WAVES
CLA UNPLUGGED
USER GUIDE
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Introduction .................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Welcome .................................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Product Overview .................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Concepts and Terminology ...................................................................................... 4
1.4 A Few Words from CLA ........................................................................................... 4
1.5 Components ............................................................................................................ 5
Chapter 2 – Quickstart Guide ............................................................................................ 6
Chapter 3 – Interface and Controls ................................................................................... 7
3.1 Interface ................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Controls ................................................................................................................... 8
3.3 The WaveSystem Toolbar ..................................................................................... 13
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Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 Welcome
Thank you for choosing Waves! In order to get the most out of your new Waves plugin,
please take a moment to read this user guide.
To install software and manage your licenses, you need to have a free Waves account.
Sign up at www.waves.com. With a Waves account you can keep track of your products,
renew your Waves Update Plan, participate in bonus programs, and keep up to date with
other important information.
We suggest that you become familiar with the Waves Support pages:
www.waves.com/support. There are technical articles about installation, troubleshooting,
specifications, and more. Plus, you’ll find company contact information and Waves
Support news.
1.2 Product Overview
The Waves Artist Signature Series is our exclusive line of application-specific audio
processors, created in collaboration with the world’s top producers, engineers, and
mixing engineers. Every Signature Series plug-in has been precision-crafted to capture
the artist’s distinct sound and production style. For experienced and aspiring audio
professionals alike, the Waves Signature Series allows you to dial up the sound you’re
looking for quickly, without interrupting the creative flow.
The CLA Artist Collection consists of six plug-ins, each of which is designed to handle a
specific mixing task.
• CLA Vocals
• CLA Drums
• CLA Bass
• CLA Guitars
• CLA Unplugged
• CLA Effects
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1.3 Concepts and Terminology
Sensitivity Control/Sensitivity LED
The Sensitivity LED’s 3 colors indicate when appropriate levels are reached:
Led Off (too low)
Green (good)
Yellow (optimal)
Red (very hot)
Push the Sensitivity Control upwards until the LED lights up. We recommend adjusting
the Sensitivity Control as soon as you open the plug-in, using the section of your song
with the highest peaks for best results.
In most cases, the Sensitivity LED indicates that your levels hit the processor in a way
that will give you the intended output result. However, it’s important to keep in mind that
optimal results for your source material may be achieved even when the Sensitivity LED
does not display “optimal” levels (yellow). As always, trust your ears.
Color
Each fader on CLA Artist Signature Collection plug-ins controls a specific function, such
as compression or reverb. Each function has a color-coded selector which controls the
internal characteristics of that function, resulting in a different sound character or “Color.”
You can mix and match different colors across the different faders.
1.4 A Few Words from CLA
"CLA Unplugged is a dream box of reverb effects plus great hi-res EQ and compression
for complex sounds. I always loved the Aerosmith "Dream On" vocal reverb with the
really long pre-delay. And I wanted a plug-in that you could also put on strings, piano,
acoustic guitars, and nylon guitar solos. This plug-in was designed to give you limitless
reverb and delay possibilities, and the smoothest EQ curve around."
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1.5 Components
WaveShell technology enables us to split Waves processors into smaller plug-ins, which
we call components. Having a choice of components for a particular processor gives
you the flexibility to choose the configuration best suited to your material.
The Waves CLA Unplugged has two components:
• CLA Unplugged Mono-to-Stereo – Mono in to Stereo out component
• CLA Unplugged Stereo – Stereo in to Stereo out component
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Chapter 2 – Quickstart Guide
• Insert the CLA Unplugged plug-in on an effects return track (aux bus), and turn
off the Direct switch. You can also insert the CLA Unplugged on the source track,
in which case you should turn the Direct switch on.
• Adjust the Sensitivity control until you achieve proper levels, as indicated by the
Sensitivity LED and the input meter.
• The current plug-in setting now represents Chris's default effect setup.
Tweak the following controls to fit your mix:
• Adjust the Bass and Treble faders. Toggle through the Colors to find the EQ that
works best for the song.
