Waves Audio, a leading developer of professional audio signal processing technologies and maker of audio plugins for mixing, music production, mastering, sound design, broadcast, post-production and live sound, introduces the Abbey Road Studio 3 plugin, created in collaboration with Abbey Road Studios and powered by Waves Nx immersive audio technology.
According to the release, “The Waves Abbey Road Studio 3 plugin brings the impeccable acoustics of the legendary Abbey Road Studio 3 Control Room to any set of headphones. For the first time ever, thanks to Waves’ Nx technology, the complete acoustic response of Abbey Road Studio 3, a perfect music mixing room, has been captured for immersive use on headphones.”
The Studio 3 control room is Abbey Road’s flagship mix room, designed by some of the world’s greatest acousticians and designed to provide the ultimate music production and mixing environment. This unique control room is home to some of music’s greatest legends. From modern classics by Radiohead, Amy Winehouse and Kanye West, to contemporary mixes of the Beatles and Pink Floyd, to number-one chart toppers by Frank Ocean, Brockhampton and Florence + the Machine: all were recorded, mixed and perfected at Abbey Road Studio 3.
The Waves Abbey Road Studio 3 plugin is designed to bring the perfect acoustics of the Studio 3 control room into your headphones – in three-dimensional sound, powered by Waves’ pioneering Nx technology for immersive 3D audio. “This unique plugin, used with any set of headphones, gives you the same stellar audio qualities that make Studio 3 the world’s best studio control room. Now, you can produce and mix as if you were inside Abbey Road Studio 3 – and hear your music the way the world’s greatest musicians and producers heard theirs,” according to the release.
Features:
- Clarity of stereo and surround image
- Acoustic response designed to unveil every detail
- Room acoustics and state-of-the-art near-field, mid-field and far-field speakers
- Well-balanced sustain across the entire frequency spectrum — the hallmark of expertly treated rooms
- Accurate low-end sustain, which can be notoriously difficult to achieve on headphones
- Better predict how headphone productions will translate to speaker systems of all types
- True-to-life spatial depth on headphones, with the same detail and panoramic sound image heard sitting in the sweet spot of Studio 3.
- Reliably mix the low end on headphones
In addition, this plugin also delivers full 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, modeled after the studio’s original surround setup. Designed for users to mix professionally for surround – on any set of stereo headphones.
Abbey Road Studio 3 is useful in a wide range of scenarios in which many producers and mixers often find themselves:
- Take Abbey Road Studio 3 on the go
- Mix in a perfectly treated mix room
- Have all have the same acoustic environment to refer to when sending mixes back and forth while collaborating
- Start a 5.1 or 7.1 mix workflow in your DAW without having access to a full set of surround speakers, or create a 5.1 or 7.1 premix before going into a surround sound mix studio for final tweaks
Mirek Stiles, Head of Audio Products at Abbey Road says, “Abbey Road has historically been very protective of the acoustic properties of its studios for software emulations, and the Studio 3 control room is no exception. After speaking with Yoni Zlotkin (Waves Product Manager) and the Waves team at length over many months, I began to feel more confident these guys had some groundbreaking theories on how such a sensitive task could be realized. Not everything worked first time and we went back to the drawing board on a few occasions. Our breakthrough moment was when Giles Martin came into the Studio 3 control room with some Universal Music executives and we did a playback. The positive reaction from all in the room was immediate and confirmed our suspicions we had created something special and unique. This plugin was probably the most challenging yet and I’m extremely grateful to the Abbey Road engineers for their feedback and input, and to the talented, resilient and patient team at Waves Audio. I hope this plugin inspires music creators worldwide to realize their visions with more confidence than ever before.”
Mick Olesh, Waves EVP of Sales & Marketing, comments, “The Waves Abbey Road Studio 3 marks a pivotal point in the prolific cooperation between Waves Audio and Abbey Road, which began in 2011. This plugin is not only a technical breakthrough, it faithfully mirrors Waves’ ongoing commitment to serve our user base, by offering them tools that augment and enrich their workflow and especially their creative options. With the Abbey Road Studio 3 plugin, we have managed to overcome a common yet critical missing factor for many engineers, producers and musicians: not only the ability to obtain a professional-sounding work environment, but easy and affordable access to one of the best-sounding rooms in the world.”
To learn more: www.waves.com/plugins/abbey-road-studio-3
