New Music Gear Monday: Waves Andrew Scheps Omni Channel Plugin

Andrew Scheps is not only noted for his excellent mixing abilities for acts as diverse as Adele to Metallica, but he’s also one thoughtful guy, so when he comes out with a plugin, you can bet it’s something special. For instance, there are a lot of Neve 1073-style plugins available, but his Scheps 73 is the only one that I find interesting and musical enough to use. Now he’s done it again with his new Waves Scheps Omni Channel.

The Scheps Omni Channel features five modules that can be placed in any order, each with some uniques features. The Pre module provides three types of analog saturation, odd, even and heavy, as well as an amount control. There are also variable high and low pass filters with 6, 12 and 18 dB slope, and an interesting thump (resonance) control that can be selected to 2 or 4dB.

The Compression module allows you to select between VCA, FET or optical compressors, along with the standard Ratio, Attack and Release, and a unified Threshold control that allows you to quickly compare them. There’s also a Wet/Dry control that allows you to parallel compress within the module.

The EQ module is a 4-band equalizer with each band providing a distinct musical sound that holds up on its own or can be switched to fully parametric if surgical EQ is required.

The DS² module has two full-range bands and four filter types allowing it to remove any offending frequencies, not just S’s or T’s. The Gate module gives you all the standard controls (threshold, attack and release) for gating/expansion, but also lets you adjust the maximum noise reduction to maintain a consistent noise floor.

The Omni Channel also features an insert slot that can be positioned anywhere in the chain, where you can insert an additional Waves plugin of your choice, including an extra instance of any of the Scheps Omni Channel modules. There’s also internal MS/Duo/Stereo routing per module, as well as some great presets from Andrew, Tony Visconti, Billy Bush, Ken ‘Pooch’ Van Druten and more.

The Waves Scheps Omni Channel is available for an introductory price of only $49. Check out the video below or go directly to the dedicated page for more details. Highly recommended!