• Use Compress for dynamic range control. Toggle through the Colors to find that
which works best for the song
• Adjust Reverb 1 level for the first Reverb layer. Toggle through the Colors to find
that which works best for the song. Add pre-delay using the Pre-Delay 1 controls.
• Adjust Reverb 2 level for the second Reverb layer Toggle through the Colors to
find that which works best for the song. Add pre-delay using the Pre-Delay 2
controls.
• Adjust the Delay effect level. Toggle through the Colors to find that which works
best for the song.
Please note:
• When all Colors are set to clear (Bypass/Mute), some fixed processing as
designed by Chris is still active.
• EQ adjustment will take effect once the EQ faders are moved. At zero, cycling
through the EQ Colors will have no effect.
• All other faders are active and set to Chris's default setup when at zero.
• When Reverb 1, Reverb 2 and Delay are set to clear (Bypass/Mute), and Direct
is off, the plug-in will have no output.
• Pre-Delay time controls are synced to the session BPM.
Chapter 3 – Interface and Controls
3.1 Interface
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3.2 Controls
Input Sensitivity is used to achieve optimal plug-in input level.
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Input Meter displays input signal peak level.
Range: -26 to 0 dBFS
Balance adjusts the offset between left and right signals. (Stereo component only)
Range: +/- 6 dB (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Sensitivity LED indicates the presence of proper levels.
Range: LED off (too low), Green (good), Yellow (optimal), Red (very hot)
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Bass controls low frequency gain.
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Bass Color toggles between low frequency filters.
Range: Clear (Bypass), Green (Sub), Blue (Lower), Red (Upper)
Default: Green (Sub)
Treble controls high frequency gain.
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Treble Color toggles between high frequency filters.
Range: Clear (Bypass), Green (Bite), Blue (Top), Red (Roof)
Default: Green (Bite)
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Compress controls the dynamic range.
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Compress Color toggles between compression characters.
Range: Clear (Bypass), Green (Push), Blue (Spank), Red (Wall)
Default: Green (Push)
Reverb 1 controls reverb 1 wet mix
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Reverb 1 Color toggles between reverb environments.
Range: Clear (Mute), Green (Room), Blue (Hall), Red (Chamber)
Default: Green (Room)
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Pre Delay 1 controls the pre-delay timing of Reverb 1. (Settings sync to the session
BPM.)
Range: 64T to 4 (1/64 Triplet to ¼ note)
Default: 16
Pre Delay 1 On turns Reverb 1 pre-delay on or off.
Range: On/Off
Default: Off
Reverb 2 controls Reverb 2 wet mix
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Reverb 2 Color toggles between reverb environments.
Range: Clear (Mute), Green (Tight), Blue (Large), Red (Canyon)
Default: Green (Tight)
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Pre Delay 2 controls the pre-delay timing of Reverb 2. (Settings sync to the session
BPM.)
Range: 64T to 4 (1/64 Triplet to 1/4 note)
Default: 16
Pre Delay 2 On turns Reverb 2 pre-delay on or off.
Range: On/Off
Default: Off
Delay controls the delay wet mix.
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Delay Color toggles between delay times and characters. (Settings sync to the
session BPM.)
Range: Clear (Mute), Green (Slap), Blue (Eight), Red (Quarter)
Default: Green (Slap)
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Direct controls unprocessed signal throughput, determining whether or
not the dry signal is combined with the wet (processed) output.
In general, when using CLA Unplugged as an insert, Direct should be On; when
used as an effects return, Direct should be Off.
Range: On, Off
Default: On
Output controls the output level.
Range: +/- 10 (in 0.1 steps)
Default: 0
Clip LED lights up when levels exceed 0 dBFS. Click inside the meter
area to reset.
Output Meter displays output signal peak level.
Range: -26 to 0 dBFS
3.3 The WaveSystem Toolbar
Use the bar at the top of the plugin to save and load presets, compare settings, undo
and redo steps, and resize the plugin. To learn more, click the icon at the upper-right
corner of the window and open the WaveSystem Guide.
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