Waves Audio Ltd. is a developer and supplier of audio signal processing technologies and audio effects. Since the early 1990s, Waves processors have been available as plugins for most popular audio hosts and platforms, including Audio Units, TDM, DirectX, MAS, and VST. The company's corporate headquarters and development facilities are located in Tel Aviv, Israel, with additional offices in the United States in Knoxville, Tennessee and Shenzen, China.
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History
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Founded in October 1992 by Gilad Keren and Meir Sha'ashua, Waves pioneered the use of software extension applications, or "plug-ins", for digital audio signal processing and manipulation. Waves' first plug-in was the Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer. The Q10 was innovative in three main ways. First, it was one of the earliest third-party plug-ins for the nascent Pro Tools platform, which has since become the industry standard. Second, its graphic user interface (GUI) provided easy access to and control over more parameters than had previously been possible. Finally, the Q10 offered sound quality equal to or better than its hardware counterparts. Further stimulating Waves’ first decade of success was the development of the L1 Ultramaximizer Peak Limiter, which established a new benchmark for dynamic controls, and introduced the concept of "look-ahead" limiting, a term which is now in general use throughout the audio software industry. The L1 was the first in Waves L-Series, which now includes the L2, L3, L3-LL, and L3-16 Ultramaximizers and Multimaximizers. By analyzing and applying psychoacoustics (the way the human brain perceives sound), Waves developed proprietary modeling techniques used to re-create the sonic characteristics of the world's most desirable analog hardware.
Controversy
Waves is currently generating controversy within the audio community because of unorthodox investigations of suspected unlicensed users, allegedly by means of hidden cameras and intimidation. This has caused them PR damage and condemnation among certain sectors of the audio community. [1] [2]
