The NAMM Show, Anaheim, CA, January 2026 — Waves Audio (booth 17301), a global leader in pro audio, has announced several of its latest additions and innovations that they will be introducing at the 2026 NAMM Show.
Waves expands Curves Series with Curves Resolve: an intelligent solution for mix conflicts
First, Waves announces the release of Curves Resolve, the third installment in the company’s forward-thinking Curves Series of intelligent mixing plugins. Building on the concepts introduced in Curves Equator and Curves AQ, Curves Resolve provides an advanced system for managing frequency masking and congestion between tracks and across complex mixes.
Whereas Curves Equator focused on suppressing problematic resonances and Curves AQ introduced the world’s first truly autonomous EQ, Curves Resolve is purpose-built to analyze relationships between two tracks simultaneously. It never processes in isolation. Instead, the plugin continuously “listens” to one source while shaping another, carving space only at overlapping frequencies, and only when those conflicts occur. This yields a clearer mix with greater separation, while preserving tonal integrity and transients.
At the point where a mix should finally come together, frequency collisions are often the factor that prevents it from truly locking in. Engineers frequently end up chasing these conflicts with manual EQ adjustments, sidechain workarounds and compromises that can gradually erode tone. Curves Resolve is designed to offer a smarter and more transparent approach to managing masking between tracks. The plugin analyzes how two signals interact, applies processing only where genuine clashes occur, and preserves the musical character of each source. The result is a mix that feels open, intentional and effortless, with arrangements that breathe naturally without sacrificing impact or emotion.
From modern DAW workflows to professional post-production and music mixing environments, Curves Resolve represents a technical leap in track-to-track interaction, delivering cleaner results with less manual EQ sculpting.
In practical terms, Curves Resolve helps producers and mixers:
- Open up crowded arrangements without harsh cuts
- Maintain clarity across layered instruments and dense productions
- Achieve spatial separation while preserving tone, timbre, and transient impact
- Reduce mix fatigue caused by masking and frequency buildup
Curves Resolve is exceptionally powerful because it gives engineers two complementary ways to shape space between tracks, and even lets them combine them. In dynamic mode, the plugin reacts in real time, constantly adjusting its curves as the musical content evolves. In steady (learned) mode, it analyzes a passage and creates a stable, predictable contour that stays anchored, making it ideal for parts that need consistency. What truly sets Curves Resolve apart is the ability to blend these behaviors, offering precise control over responsiveness versus stability, a level of flexibility that simply isn’t possible with traditional EQs or static sidechain techniques.
Engineers can refine how Curves Resolve interprets the sidechain by filtering and tilting the incoming signal. This ensures the plugin reacts to relevant energy (not incidental content), resulting in musical, intentional corrections rather than over-processing.
Curves Resolve also redefines ducking by turning it into a far more precise, musical process. Instead of relying solely only on traditional full-band level reduction, users can choose wide ducking when they want the familiar effect of lowering one signal beneath another, such as music dipping under a voice. They can also engage Unmask mode, which intelligently reduces only the frequencies that are actually causing conflict, rather than pulling the entire signal down. This frequency-specific approach keeps mixes punchy and present, allowing vocals, leads and dialogue to cut through clearly while preserving the natural energy of the surrounding tracks.
Snapshot controls provide instant, instrument-aware starting points optimized for vocals, bass, guitars, synths, keys, snare and more, accelerating setup while aligning processing behavior with source material.
Curves Resolve also includes “Curves Resolve Live,” a zero-latency version of the same plugin suitable for live & broadcast mixing.
Waves is launching Curves Resolve free for all users on January 19, 2026, for 48 hours only – giving producers & engineers access to a powerful new mixing capability to start 2026. After the giveaway period, the plugin will be available for sale and included in the Waves Essential and Waves Ultimate subscriptions, and Mercury, Pro Show and SD7 Pro Show bundles.
Waves Audio offers Curves AQ: the world’s first autonomous EQ
In addition to Curves Resolve and following the success of Waves’ Curves Equator, the resonance suppression plugin, and the first in the “Curves” series presenting an evolution in EQ technology, Waves also offers Curves AQ, the world’s first autonomous EQ plugin.
Unlike other “smart EQ” offerings which rely on a rigid “take-it-or-leave-it” preset curve with extremely limited adjustment & control, Curves AQ breaks boundaries with its generative AI Spectral Targeting Technology.
The Curves AQ plugin is cognitive — just click “Learn,” and it does your EQ work for you, significantly improving your overall sound quality and accelerating your mixing workflow.
AQ’s Neural Network analyzes your audio, determines its ideal sound profile and creates five unique curves for you to choose from. These are not presets, but original spectral curves tailored to the natural qualities of your audio, whether it’s vocals, instruments or full mixes.
The white curve on the plugin represents the sound destination, referred to as the 'Spectral Target.' Adjusting the Spectral Target resembles working with a regular EQ; however, the adjustment modifies the EQ’s destination, and the processing adapts accordingly to get you there.
