Waves Scheps Omni Channel 2

Grammy‑winning mixer Andrew Scheps has an eclectic portfolio, extending from Metallica to Adele, and over the years he’s been a familiar sight at trade shows, sharing his mixing techniques on the Waves booth. The Scheps Omni Channel 2 plug‑in is essentially an all‑in‑one, five‑module channel strip based on the sonic characters of the processors and plug‑ins Andrew uses in his studio, offering input coloration, compression, gating, EQ, de‑essing and limiting, with a choice of four preamp saturation types and four types of compression. Each module offers a choice of M‑S, Stereo and Duo (dual mono) routing, and the plug‑in introduces no additional system latency so is suitable for live applications as well as in the studio.

This updated version adds features such as the extra‑heavy Crush distortion, and a new 24dB/oct filter mode joins the previous 6, 12, and 18 dB options for the input section’s adjustable high‑ and low‑pass filters. A new resonance control makes it easy to create synth‑like filter sweeps on the 12, 18 and 24 dB modes, and can aid sound modification tasks such as adding punch to kick drums and toms or changing the apparent weight of electric guitar tracks. A Thump button adds a gentle low‑end resonance, which can be useful for lifting basses or kicks in the mix. Crush works well as a parallel distortion processor for adding brightness and attitude. The parametric EQ combines Mid and Tone parametric stages with two traditional parametric/shelving EQs. There’s also a new soft‑knee compressor mode alongside the existing VCA, FET, and Opt(ical) variants. Importantly, this new version of the plug‑in has the ability to host third‑party VST3 plug‑ins; the earlier version had the same plug‑in insert point but could only host other Waves plug‑ins. That opens up a lot more possibilities!

The DS2 dual de‑esser works using two independent de‑essing filters, each with adjustable bandwidth and shape. These can be used together, and although the channel modules are arranged in a logical order they can be rearranged for specific applications. There are side‑chain filters for use with both the internal and external side‑chain feeds and, as you might expect, there’s a large library of presets created not only by Andrew Scheps but also by other top‑tier mix engineers.

The new Crush and resonant filter options bring in plenty of sound‑design potential...

While most of us will already have individual plug‑ins that can handle saturation, EQ, compression and de‑essing, the Scheps Omni Channel 2 has its own character, which reflects the tastes and working methods of Andrew Scheps himself. If you need to add definition, energy or a more forward character to a track or mix then this plug‑in has a lot to offer, but it can also handle the gentler side of mixing too. The new Crush and resonant filter options bring in plenty of sound‑design potential, while the soft‑knee compressor adds a certain completeness to the existing optical, VCA and FET choices. The ability to host third‑party VST3 plug‑ins via the insert points is a very practical and thoughtful addition, so all in all this revised version of Scheps Omni Channel is very welcome and well worth demo’ing.