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How to Get Started with Waves StudioVerse

Mar 26, 2023

Learn how to get Waves StudioVerse, search plugin chains, create and share your own StudioVerse plugin chains, create your StudioVerse profile, and more tips and guidelines.

How do I connect to StudioVerse?

To connect to StudioVerse, you will need a Waves Account.
If you do not have a Waves Account yet, create one here.

For an optimal StudioVerse experience, we recommend you subscribe to Waves Creative Access: you can start with a free 7-day trial. If you choose the larger subscription option, Waves Ultimate, you will have access to all Waves’ plugins and get the full effect of all StudioVerse chains.

(You can use StudioVerse even if you have only some Waves plugins, but you will not be able to take full advantage of StudioVerse chains that include plugins you do not own.)

To use StudioVerse, install a Waves Creative Access option via Waves Central:

  1. Download and install Waves Central
    (If Waves Central is already installed, skip to the next step)
  2. Launch Waves Central
  3. Log in to Waves Central with your Waves account details.
  4. If you have already subscribed to Waves Ultimate or Waves Essential
    • On the ‘Waves Creative Access’ Page, press ‘Install’
    If you have not subscribed yet and wish to demo StudioVerse and Waves Creative Access plugins (with periodic mutes)
    • Click ‘Install demo’.

You can also access StudioVerse by updating StudioRack V14 to the latest version.

If StudioRack V14 is already installed on your system:

  1. Launch Waves Central
  2. Log in to Waves Central with your Waves account details.
  3. Go to the ‘Install Products’ page
  4. Click the ‘Updates Available’ button and apply the pending updates.

Once done, StudioRack will include StudioVerse.

Please note: This option is not available for StudioRack v13 and below.

Once installed, access StudioVerse:

  1. Launch your DAW and load the StudioRack plugin on one of your channels. StudioVerse is now accessible within StudioRack.
  2. If you chose to install in Demo mode, you will experience periodic mutes. Any installed and licensed perpetual (non-subscription) plugins that you own will work without mutes.
How do I find and load plugin chains in StudioVerse?

There are several ways to find plugin chains in StudioVerse:

  • Click the Scan button next to the StudioVerse search bar. StudioVerse will instantly analyze the unique “Audio ID” (or sonic fingerprint) of your specific track, and use its Musical AI engine to offer you recommended chains that match the unique characteristics of your track.
  • Tell StudioVerse what you’re looking for by typing free text into the StudioVerse search bar.
  • Browse chains in the StudioRack quick search section, or click the pop-out icon on the right of the StudioVerse search bar to open the full StudioVerse window. Here you can filter your search by plugins, artists, genre, instruments, processor, settings and more.
  • Find trending and recently added chains, exclusive chain collections, and all chains by tag in the Explore StudioVerse page on the Waves website.

You can also save a list of ‘liked’ chains by pressing the ♥ icon next to a chain. Any ‘liked’ chain is automatically added to the ‘Liked’ section on the left side of the expanded StudioVerse interface for easy access.

How do I create and share my StudioVerse Profile?

Go to https://www.waves.com/account/edit-my-creator-profile to create your StudioVerse profile.

You can later edit your profile on the same page.

Another way to create a StudioVerse profile is by saving a StudioVerse chain and setting its visibility to ‘Public’. The first time you set a chain’s visibility to ‘Public’, you will be required to set-up a StudioVerse profile.

You can share your profile by sending the link to your profile as a message, or by linking to it on any social media or other platform.

To share plugin chains that you created:

  1. In the StudioVerse expanded interface, go to the ‘My Chains’ section.
  2. Find the chain you wish to share and press the three-dot button on the right.
  3. Click ‘Share’, a window will open with a sharable link that you can send using any messaging app and direct share buttons for social media platforms.
How do I create, save and edit online chains in StudioVerse?

