Waves V14 is the latest version of plugins offered by Waves, as perpetual licenses or as Waves Creative Access subscriptions. Find answers to all your questions on this page.
If you don’t find your question answered, please contact support.
Refer to this page for Frequently Asked Questions about Waves Creative Access
To make sure that your computer, operating system and DAW versions are compatible with Waves V14 software, please refer to our System Requirements and Supported Hosts pages.
We offer three ways to get V14 plugin licenses and software:
Yes, you can still renew your Waves Update Plan coverage for one, some, or all of your perpetual licenses here.
Once covered, you can get the latest version for your licenses here.
Yes, you continue to own and can use your plugin/bundle licenses and software, on systems and host applications that are compatible with the versions you currently have.
If your licenses are covered by the Waves Update Plan, you can update them to newer versions and register 2nd licenses.
If your licenses are not covered by the Waves Update Plan, renew your coverage first, then update.
You can continue to use your plugin/bundle licenses and software as before, on all systems and host applications that are compatible with the versions you currently have.
Yes, you can get a bonus 2nd license for Waves plugins and bundles covered under the Waves Update Plan, for use on multiple devices.
If you have plugins or bundles currently covered under the Waves Update Plan, here’s how to get your 2nd licenses for them:
If you renew your Waves Update Plan coverage before it expires, your second licenses will remain active without interruption
Waves Creative Access subscriptions do not offer 2nd licenses.
Refer to this page for full instructions to install and activate new or existing V14 perpetual plugins and bundles.
If you own perpetual (non-subscription) licenses for V13-V9 plugins or bundles, please refer to the how to Install Waves Legacy Versions article for installation instructions.
If needed, you may install your plugins on older operating systems. Choose your operating system from this list for a full set of instructions.
Yes, but we no longer offer 7-day demo licenses for each separate plugin or bundle. Instead, you can evaluate all the plugins in demo mode, for free, as one unified download, without time limit.
If you wish to try the plugins in demo mode, simply click Install Demo on the Waves Creative Access page in Waves Central. This will install a demo of all Waves plugins on your computer. This demo will let you evaluate all Waves plugins at your own pace, for as long as you want, without any time limitation. However, this demo is not fully functional: if you don’t have licenses for some of the plugins, using those plugins will introduce periodic audio mutes in your session.
If you purchase a plugin or bundle as a perpetual license, or start a Waves Creative Access subscription, any plugins you installed in demo mode, for which you now have licenses, will become fully functional without the periodic audio mutes (just don’t forget to activate your newly purchased licenses).
Yes, mutes are synchronized across all plugins running in demo mode.
Within the StudioRack plugin chainer’s internal plugin list, you can show or hide unlicensed plugins via the padlock icon. When shown in the list, Waves plugins running in demo mode will be indicated in italics. (This indication is also available in CLA MixHub’s and Scheps Omni Channel’s insert menu.)
We have made the utmost effort to indicate whether installed plugins are licensed or not, with italic text and filters. We are working to provide this indication in Waves live applications (eMotion LV1, SuperRack, SoundGrid Rack for VENUE) as well. However, we do not have a technical option to provide this indication within DAWs.
Not to worry: V14 licenses can activate V9 through V13 software as well. To install any legacy version, refer to this page for instructions.
V14 plugins are fully supported in these applications:
V14 plugins are not supported in the following application versions:
We recommend that you do not install V14 plugins on a system where you intend to use them inside these older application versions.
Important: V14 perpetual (non-subscription) licenses will activate V9 through V14 plugin software. This means that even if you use an application such as MultiRack which does not support V14, you can use the same V14 licenses to activate both V14 plugins (for example, on a machine running a DAW such as Pro Tools) and your older version of plugins, all the way back to V9, on the machine running MultiRack.
To find out whether a certain plugin exists in a legacy version, visit the version's download page, and scroll down to the bottom.
There are a few possible scenarios:
If the licenses are not there, they might be registered to a different account that you have. If you need assistance, contact our Technical Support team.
Before installing or updating to V14, check our System Requirements and Supported Hosts pages to make sure that your system and DAW are compatible with Waves V14.
Multiple plugin versions can run on the same system, just not at the same time. If the computer you are using is also used by others (for example in a commercial studio, school system, rental company, etc.), we highly recommend that you run Waves Central’s Version Organizer (in Waves Central’s ‘Settings’ page) after moving or swapping licenses, to make sure your license version/s and the installed software version/s are aligned.
If your plugins still do not appear in your DAW (Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, etc.), a plugin re-scan may be needed. Please see the How to Find Your Plugins article relevant to your specific DAW. For more information please refer to this page.
Please note: