What is it?
The number of processors that work dynamically on your audio – that is, by changing their impact or processing type according to the audio being played – has increased exponentially in recent years, thanks largely to the impact of faster processors and AI. The best use of their increased complexity and flexibility to make processing easy, whether that is applied to individual tracks and issues or entire mixes.
Waves Curves Equator is doing just that, able to home in on specific resonances and other issues and take action accordingly, or, even better, just slap it across your entire mix, and it will sound better. There’s ‘Learning’ too – whether AI or not, it doesn’t seem to matter anymore – where you can train the EQ with tracks or mixes, and it will apply a level-definable threshold curve to your audio.
It’s slick, looks the bomb, is relatively easy to use, and is currently very cheap. If you thought you didn’t need dynamic processing in your life, now might be the time to re-evaluate.
Pricing
- Full price: $79
- Special introductory offer $35
Waves announced the launch of Curves Equator in September 2024 and teased two more plugins under the Curves Spectral series, arriving in 2025.
Alongside the nearly half-price introductory offer, you'll find more multibuy offers on the Waves website.
Performance
A quick run over the UI and you have a central yellow/orange Threshold curve which is the focus of the plugin. Moving it down using the central bottom dial increases the effect on the frequencies determined by the curve. You can see the audio affected as blue on the top, which increases in depth as you lower the Threshold. Handily, a blue Delta triangle button to the right of this main dial allows you to hear what Equator is removing – as you move the Threshold down, this increases.
Other main controls include Sensitivity (low equals a gentle Equator impact and high means dramatic); Shape (morphs your curve into similar suggestive curves to offer a quick alternative); and Tilt (for instant brightness or warmth).
You use Curves Equator mostly in Adaptive mode, where you can draw your own curve with various Shape and node options or select from a large number of Waves and Artist presets according to function and instrument. You can do everything you can imagine EQ-wise and more, with descriptive names taking you straight to functions like ‘DeMud the Mid’ or ‘DeHarsh the sides’. Or get a wide range of artists and producers to ‘Tame aggressive synths’ or ‘Even out my bass guitar’.
However, as good as these presets are, the Learn function is also a fantastic mode and as easy to use as it implies – press it, start your audio, and it suggests a curve to apply to tracks or a mix. We had a better-sounding mix – with the impact easily adjustable with the main dial – in literally two minutes. That’s 40 bucks well spent in anyone’s book.
Side effect
One other ace up Curves Equator’s sleeve is the sidechain, which allows you to route anything via this side door processor and duck the rest of your mix accordingly by simply removing the same frequencies as those of the sidechained signal. If you need some vocals to stand out in a crowded mix, then this is your easy solution, although you might want to tweak the Threshold for the impact not to be too noticeable.
This brings us to the Advanced Controls which you can ‘reveal’ by hitting the bottom button. As we hinted at above, plugins like this do lend themselves to ‘processing without understanding’ – a common and worrying (depending on your stance) trend in mixing where we are getting great results but are not really sure how or why.
These Advanced Controls allow you to take control and home in on specific actions and sections – as the frequency range is split into four definable bands – and give you a greater understanding of Equator’s impact. Attack and Release options let you determine the speed of processing – just like a compressor – and a Precision dial increases the impact of the individual band processing. You also get Tilt Frequency (to set where the tilt occurs) and a Curve Smooth which does as it says, flattening out your Threshold Curve.
Verdict
Curves Equator is one of those lovely plugins that you didn’t know you needed until you tried it – and one therefore where we must berate Waves for only giving us a three-month licence with it for this review. It can easily transform parts, remove precision issues, or improve mixes, and it can do this as quietly or as loudly as you like. By this we mean it will get on with the job with or without your involvement, but you can jump in at any time to tweak, or simply pretend you intended its impact all along.
Yes Curves Equator is not original – as we said, there are many dynamic processors out there, and it certainly has our alternatives in its crosshairs – but it fixes your mixes and instruments, and does a great job at a great price.
