plan gives you “vip support” and the ability update to the latest version. If the update plan expires, you are stuck with the old version until you renew it.
The cost for one year of Waves Update Plan coverage depends on the number of products you own and their prices. Updating coverage per year ranges between $12 and $240 if you own one copy of each product.
You don’t have to renew every year. I jumped from V9 to V13, for instance, and I’m happy working with the V13 even though the current version (august 2024) is V15.
Is Waves Update Plan Worth It? Is This a Scam?
There has been some critizism of the update plan model. Here’s what I think.
While I can understand it would be nice to have free infinite updates and support for the stuff that you buy, let’s establish some perspective .
- Waves have over 180 plugins (plus other software and hardware products) to support in their catalog.
- They still keep supporting and releasing new versions of products that are 20 over years old.
- Besides keeping their entire huge product line up to date with current day standards, they still offer legacy installers all the way back to V6 (2009) for folks with older systems.
- They create products that actually work fine on release date.
- They are a large company, with a huge customer base and lots of expenses.
- Their customer support is fast and very helpful (this at least is my experience).
- They have been absolutely reliable as a company and I expect they continue to do so.
Now, do you expect all that to happen for free? Maybe for a small company. But think about the scale we are looking at here. All that has to be funded somehow. Otherwise it’s just not going to happen.
There are plenty of companies in the audio space who are unreliable, unable to deliver properly working products (even after several updates) and are terrible with customer support.
I would much rather have those companies charge a little bit more and deliver a good service, than to skimp out and make their customers unhappy.
There are different ways to factor those costs in. Universal Audio, for example, places it in the price of the products. Waves does it with the Update Plan. In any case, if we want functioning products that are up to date and support that works… Somewhere down the line we have to pay for it.
Then there are companies like Airwindows who release low cost stuff “as is”, without any obligations. That’s great too – I also support them on Patreon.
Different companies, different models. There is room for all of it. You just have to understand what you’re getting into. It’s important to have some perspective instead of just thinking about what you want.
I just wanted to offer my view to this discussion. The Update Plan model is how Waves have chosen to ensure continuity and quality. There are other companies, like Bitwig, who are successfully using a similar model. All good in my books.
Maybe Waves could do a better job at explaining why they have chosen to use this particular model, and what people are getting in exchange for paying for WUP. I think a lot of people simply don’t think about the costs involved in running such an operation in a reliable way.
Is Waves Horizon worth it?
It depends on what overlapping plugins you might own already, and how much you are thinking of paying for the Horizon bundle.
Look at the Waves Horizon plugin list here first, and ask yourself:
- Are there enough tools in there that would be important additions to your toolbox?
- Is it going to help your workflow to have this stuff?
If yes – then wait for a good discount to grab it. Also make sure to check inside your user account first if you’re eligible for an upgrade price.
You may also want to check this page to compare Horizon to other Waves bundles to see if there is something you would like better.
If you follow that procedure and decide to get it, then yes it’s worth it.
Waves Horizon vs Waves Mercury
The Waves Mercury bundle contains 180 plugins. That’s almost a 100 plugins more than Horizon. But it’s not only about the numbers.
If you want the eye candy and analog modelled shenanigans – the Mercury has all that. Horizon is a lot more focused on utility.
For me, Horizon is better value. Most of the stuff I want to use is included in Horizon.
Here are some pretty nice (in my books) plugins though that come with Mercury but not Horizon:
- The X-series restoration plugins.
- C6 Multiband Compressor (C4 comes with Horizon)
- Codex Wavetable Synth
- Element 2.0 Virtual Analog Synth
- Scheps Omni Channel
The only way to know to know whether you should go for Waves Mercury or Horizon, is to compare them yourself:
If you decide to get Horizon, remember that you will be eligible for Waves Horizon to Mercury upgrade price. You will find this price from the “Upgrades” section inside your Waves user account.
Waves Horizon vs Waves Diamond
The Horizon and Diamond bundles are fairly close to each other in content and price. Horizon includes 83 plugins, Diamond includes 76 plugins.
They include quite a lot of the same plugins. A notable difference is that Diamond includes the X-series of noise reduction/restoration plugins.
Waves Horizon Bundle Review – Conclusion
To sum it all up – Waves Horizon is a good package of solid old school trusty workhorse tools. A lot of the tools in this package are lacking fancy looks but have stood the test of time. I like that.
There’s some plugins in there that I find pretty much useless (Kramer and Maserati series in particular). But there’s also a whole bunch of solid, classic plugins as well as some gems I had forgotten about.
If the above appeals to you, do also check the Diamond Bundle. It is fairly similar with a slightly different set of plugins.
Pros:
- A versatile package with many robust and useful workhorse type tools.
- These plugins are light on your CPU and reliable.
- Good value if you can get it on a good discount.
- If you like the old classic Waves plugins, Horizon has you covered.
Cons:
- I don’t like the pricing scheme. You can get it for less than 1/10th of the listed price but you have to wait for the discount.
- Some of the GUIs are getting small for todays screens (I work on a resolution of 2560×1440). I’m sure this will be sorted in a future version, but for now it is what it is.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.
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