Waves have announced the release of the latest addition to their Magma plug-in series, the Magma Tube Channel Strip. Created using their Waves True Valve Modeling process, the same technology used to develop the recently released BB Tubes, the plug-in promises to accurately recreate the circuit behaviour of carefully selected vintage valve-based hardware.
At the top of the plug-in’s GUI is an input section which houses a polarity switch, a high-pass filter which can be engaged at either 60 or 110 Hz, and a Drive control that allows users to dial in everything from subtle saturation through to aggressive-sounding harmonic distortion. A simple three-band EQ section follows, providing fixed high- and low-shelf bands along with a mid-range bell than can be placed anywhere between 100Hz and 5kHz. Finally, an equally simple Dynamics section offers both compression and expansion/gating, with each processor equipped with just a single continuous control and a toggle switch which modifies its behaviour.
The compressor is said to be capable of delivering everything from gentle ‘glue’ to more extreme pumping effects, and is paired with a Smash switch which will increase the processor’s ratio along with shortening the attack and release times to deliver yet more aggression. The expander aims to assist users in crafting a clearer and more focused sound, and can be pushed into gating territory thanks to the addition of a Gate mode switch.
We recently reviewed Waves' recent BB Tubes plug-in, click here to check it out (print / web / app / replica / PDF editions).
Compatibility
Magma Tube Channel Strip is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or 11, and Macs running macOS 10.15.7 and above. It is available in VST, VST3, AAX, and AU formats.
Pricing & Availability
Magma Tube Channel Strip is available now, and is currently (8 February 2023) being offered at an introductory price of $29.99, reduced from its full cost of $149.
