Behind the Sound of Waves Signature Preamps, Featured in IONIC Stageboxes and Upcoming Waves Hardware Waves Audio will soon be expanding its line of advanced audio hardware featuring Waves Signature Preamps. These preamps, currently included in Waves' IONIC 16 stageboxes complement the already exceptional sonic performance of the Waves eMotion LV1 Live Mixer. Waves Signature Preamps deliver pristine sound and unmatched performance due to an original ground-up design with fully discrete high-end analog circuits, the company says, delivering maximum headroom, lightning-fast transient response, and an incredibly low noise floor. Able to handle any source with practically no restraints, the preamps feature a gain structure meticulously crafted to deliver a wide dynamic range and transients that do not clip. Waves' Rich Cabot, senior research fellow in R&D (PhD, PE), a world-class analog designer with extensive experience in audio (including being one of the founders of the leading audio analyzing/testing company, Audio Precision), comments about what it took in order to achieve this pinnacle of audio innovation: "Attaining audio perfection means paying attention to every nuance. Whether you're capturing the subtle details of a quiet moment or the full intensity of a dynamic performance, the caliber of your equipment is crucial." "To achieve this, the front end of the Waves Signature Preamps was designed for a very wide dynamic range: the mic input (XLR) can handle +27 dBu before clipping. Equally important, it can handle massive common mode interference without driving the input into misbehavior. The front end incorporates very-low-noise discrete transistors to ensure that the other end of the dynamic range equation was optimized. A user will appreciate the headroom in that the transients will not clip, and one can choose between a super-clean tone, or a warmer, more analog sound like in a classic console." "The unique advantage of Waves Signature Preamps," Cabot adds, "is that they handle bigger signals. They do not have restraints. The user can be confident: as long as you adjust your input gain you are good to go. We made certain that every link in the chain is designed carefully so that no segment is weaker than others, and the signal makes its way through each stage. This ensures that these preamps have enough dynamic range to handle your audio correctly." Powered by Waves Signature Preamps, the interfaces' analog-modeled HMX harmonic enhancer delivers timeless analog warmth without compromising punch or clarity -- a rich, full-bodied sound usually found only in classic high-end mixing consoles. The harmonic enhancer can also be turned on or off per input, with "off" providing a more neutral sound. Cabot elaborates, "Selectable input impedance and digital distortion modeling allows these interfaces to mimic the sound of a wide range of consoles and preamps, or to behave like the proverbial 'straight wire with gain. High-input impedance mode offers another benefit- it's not uncommon in live sound to have the FOH and the monitor engineers demand their own completely independent signal chains. Putting a Y cable on each mic and driving two inputs can result in the mic seeing too heavy a load. The high impedance mode also allows interfaces to be paralleled with consoles or other input devices without affecting the sound of the mic. Furthermore, this unit enables your mic the option of sounding like your cherished console. Or you can just turn the enhancement processing off. The beauty of it is that if you were to use plugins to reach this result, it would burn resources." He adds, "Furthermore, the interfaces also enable users to get more out of their stage mics: their preamp section's analog impedance selector allows you to choose the mic reaction you want -- between a classic 2k Ohms and a modern 7k Ohms -- for greater sonic flexibility." "The sound of these preamps is sweet at a level I haven't heard in live setups," says FOH engineer Omatali Beckett who has been using Waves IONIC in his recent tour with Sean Paul. "They have the sound of vintage analog studio gear -- only without the hum and noise! Very warm, in a way that gives me a nice fuzzy feeling, but at the time also very clean. It's a real achievement!" Similar sentiments are voiced by FOH engineer John Buitrago (Karol G, J Balvin), who calls the preamps "pristine, but with a beautiful, crispy and punchy sound." Cabot concludes, "We designed the preamps with great care. Whether powering stage wedges in competition with a drummer, a full rack of in-ear transmitters, or a PA system of any size or quality, these powerful outputs deliver super-clear results with plenty of headroom. Live sound is very demanding: close-miked vocals, kick drum, condenser mics, all conspire to produce very high output levels. Waves Signature Preamps can handle those with ease and its preamps rock. They will handle anything you throw at them and simply sound amazing!" To learn more, click here. Video: "Behind the Sound of Waves Signature Preamps": youtu.be/S_ObGIpQ9So 
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