The Best Waves Plugins for Modern Metal Production

Scroll through the Waves website, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. With hundreds of plugins, endless bundles, and constant sales, you can quickly fall into the trap of “Plugin Acquisition Syndrome,” believing the next purchase is the key to a killer mix.

Here’s the truth: your skills matter infinitely more than your plugin folder. A great engineer can craft a massive-sounding record with stock plugins, while a beginner will still struggle with a thousand-dollar collection.

That said, some tools just make the job easier. They have a character, a workflow, or a problem-solving ability that makes them staples in the metal production world for a reason. Instead of a colossal list, let’s focus on the workhorse Waves plugins that you’ll actually use on every single mix. These are the tools that offer the most bang for your buck and are consistently used by the pros to get heavy, punchy, and clear results.

The Channel Strip: Your Ultimate Workflow Workhorse

Waves SSL E-Channel & G-Channel

If you want to mix faster and more intuitively, start thinking in terms of a console channel strip. The Waves SSL E-Channel and G-Channel plugins emulate the sound and workflow of the legendary Solid State Logic 4000 series consoles, which have shaped countless rock and metal records.

Instead of opening three or four separate plugins, you get a filter, a gate/expander, a compressor, and a four-band EQ all in one window. This is a game-changer for workflow efficiency, especially on tracks with high counts like drums.

Why they’re great for metal:

• Punch and Aggression: The SSL compressor has a notoriously grabby and aggressive character that’s perfect for making drums snap.
• Broad, Musical EQ: This isn’t a surgical EQ for tiny notches. It’s a broad-strokes tool for shaping tone. Need to add bite to a guitar at 3kHz or cut mud from a kick at 400Hz? The SSL EQ is fast and musical.
• Effective Gating: The gate is simple and effective, perfect for cleaning up tom bleed or tightening up chunky, palm-muted guitars.

Actionable Tip: Don't stress about the E-Channel vs. G-Channel debate. They have slightly different EQ curves and compressor characteristics, but the difference is minimal in the grand scheme. Pick one, learn its character inside and out, and stick with it. Use it as your default starting point for every drum track to quickly gate, shape, and control dynamics.

Dynamics: Compressors That Define Aggression

While the SSL channel compressor is a fantastic all-rounder, sometimes you need a specific flavor of compression to make a track sit just right.

CLA-76 Compressor/Limiter

The CLA-76 is Waves' take on the iconic Urei 1176, a FET compressor famous for its lightning-fast attack time and aggressive character. If you want something to sound energetic, in-your-face, and loud, this is your tool.

Why it’s great for metal:

• Snare Drum Smack: A fast attack and fast release setting will bring out the crack and impact of a snare like nothing else.
• Vocal Aggression: It pins a screaming vocal right in the front of the mix, giving it a consistent level and an aggressive edge.
• Bass Consistency: It’s perfect for evening out the dynamics of a bass guitar, ensuring every note is heard clearly.

Actionable Tip: Try the infamous "All Buttons In" mode (the "Nuke" setting on the plugin). The original hardware had four ratio buttons (4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1), and engineers discovered you could press them all in at once for explosive, over-the-top compression. It’s too much for a primary track, but it’s the secret weapon for parallel drum compression. Send your drum bus to an aux track, slam it with the CLA-76 in Nuke mode, and blend that crushed signal back in underneath your main drums for incredible weight and excitement.

To dive deeper into these techniques, check out our guide to the legendary 1176 compressor.

Renaissance Vox (R-Vox)

Don't let the simplicity fool you. R-Vox is a secret weapon for many of the world’s top mixers. It has just three main controls: a gate, a compressor, and an output gain slider. It just works.

Why it’s great for metal:

• Vocal Authority: It has a unique way of pushing a vocal forward and making it sit perfectly on top of a dense mix without sounding overly processed.
• Simplicity and Speed: There’s no attack, release, or ratio to worry about. Just pull the center threshold down until you get the amount of compression you want. It’s the fastest way to get a great-sounding vocal.

Actionable Tip: Place R-Vox on your lead vocal track and simply pull the main fader down. You’ll hear it instantly even out the performance and add presence. It’s often the only compressor a metal vocal needs, offering a different character than a pure automation tool like the Waves Vocal Rider.