To create a StudioVerse plugin chain and publish it online:

  1. In your DAW, load the StudioRack plugin on a channel
  2. Select and insert plugins using StudioRack’s plugin slots, adjust the settings to your liking.
  3. Set up macro controls and label them in a way that describes what they do.
  4. Once your chain is ready, click the ‘Presets’ menu and select ‘Save Preset’.
    The ‘Save’ window will appear.
  5. Fill-in your chain details: Chain name, thumbnail, description, tags, visibility (public\private) and select whether to save an Audio ID or not.
  6. Click ‘Save’.

Your StudioVerse chain is now saved. If set to public visibility it will now appear in your StudioVerse profile and in other users’ searches, and on the StudioVerse community page.

To edit an existing StudioVerse chain

  1. Open the StudioVerse expanded interface by pressing the pop-out button in StudioRack’s top bar.
  2. Select ‘My Chains’ on the left panel.
  3. Find the chain you wish to edit and click the three-dot button on the right side.
  4. Select ‘Edit’ and change any of the chain’s details or the thumbnail.
Tips and guidelines for creating great chains

Follow these guidelines to create great, easy to use chains that have immediate impact and are easy to find in StudioVerse.

  • Gain Staging:

    It’s best practice to save your chains with the input and output faders at 0 dB Unity (zero). Ideally, the chain should maintain its level so that toggling the on/off button will not affect the level drastically.

    Save your chain with the knob positions at a state suitable for the most general use case, so that people that load your preset will immediately feel its sonic impact.

  • Macros:

    First, learn how to create and edit macros:

    1. Access the interface of a plugin you wish to add to a macro and right-click on any parameter you would like to map to that macro.
    2. Select ‘Add Macro’ and select the macro number your wish to assign to this parameter. (Macro 1, Macro 2, etc).
    3. Alternatively, you can press an empty macro slot (under the macro tab), select a plugin from the list, and a parameter within it.
    4. Each macro can control more than just one parameter. Right-click any available parameter in a plugin and choose ‘Add Macro’ to add this parameter to an existing macro control.
    5. Click the Edit button at the bottom of the macro to edit the macro ranges. A pop-up will appear with all parameters that are assigned to macros, their control ranges and macro knob ranges.
    6. Under ‘Control Range’ you can specify the minimum and maximum values for each parameter to define how the macro will affect the parameter. You can also reverse the ranges by clicking the two arrows button in the middle.
      For example, if the ‘Low Pass’ for a filter does not need to go ‘all’ the way up when using a Vocal Preset, this can be tailored using the Macro Editor.
    7. Define each macro knob range by setting the macro range slider to your liking.
    8. Label your macros in a descriptive manner so that it’s easy to understand what they do. For instance, if your macro controls the size of the reverb, you can label it ‘big/small’. To rename a macro, double click the macro name.

    To assign macro controls to parameters that are not right-clickable, (such as Waves Tune Real-Time’s scale parameter), assign the parameter via the macro control menu.

  • Parallel Processing:

    Adding parallel splits to add send/return effects to your chains (e.g., reverb/delay) will help make them more powerful and easier to use.

    1. Under Rack, add a parallel split into any point in your chain
    2. Enable the second processing rack.
    3. Add a send effect to the first slot of the second processing rack (for example, H-Delay) Make sure the effect is set to 100% wet.
    4. Right-click the fader on the bottom of parallel split processing rack 2, choose Add Macro and select a macro.
    5. The selected macro is now the send level to the effect channel.

    To assign macro controls to parameters that are not right-clickable, (such as Waves Tune Real-Time’s scale parameter), assign the parameter via the macro control menu.

  • Naming:

    Select a short, descriptive name for your chain. The right name will help your chain come up in search results, and will help other people find it once you share it publicly in StudioVerse.

  • Important note about using Waves Tune Real-Time in your chain: If you use Waves Tune Real-Time in your chain preset, make sure to load it on the first plugin slot in your rack. Inserting it after other plugins can result in incorrect detection.