Waves Releases CLA Compressors

• Words: Tony Ware

A collaboration with GRAMMY-winning rock/pop mixing engineer Chris Lord-Alge, making the name doubly appropriate, the CLA Classic Compressors are studio tools modeled by Waves Audio. Waves made its name on peak limiters, and now adds to its lineage of DSP punch with Lord-Alge's presets on four plug-ins (MSRP: $800 Native/$1600 TDM, or as part of Waves Mercury bundle). The smooth CLA-2A emulates a mid-'60s electro-optical tube compressor's frequency-dependent behavior, while the CLA-3A is said to be highly transparent with subtle harmonic distortion; both are ace for vox, bass, and guitar. The CLA-76 Blacky and Bluey, meanwhile, offer mid-'70s Class A line-level limiting amps, with a super-fast, edgy attack claimed as ideal for drums. Waves invites you to fire up as many zero-latency instances as your system can handle, using just two to four dials to stand out on the radio dial.