Next, AQ offers reimagined and powerful EQ controls to personalize and perfect your sound and tweak it to your taste, including:
- “Boosts & Cuts” AQ refines your sound to adapt to the “Spectral Target” through boost & cut processing. Adjustments on either boosting or cutting can be made globally or per band.
- “Static / Dynamic Slider” AQ offers static and dynamic EQ, giving you the flexibility to work entirely statically, dynamically, or with a mix of both.
- “Smart Tilt” reshapes the spectral target with powerful tonal adjustments, while “Offset” shifts the target curve along the X-axis, repositioning the fundamental frequency and harmonics for creative effects.
- “MixSense – EQ in Context” AQ resolves frequency clashes between tracks. By sidechaining any audio and turning on MixSense, AQ adjusts its processing to resolve only conflicting frequencies between two parts.
- “Adaptive Mode” AQ works straight out-of-the-box even without the “Learn” function, providing dynamic balancing using a flat spectral target, with adjustable processing via the main knob.
- “4 Frequency Anchors” With each instruments “Learn”, the Neural Network creates 4 anchors tailored to the frequency spectrum of your track, to control the low end, fundamental, harmonics & air of your track.
- “Traditional EQ” For those who like to work “old-school”, AQ offers the ability to add nodes on the Spectral Target, shape Qs and add HP & LP filtering.
For live performances, Curves AQ LIVE offers zero-latency processing with the same capabilities as Curves AQ.
Waves Curves AQ Features:
- AI-powered EQ – you click learn, AQ does the rest
- Creates five unique EQ profiles you can choose from
- MixSense – AQ adjusts processing to resolve mix conflicts
- Adjusts boosting and cutting, globally & per band
- Includes Curves AQ LIVE – zero-latency version
- Uses generative AI technology to create original target curves
- Offers five reimagined EQ controls for full control over your sound
- Control amount of static EQ vs. dynamic EQ, or any combination
- Smart Tilt control for overall tonal balancing
- Offset feature adjusts curve along X-axis, changing focal point of processing
Curves AQ is included in the Waves Mercury bundle. It has also been added to the Waves Ultimate plugin subscription, which includes the comprehensive Waves plugin catalog (over 240 plugins) as monthly or annual subscriptions.
Waves Audio offers the L4 Ultramaximizer: next generation of the legendary L-Series limiter plugins
In addition to the latest "Curves" series entries, Waves also offers the L4 Ultramaximizer, an adaptive limiter for modern music. Powered by next-generation technology,the L4 introduces a forward-thinking take on limiting, raising the bar for modern loudness tools. This new plugin delivers not only highly competitive loudness levels for streaming, but also preserves musicality, offering greater low-end impact, enhanced dynamics and transient punch, and a more vibrant overall sound.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the Waves L1 and L2 became industry-standard tools for peak limiting and level maximization, setting the reference point for loudness among scores of legendary records. But loudness was yesterday’s battle. Today, music needs more. Contemporary sound is deeper, bigger and more dynamic. Artists grab attention with more than just volume – they do it with nuance, impact and feel. A true limiter should enhance the musicality of a track, not simply reduce its dynamic range, and that’s exactly what the L4 achieves. It’s not merely a limiter, it’s a complete rethink of how loudness enhances musical expression.
Engineered for precision across a wide array of production styles, the L4 offers five new and unique limiting algorithms to match your sound’s aesthetic, with the understanding that every song is different: Modern, Aggressive, Smooth, Safe, and of course, Waves has provided the legendary L2 sound as well.
Adaptive Clipper & Release: Clipping and Release settings are automatically tailored to the content by the plugin. Once applied, you can fine-tune their relative levels in real time, shaping the transient impact and overall feel to suit the track.
Upward Compression: Inspired by the classic Waves MV2 plugin, this module is designed to enhance low-level details and add density. When combined with optimized limiter settings, the L4 delivers greater loudness and heightened dynamic impact.
Ultra-Low Latency: The L4 is a versatile workhorse, equally at home in tracking, mixing, and mastering, capable of handling even the most demanding back-to-back sessions. It’s also live performance-ready, seamlessly integrating with Waves eMotion LV1 and LV1 Classic mixing consoles, SuperRack SoundGrid, SuperRack Performer.
LUFS Metering: Prepare your track for streaming with precision. Featuring both short-term and long-term LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) metering, the L4 provides accurate level monitoring throughout your workflow, ensuring your songs are optimized for streaming platforms.