EQ & Tone Shaping: Adding Color and Solving Problems

Sometimes you need an EQ that does more than just cut and boost frequencies; you need one that adds character.

PuigTec EQP-1A + MEQ-5

These plugins model the legendary Pultec EQs from the 1950s. They are known for their incredibly broad, musical EQ curves and a unique quirk that has become a staple of modern production.

The PuigTec EQP-1A allows you to boost and attenuate the same low frequency simultaneously. Due to the different shapes of the boost and cut filters, this creates a "scoop" just before the boost, adding massive, tight low-end weight without introducing mud.

Why they’re great for metal:

• The Low-End Trick: Perfect for adding thump to a kick drum or weight to a bass guitar.
• Silky Highs: The high-frequency boost on the EQP-1A is famously smooth and airy, great for adding presence to vocals or a whole mix without harshness.
• Mid-Range Magic: The MEQ-5 is focused on the midrange and is fantastic for adding bite to guitars or body to a snare drum.

Actionable Tip: On your kick drum track, select 60Hz on the EQP-1A. Boost it by 3-4 dB, then simultaneously attenuate it by the same amount. It’s a classic technique for EQing a powerful kick drum.

Scheps 73

The Scheps 73 is a painstaking emulation of the Neve 1073 preamp and EQ module, another piece of hardware that has defined the sound of rock music. The key here is the preamp section, which adds rich harmonic saturation.

Why it’s great for metal:

• Adding Girth and Harmonics: Driving the preamp (the red knob) adds weight and complexity to any source. It’s amazing on sterile DI bass or guitar signals before they hit an amp sim.
• Classic EQ Tone: The three-band EQ has fixed frequency points and a distinct, powerful character. The high-shelf at 12kHz can add beautiful air, and the midrange bands are perfect for adding body to drums and guitars. Explore our full guide on EQing modern metal guitars for more ideas.

Actionable Tip: Put the Scheps 73 on your main snare track. Turn up the input gain to drive the preamp until you hear it start to saturate and thicken up. Then, use the EQ to add a little crack at 7.2kHz or body at 220Hz.

The Problem Solvers: Surgical and Enhancement Tools

C6 Multiband Compressor

When a standard EQ or compressor can’t solve a problem, you need a more surgical tool. The C6 Multiband Compressor is an absolute lifesaver. It’s essentially six compressors (or expanders), each one working on a specific frequency range.

Why it’s great for metal:

• Taming Cymbal Hash: Is the crash cymbal's wash from 4-8kHz painfully harsh, but only on the loudest hits? A multiband compressor can clamp down on just that frequency range, and only when it gets too loud, leaving the rest of the sound untouched.
• Controlling Palm Mute "Woof": Sometimes fast palm-muted guitar parts create a buildup of low-mid energy (around 150-250Hz). The C6 can dynamically duck these frequencies only during the chugging parts, keeping your guitars tight and clear.
• De-essing: The C6 is a fantastic de-esser for taming sibilance in vocals.

Actionable Tip: Place the C6 on your overheads or drum bus. Isolate one of the middle bands to the frequency range where the cymbals sound harsh. Set a fast attack and release, and a high ratio, then lower the threshold so it only compresses when the crashes hit.

The Big Picture: It’s Not the Plugins, It’s You

While all the plugins listed here are fantastic, remember the core philosophy: great mixes come from great decisions, not from great tools. You could give two producers the exact same set of plugins, and you’d get two completely different mixes. Your taste, your ears, and your experience are what make your sound unique.

Many of the world-class instructors at Nail The Mix, like Jens Bogren, Will Putney, and Nolly Getgood, could get a professional, release-ready mix using nothing but their DAW's stock plugins. Why? Because they've spent thousands of hours training their ears to know what to listen for and what moves to make.

So, instead of chasing the next shiny plugin, commit to mastering a few workhorses like these. Learn them so well that they become an extension of your creative ideas.

The real goal isn’t to collect tools; it’s to build skill. Watching a pro use these plugins in real-time, explaining their thought process behind every EQ boost and compression tweak, is the fastest way to level up your own abilities. If you’re ready to see exactly how these tools are used to craft massive metal albums, check out the Nail The Mix sessions catalog. You get the raw multitracks from bands like Lamb of God, Gojira, and Trivium and watch the producer who mixed the record rebuild it from scratch, right in front of you. That's how you really learn.