C6 Multiband Compressor

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For years, the C4 has been a favorite of studio engineers the world over, and in live sound, it’s quickly become a must-have for front-of-house and monitor professionals as well. To create the C6, we took the tried-and-true functions of the C4, and added two additional floating bands plus a sidechain feature, for one-stop vocal and instrument shaping. Equally at home in the studio, live, and in post production, the C6 lets you zero in on problem frequencies with surgical precision.

Perfect for de-essing and de-popping in the studio or onstage, the C6 gives you all the multiband compression and dynamic equalization you need to control, tame, and shape your sound.

Multiband compressor plugin
Internal/external sidechain per band
Individual band Listen mode
Four crossover bands plus two floating bands
Dynamic EQ, compression and expansion
Double precision bit resolution processing

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Apr 13, 2020

Multiband Compression 101: Beginner's Guide

Find out what multiband compression is, get tips on how to choose different multiband compressors for different purposes – and learn some practical ways to use it in your mixing and mastering sessions.

Andrew Scheps Producer, Engineer

Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica

“I love the additional floating bands on the C6.”

Josh Gudwin Recording/Mix Engineer, Producer

Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, J Balvin, Dua Lipa

“I use C6 on all lead vocal inserts to smooth out dynamics with EQ. It has flexible controls and provides great results.”

Armin van Buuren DJ, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Remixer & Composer

“I use C6 a lot with sidechaining to create space in a mix. It’s an essential tool for me.”

Mike Hedges Producer / Engineer

U2, The Cure, Dido, Manic Street Preachers

“I couldn’t live without the C6 sidechain. Love it.”

Stuart White Mixing Engineer

Beyoncé, Jay Z, FKA Twigs, Autolux

“I love how the Waves C4 (and C6) grabs the sound and I’ll never stop using it.”

Dave Audé Producer, Remixer

Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga

“Love it! It's my new go-to plugin.”

Ben Baptie Recording/Mix Engineer, Producer

Lady Gaga, The Strokes, Moses Sumney, Rex Orange County

“I use the C6 more than any other plugin out there. The ability to shape large parts of my mix by using subtle multiband compression means I can EQ less, leaving my mix feeling a lot more open and natural. ”

Alan Branch Producer, Engineer, Writer, Musician

Nine Inch Nails, Sinéad O’Connor, Depeche Mode, Blur

“The C6 is extremely useful for creative and dynamic Control.”

Lu Diaz Mixing Engineer & Producer

DJ Khaled, Pitbull, Beyoncé, Jay Z

“I literally can’t mix vocals without C6. It’s the first plugin I reach for when I start to mix my vocals.”

Damien Lewis Mixing Engineer, Producer

Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lennon Stella, The Driver Era

“Both C4 and C6 are THE SOUND of modern vocal production. Tonal control and sculpting are effortless. I can't tell you how many BGVs I've used the "Pop Vocal" preset on.”

Hardwell DJ, Producer, Remixer

“The C6 is an example of a digital plugin that is better than any analogue equipment.”

ADP Producer, Mix Engineer

Dua Lipa, Chris Brown, M.I.A.

“I was a huge fan of the C4 plugin, but the extra 2 bands in C6 gave me so much more control over dynamics in vocals, especially the low-mid frequencies which can be super hard to tame when mixing a bad vocal recording. ”

Andrew “VoxGod” Bolooki Vocal Producer, Producer and Mixer/Engineer

Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Fifth Harmony, Selena Gomez

“C6 is my go-to finishing touch on lead vocals.”

María Elisa Ayerbe Mixing Engineer

Marc Anthony, New Kids on the Block, Juanes, Il Divo

“The C6 delivers incredible dynamics control and tonal presence to my master bus. Just 0.5-3 dB of gain reduction per band will get your mix grooving!”

Darude (Ville Virtanen) Artist, Producer, Remixer, DJ

“C6 in sidechain mode is one of my favourite plugins; I use it for various things, but mostly for making some space for vocals in a dense mix. I trigger a band with the dry vocal, usually around 2-3 kHz, to dip 1-4 dB when the vocal is on to create a usually unnoticeable, but big enough hole for the vocals to better cut through something like a thick synth wall.”

David Farmer Sound Designer

Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Incredible Hulk, The Arrival

“This is so much better than a broad-band ducker”

Sean "Sully" Sullivan FOH Engineer

Beck, Rihanna, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers

“C6 is great for dealing with tonality changes resulting from how the singer is using their mic. It’s my go-to tool for when the singer – especially someone rapping like Red Hot Chli Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis – either cups the mic or sings five inches off the capsule.”