L4 Ultramaximizer features:
- Peak limiter – designed for a new era of loudness
- Brand-new sound, optimized for modern music production
- Five unique limiting algorithms: Modern, Aggressive, Smooth, Safe, L2
- Ultra-low latency performance
- True Peak limiting for precise control
- Two GUI modes: Graph and Classic
- Inspired by the iconic simplicity of L1 & L2 limiters
- Adaptive Clipping & Release controls to shape transient impact
- Upward compression for enhanced loudness in quieter passages
- Advanced features: LUFS metering, upsampling, dithering, delta monitoring, stereo link
- One-click gain match feature for instant A/B comparison
The L4 Ultramaximizer has been added to the Waves Ultimate plugin subscription, which includes the comprehensive Waves plugin catalog (over 240 plugins) as monthly or annual subscriptions. It is also available for purchase (perpetual license) as a separate plugin, or within these Waves bundles: Mercury, Live Plus, Pro Show and SD7 Pro Show.
Waves Audio displays InTrigger: an intelligent drum replacement plugin
Lastly, Waves offers InTrigger, a plugin designed to make drum triggering faster, easier and more accurate. Its intelligent hit detection engine saves producers and engineers hours of manual tweaking, by handling ghost notes and mic bleed with exceptional precision, without manual threshold settings or tedious editing. This is smart drum replacement with a human touch, giving your mix both control and feel.
InTrigger’s efficient two-step workflow simplifies drum replacement: in step one, the system analyzes the performance. You just need to click the Learn button and InTrigger’s smart algorithm automatically detects and categorizes the drum hits. In step two, you assign a new sample. That’s it. No more hours of tedious trial-and-error editing. The result is an intelligent workflow for inspired rhythm, so you can stay creative, not corrective.
The Humanize knob shapes each hit’s envelope and dynamics, so one sample reacts differently every time and delivers a natural, expressive feel across the song. You can also stack up to 8 sample layers, giving your drums greater depth and impact.
Additionally, to help you find the right sounds faster, InTrigger includes a license for COSMOS, Waves’ AI-powered sample manager, integrated directly into the plugin with access to 1400 curated one-shot drum samples. This streamlines your workflow by letting you audition and organize samples in context, all within your session.
A dedicated version, InTrigger Live, is also included for use in real-time performance environments. Built for Waves’ eMotion LV1 Classic and SuperRack setups, it delivers zero latency and fast, reliable detection. This version supports manual threshold settings and up to four sample layers. It omits the Learn and COSMOS features for maximum stability on stage.
Top producers and mixing engineers commend InTrigger’s unmatched precision, intuitive workflow and musical sensitivity, making it an essential tool for both studio productions and live setups:
Producer/engineer Joe Chiccarelli (Morrissey, The Strokes, U2, Beck), remarks, “This is the most comprehensive drum sampler I’ve ever used. Where other drum replacers fall short in nuanced or dynamic performances, InTrigger preserves the drummer’s intent—while letting you layer additional samples on top of the original hits.”
Lu Diaz, mixing engineer and producer (DJ Khaled, Pitbull, Beyoncé, Jay Z), adds, “Wow, finally an intuitive sound replacer. I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent on live drums—either replacing sounds or layering. InTrigger not only saves me a ton of time, but its level of customization and detail is on another level! Love it!”
Koen Heldens, mixing engineer (XXXTentacion, Kanye West, Trippie Redd, Lil Wayne), notes, “InTrigger takes drum replacement and augmentation to the next level with zero-threshold hassle, no ghost note cleanups. Just dead-on triggering and a smart, effortless workflow that keeps me locked in and moving fast.”
Jack Miele, producer, engineer, mixing engineer (Rod Stewart, Dr. John, American Horror Story, Zac Brown Band), states, “InTrigger is a true problem solver. It’s precise without being clinical and integrates into my workflow seamlessly. After using every major drum replacement plugin, I love InTrigger because it actually suits the needs of modern mixing.”
Key features include:
- Intelligent Hit Detection: Automatically analyzes the performance with a single “Learn” button, eliminating the need for threshold setting and time-consuming manual edits.
- Bleed Smart: Reduces mic leakage and prevents false triggers by using a highly effective Onset Gate.
- Humanize Control: Preserves the feel of the drummer’s original performance by adding real-time variation to sample playback. It adjusts tone and dynamics per hit to produce organic results.
- Integrated Sample Finder: Quickly browse and audition both the included sound library and your own samples using COSMOS, Waves’ AI-powered sample browser. This new feature allows you to hear samples in context directly inside your session.
- Built-in CR8 Sampler: Shape and layer your drum sounds using the powerful CR8 engine, included within InTrigger for advanced sound design capabilities.
Whether you’re fixing a snare hit, fattening up your drums, or transforming your entire groove, InTrigger provides a smarter, more musical solution.
InTrigger has been added to the Waves Ultimate plugin subscription, which includes the comprehensive Waves plugin catalog (over 240 plugins) as monthly or annual subscriptions. It is also available for purchase as a separate plugin (perpetual license). InTrigger is included in the Waves Mercury bundle as well.
To learn more, click here.
For more information on all of Waves Audio's latest releases, visit them at waves.com and at Booth 17301 at the 2026 NAMM Show.
