10 Of the Best Waves Plugins You Might Not Have Heard Of

By Aubrey Whitfield // 01 October 2025

Waves Audio have over 240 plugins to choose from. But which ones are the pick of the bunch? Let's take a look...

1. Torque

   If you mix acoustic drums then this one is a must have! Waves Torque is a super cool plugin that’s all about tweaking the pitch and tone of your drums. Unlike the usual pitch shifters that might mess with your sound or affect the whole thing, Torque uses Waves’ special “Torque Engine” tech to smartly find and adjust the resonant frequency of a drum hit while keeping its natural punch and sound. So, if your snare, tom, or kick drum feels a bit off, you can tune it perfectly for your track without losing its impact or adding any weird digital stuff. It’s like being able to retune your drums after you’ve recorded them, saving you time and the hassle of endless re-takes.

   
   

   

   
   

   I think what makes Torque so awesome is how it mixes precision with creativity. It can be a lifesaver for mixers who get multi-track drum recordings where a drum or two just doesn’t fit the song’s key. With just a little tweak, you can make the drum kit feel tighter, more musical, and better connected to the track. Also, you can push Torque to add character and totally transform drum sounds, whether you’re going for a deep, chesty snare or a tighter, punchier tom. It's a versatile tool that combines solving technical issues with adding artistic flair. A very useful tool indeed!

   
   

2. OVox Vocal ReSynthesis

   Ovox is such a weird and wonderful vocal effects plugin! Yes, it’s a vocal effects processor, but in practice it feels more like a synth you can sing through. You can layer harmonies, turn your voice into electronic pads, or go full-on robot with vocoder effects. It’s the kind of plugin that makes you want to experiment for hours, because you can go from subtle vocal sweetening to completely unrecognisable sounds that transform a track into something futuristic and unique.

   
   

   

   
   

   So if you want more experimental vocal sounds rather than your standard autotune or vocoder, this plugin will surprise you with a ton of incredible sounding presets to get you started.

3. CR8 Creative Sampler

   I have been using this sampler for a while now and I wouldn't use anything else! Sampling can sometimes feel like a slow process, but CR8 makes it lightning fast. Just drag and drop any sound into the plugin - it could be a one-hit guitar strum, a drum hit, a kick, a random field recording or a vocal chop - and then straight away it becomes a playable instrument! You can pitch, warp, and loop with zero effort.

   
   

   

   
   

   It’s not about building complex sampler instruments; it’s about creative immediacy, and that makes it an awesome tool for producers who love to turn raw sounds into something musical on the fly.

4. InTrigger Drum Replacer

   If you use drum loops or samples then this plugin is a game changer for you! Lets say you record a drum kit, and later realise the kick is flat or the snare just doesn’t cut through the mix. That’s where InTrigger comes in. It listens to your performance and replaces or layers those weak hits with powerful samples that hit hard every time.

   
   

   

   
   

   The best part is that you don’t lose the human feel as it still follows the dynamics and groove of the drummer. Instead of spending hours EQ-ing and compressing a lifeless snare, you can have a mix-ready drum sound in minutes.

5. Curves AQ

   EQ is one of those tools we all use constantly, but sometimes it can feel a little clinical. Curves AQ changes that by giving you an intuitive, curve-drawing approach to shaping your sound. Instead of tweaking for hours on end, with Curves AQ you just grab and draw the tone you want, and it responds musically. It’s super handy for carving space in a busy mix or making a vocal sit right, and because it’s so visual, it helps you think less about frequencies and more about how things feel.

6. IDX Intelligent Dynamics

   Compression is something that a lot of producers struggle with because it has a massive learning curve and takes years of mixing experience to be able to develop an ear for the subtleties that compression can bring. IDX takes a lot of that mental math away. It's basically an auto-compressor - it intelligently adapts to the incoming signal, keeping your audio smooth, balanced, and musical without you needing to constantly fine-tune the attack, release and ratio settings.

   
   

   

   
   

   If you struggle with compression this is a great way to get a great compressor result without the headache. Although, still use your other compressors so that you learn and develop!

7. Clarity™ Vx DeReverb Pro

   Ah, now this is a God send of a plugin to me! If you are mixing a track and the vocals have been recorded in an untreated room where there is natural room ambience and echo on the recording, Clarity Vx DeReverb will remove that reverb and ambiance from the vocal and make the vocal sound dry and upfront - just like it's been recorded in a pro sounding studio!

   
   

   

   With just a few tweaks, it can take a vocal that feels distant and messy and bring it right up front, clear and intimate. For podcasters, voiceover artists, or mixers working with home recordings, it’s like magic and you suddenly get that studio-polished dryness without needing to re-record anything. The Pro version is great because you have additional tools such as adjusting the reverb talk and removing more or less reverb based on the frequency spectrum. But the basic DeReverb plugin does just a good a job!

8. Magma Tube Channel Strip

   If you love the sound of analog gear but don’t have racks of expensive tube hardware, Magma Tube Channel Strip is the next best thing. It combines EQ, compression, and saturation in one easy-to-use plugin, and it gives tracks that warm, coloured vibe you usually only get from running audio through real tubes.

   
   

   

   
   

   It’s the kind of plugin you can drop on almost anything - vocals, drums, guitars and instantly make it feel richer and more alive. Instead of stacking multiple plugins, you get one all-in-one tool that adds character straight away. For me, I just love the analog richness of this plugin. I put it first in a drum bus chain or a guitar chain and it makes everything sound fatter, bolder and better. Well worth the small investment!

   
   

8. Sync VX

   If you are someone who records and edits vocal this one could be a game-changer for you. In modern vocal production the backing vocals of a song often need to be tight in timing and in sync with each other. If not, it stands out as a sloppy mix. Sync Vx unclutters ALL of your vocal tracks in seconds, automatically locking the time and pitch of multiple vocal tracks to your lead performance.

   
   

   

   
   

   You can choose to lock them tight in time, or to have a slightly looser timing. Either way, rather than spending hours upon hours manually aligning your vocal audio, Sync VX will get it done in seconds. Who wouldn't want that??

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10. illugen

    This isn't a plugin per se but it's a ruddy brilliant resource from the Waves universe! Quite simply, it's an AI sample and loop creator. You simply go to the illugen website, type in the type of sound you want, and illugen will create it for you. And you can type in all kinds of innovative requests from 'create a dreamy synth pad made out of sand textures' to 'I'm feeling angry right now, create a big fat kick drum to match my mood'. I mean you can be as creative as you want and there are some really cool prompts that you can use to get started.

    
    

    

    
    

    I think the biggest selling point with illugen is that you can create a unique sound that is just yours and no one else's. After all, so many people download samples and loops from Splice that you end up using the same tired old samples as everyone else. This way, you can create something that is uniquely yours. And that's very powerful.