Waves CLA MixDown (Download)

The mix bus is the last stop before mastering, so engineers often add bass shelving EQ, treble for sparkle, a “glue” compressor, and console emulation. Or at least they did before CLA MixDown—which combines, optimizes, and expands these processors to deliver the ultimate mix bus plugin.

Grammy winner Chris Lord-Alge’s legendary mixes have graced the music of Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Green Day, and so many more. He knows what a mix bus needs—here it is.

“I’ve taken my two favorite mix bus chains and put them under the hood of this supercharged plugin. Two flavors of my mix bus compression, plus console overdrive and a finishing EQ with perfect bass and treble curves. You can use MixDown on your master bus—or the CLA way, on a master aux. You can add it after you finish mixing for that final touch—but I recommend you insert it before you start mixing, then mix through it to help you nail your mix fast.”—Chris Lord-Alge

The Master’s Touch

MixDown encapsulates the power and detail of Chris Lord-Alge’s favorite mix bus processors. This plugin isn’t just about effects, but represents the experience he’s gained over decades of mixing hits for musical superstars.

Choose Your Mix Glue

“Glue” compressors tie your tracks together into a tight, unified, cohesive listening experience. With MixDown’s Glue fader, choose the compression flavor best for your music—modern and punchy (1), or vintage and controlled, with a longer time constant, great for holding the mix together (2).

Equalization Coloration

Equalization needs to be at the right frequency, with the right slope, and the right amount. The Low control adds idealized shelving EQ for bass—from big to booming—while the treble EQ creates a bell curve for sparkle and clarity.

Drive Your Mix Bus to the Max

The Drive control feeds an emulated SSL console mix bus. Keep Drive down for a natural sound, push it up more to add a taste of harmonic distortion, or turn it up all the way for character and grit.

A Model of Simplicity

While developing MixDown with Waves, Chris Lord-Alge emphasized the importance of speed in the creative process. Although there’s sophisticated modeling “under the hood,” the transparent interface gets results fast.