Waves Abbey Road Vinyl

The warm tonal character of music pressed onto vinyl remains coveted to this day. Now, for the first time, Waves’ close collaboration with Abbey Road Studios has created a plugin with the most detailed control over all aspects of vinyl: from creating the lacquer, to the pressing plant, to the warm crackles, wow and flutter of record wear.

Whether you’re producing, mixing or mastering your tracks, it’s time to experience the full range of creative vinyl ear-candy—from the magical way that vinyl glues tracks together, to the freedom to manipulate every stage of the vinyl process in ways never before possible.

The Full Spectrum of Vinyl

Abbey Road Vinyl captures the soul of the golden age of records—from the subtle taste of vinyl for discerning audiophiles, to adding life to today’s digital recordings, to aggressive crackles and turntable stops for creative effects.

Original Lacquer or Final Vinyl Pressing

The master lacquers, or acetates, made before the audio went to pressing plants, were valued for their fresh, punchy sound quality, that’s quick unlike the final pressed vinyl. Abbey Road Vinyl lets you experience the unique sonic effect of lacquer in addition to the printed vinyl pressing.

Retro Vinyl Effects Without Limits

When authenticity is paramount, add a little or a lot of vinyl’s imperfections: turntable rumble, crackles, clicks, wow, flutter, and even the phase distortion that occurs when the stylus moves more obliquely in the inner grooves.

The Stop/Slowdown Record Effect

For creative ear candy—slow down the turntable and come to a stop, over 1 ms to 30 seconds (or tempo-synched). Choose manual playback, or auto-resume after reaching full stop.

2 Turntables, 3 Cartridges

Choose from Abbey Road’s original mastering turntable vs. a DJ-style machine, plus 3 cartridges: Moving Magnet (best transient response and flattest), Moving Coil (low noise level and extended frequency response), or an inexpensive DJ cartridge (grittier sound and more low bass).

TG12410 Mastering Desk—A Crucial Link in the Chain

Extra magic happened when audio passed through the TG12410 mastering console to the lathe, because Abbey Road’s engineers tweaked its EQs, filters, and limiters. Abbey Road Vinyl faithfully models these TG settings, for your use when mixing or mastering.

Ultimate Touches of Realism

As a tonearm approaches the inner grooves, highs decrease, and distortion increases. Automate the virtual tonearm with your DAW, and move it closer to the center grooves over the course of a “virtual side.” Really.

Features:

1. Created with Abbey Road Studios with close attention to detail
2. 2 turntables—pro mastering model, or consumer DJ type—for diverse vinyl tones
3. 3 different cartridge technologies offer subtle tonal variations
4. Wow and flutter to model manufacturing imperfections
5. Slowdown/stop turntable effect, controlled in beats or seconds
6. Models every aspect of the vinyl process, from cutting to playback
7. Choose between the original acetate (lacquer) master vs. the printed vinyl pressing
8. Retro production effects: crackles, pops, subtle hiss & more
9. Run your sound thru Abbey Road’s EMI TG12410 mastering desk
10. Control tone arm for variable distortion/frequency response
11. Purity for audiophiles—or down and dirty for club DJs
12. “Lite” components omit some functions to save CPU power

Requirements:

• mac
  • cpu:Intel or Silicon Architecture
  • ram:8
  • disk:16
  • version:macOS Catalina 10.15, Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14
  • additional_requirements:Minimum: 1024x768
    Recommended: 1280x1024 / 1600x1024
    USB displays are not supported as the primary display.
    
• windows
  • cpu:X64 compatible Intel or AMD CPU
  • ram:8
  • disk:16
  • version:Windows 10 64 bit Windows 11
  • additional_requirements:Minimum: 1024x768
    Recommended: 1280x1024 / 1600x1024
    

Videos: