New Music Gear Monday: Wavesfactory Spectre Enhancer Plugin

There are a ton of different EQ plugins to choose from and all have their unique character. That said, most mixers still find a need for a sound shaping tool that adds a bit more than the traditional boost and cut. Enter Wavesfactory’s Spectre multi-band enhancer plugin that incorporates a graphic-style equalizer with the introduction of harmonic content based on classic recording hardware.

Spectre doesn’t work like a conventional equalizer, which simply cuts or boost the volume of a frequency band, because it’s not that at all. The plugin processes the incoming audio with a five parallel band EQ, then extracts the difference between this signal and the dry input, processes it through one of the eight saturation algorithms included, then mixes it back with the dry signal. The result is a character that any other processor just can’t give you.

The plugin starts with five parallel boost-only parametric bands (low shelf, 3 peak, high shelf) with the workflow of a graphical equalizer with frequency, Q and gain parameters for each band. From there you can choose from 8 different saturation algorithms to add additional color, which are:

• Tube
• Tape
• Solid
• Warm Tube
• Class B
• Diode
• Bit
• Digital
• Additional “clean” channel that converts Spectre in a parallel boosting EQ

Spectre also has optional 4x and 16x oversampling modes to ensure that any unwanted aliasing is decreased even with aggressive settings. What’s more, Spectre can process mono, stereo, only left or right, or mid or side channels.

Wavesfactory Spectre is available for both Mac and Windows (AAX / VST / AU) in both 32 and 64 bit formats. The price is normally $122 (after conversion from Euros) but there’s an introductory price of just $85 until March 8th. Find out more on the dedicated page or in the video below.