The L3 series has been the "secret sauce" for loudness wars for two decades. In Waves 14, the L3-16 remains the king of bus processing. It combines a 16-band linear-phase EQ with a peak limiter. Unlike standard limiters, the L3-16 allows you to push your mix to competitive loudness (-8 LUFS or higher) without pumping or distortion. If you buy only one mastering plugin, make it this one.
| Plugin | Best For | Why | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | WLM Plus | Loudness compliance | True peak, LUFS, and loudness range metering with presets for Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Netflix. Better than free meters. | | L2 Ultramaximizer | Limiting (legacy) | Still the industry standard for brickwall limiting. Transparent if you push 2–3 dB, aggressive beyond that. | | Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain | Mastering channel strip | Emulates the EMI TG12410 console. Has compressor, limiter, EQ, and stereo spread. Adds weight without harshness. | | Vitamin | Multiband harmonic exciter | Boosts specific bands (low, low-mid, high-mid, high) with adjustable “tone” and “punch.” Good for final polish. | waves 14 plugins best
Pro tip for V14: Use WLM Plus first to set levels, then TG Mastering Chain, then L2. Keep L2 ceiling at -0.1 dB for streaming. The L3 series has been the "secret sauce"
If you are still on Waves 12 or 13, absolutely yes. The native Apple Silicon support in Waves 14 reduces CPU load by roughly 30% on modern Macs. Furthermore, the new Plugin Finder (right-click anywhere on a track to search) speeds up workflow dramatically. If you are still on Waves 12 or 13, absolutely yes
The "best" Waves 14 plugins are the ones that solve your specific problem: RBass for bass translation, SSL EV2 for mix glue, and Smack Attack for drum punch. Start with the five essentials listed above, and you will have a professional-grade mixing suite that rivals plugins costing ten times as much.
Note: Waves frequently runs sales (50-80% off). Never pay full price for these plugins. Wait for a holiday or newsletter promotion, then grab the Waves 14 versions of the classics.