We’re heading into pantomime season in the UK, so it’s perhaps appropriate that Waves’ new BB Tubes saturation plugin features Beauty and Beast parameters (Think it doesn’t? Oh yes it does.)
The second release in the company’s ‘custom-shop’ Magma series, this promises “huge-sounding” tube saturation and operational simplicity. Turn up the Beauty knob for delicate harmonic saturation and “instant roundness, fatness and glow,” or go for a more in-your-face distorted vibe by pushing the Beast dial. This also has an A/B switch that enables you to toggle between two different tube types.
Of course, you can also blend the two knobs - in fact, Waves actively encourages you to do so. There’s a multitude of different settings combinations, meaning an abundance of potential sounds.
BB Tubes can also be used to increase the perceived loudness of a mix - the soft clipping of the tubes can bring down transient peak levels - while other controls include pre- and post-hi-shelf EQ, transformer I/O, bass relief (which removes the low frequencies from the sidechain input), a sensitivity control (enables the user to choose the point at which the tubes are hit), a dry/wet knob and output gain.
BB Tubes runs on PC and Mac (VST/AU/AAX) and is available now for the introductory price of $24.99 (regular price $149). Find out more and download a demo on the Waves website.