Rob Swire Musician, Singer, Songwriter, DJ, Producer

Rihanna, Taio Cruz, Tinie Tempah, Pendulum

“I use the C6 on both individual channels and on groups. It works great on channels from acoustic sources, and on groups as a way to gently shape instrument sections together before hitting the master.”

Carl Bown Producer, Engineer, Mixer

Bullet For My Valentine, While She Sleeps, Trivium, Fightstar

“The C6 is one of the most powerful sound sculpting tools in the Waves toolbox. It can enhance a fantastically recorded sound, or if needed, it can totally repair and polish up most things I throw at it. It’s an absolute essential for my mixing.”

J.Views Musician

“Some mixes can become an elaborate road system – the C6 is my go-to traffic conductor. I have it on almost every channel in some sidechain mode, allowing channels to smartly correspond with each other and give way only when needed.”

Kick The Habit

“I think lots of people might miss the possibilities of what the sidechain option in C6 can do to mixes. The option to trigger only a specific part of the frequency range using another channel, plus the expansion capabilities of the plugin, can create unique pumping effects that would be really hard to reproduce elsewhere.”

Kevin J Sawka (KJ Sawka) Producer, Drummer, DJ

Pendulum, Destroid, Blake Lewis, BT

“The C6 Multiband compressor opened mixing opportunities that we never thought were possible for recreating the studio sound on the main stage.”

Philip J. Harvey FOH & Studio Engineer

Lorde, My Bloody Valentine, The Kills, The Dead Weather

“C6 is my go-to plugin for frequency-dependent compression/expansion on my most critical channels.”

Dave McMullin Monitor Engineer

OneRepublic, Needtobreathe, Dustin Lynch

“The C6 allows me to compensate for the dynamics present in any and every vocal. One way I use it is to attack three different regions: plosives and de-essing on the lows and highs respectively, and midrange. Most impressive is how transparent it is when smoothing the mids that tend to be accentuated in full-voice singing.”

James Neale FOH & Monitor Engineer

Amy Winehouse, Ellie Goulding, Sam Sparrow

“I can’t live without the C6 Compressor. With its option for frequency-selectable compression, it really helps on our acoustics. It’s my go-to plugin when I want to even out anything.”

Shane Bardiau FOH Engineer

twenty one pilots

“Every engineer should have a C6 in their toolbox. It allows me to keep unwanted frequencies in control without otherwise sacrificing sound quality by cutting with EQ. My go-to plugin!”

Titus Woodham FOH Engineer, Audio Systems Engineer

Future, Snoop Dogg, Nas

“C6 is the most versatile sonic sculpting tool on the planet. ”

James McCullagh FOH Engineer

Lucinda Williams, Alanis Morissette, Queen Extravaganza

“When in a hurry, the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor is the first plugin I go to. It is so versatile, from quick fixes on vocals to cleaning up my main L&R mix, all in a matter of seconds! I honestly don't know what I'd do without it.”

Brett "Scoop" Blanden FOH Engineer

Lady Antebellum

“The C6 Multiband Compressor is an invaluable room management tool for me, not only before show time, but during the ever-changing nightly arena environment.”

Chad Olech FOH Engineer

Alice In Chains, Deftones, P.O.D, Thin Lizzy

“The Waves C4 and C6 compressors are amazing additions to my mix. Waves plugins truly help me achieve the sonic quality I am looking for.”

Patrick Koenig FOH & Monitor Engineer

WASP, Saxon

“I’m a big fan of the C6. It lets me give thin-sounding guitars more beef. I also use it for backing tracks and to keep the vocals sounding nice. With the multiband compression, even problematic-sounding sources can be made to sound good. C6 also helps me to get my main mix to sound big and powerful in club gigs with smaller PAs. I like to use it in groups, to even out guitars, backing tracks and vocals. A great-sounding tool! ”

Dennis Fernandez FOH Engineer

Rufus Wainwright, Anoushka Shankar, Jason Donovan

“Waves C6 especially helps with the dynamic range of the sitar, which otherwise would not be heard if it were over-EQed. I can have lots of dynamic EQ that can be grabbed, listened to (soloed) and filtered very quickly, without having to use heavy EQ!”

Nicky Calonne Vocalist, Composer, Producer

“I love using C6 for master-buss cleanup.”

Adrian Odle FOH/Monitor Engineer, Production/Tour Manager

Beres Hammond, Third World, Maxi Priest, The Nicholas Brancker Band

“I love using the C6 as an EQ. With the C6, there is no need to chase the tone I’m trying to maintain in an instrument.”