PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Neilson/Clyne
Tel: (615) 662-1616
Fax: (615) 662-1636
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WAVES: 14 YEARS OF DIGITAL AUDIO
INNOVATION
Waves is one of the professional audio industry’s
most notable success stories.
Waves began 14 years ago this October with the introduction
of the first audio plug-in, the Q10 Paragraphic equalizer. The Q10 broke
new ground in three major areas. First, it was the debut of the audio
signal processor plug-in, a tool commonly used today. Second, its graphic
user interface gave users unprecedented control and eliminated the requirement
for a DSP engineering background since it automated the filter coefficient
calculations. Finally, the revolutionary Q10 offered sound quality equal
to or better than many of its hardware counterparts.
Another highlight of Waves’ first decade of success
was the development of the L1 Limiter, which established a new benchmark
for dynamic controls. Still considered innovative over a decade later,
countless L1s are an integral part of studios all over the world. Propelled
by an increasingly comprehensive product line, Waves quickly became
a favorite of engineers worldwide and the choice of recognized audio
masters.
Waves founders Gilad Keren and Meir Shaashua share music
as their first love. When establishing Waves, Gilad drew upon his experience
as an accomplished sound engineer, having recorded and produced hits
for major Israeli artists, while Meir had been a musician in successful
bands. Both Gilad and Meir pursued engineering study: Meir went to Hebrew
University and majored in Physics and Mathematics; Gilad attended Israel’s
Technion Institute of Technology and majored in applied Mathematics.
They met through a mutual friend at a recording studio in 1982. In 1990
they both worked for a start-up called AudioAnimation. Two years later,
Waves Ltd. was formed in Israel and the U.S. simultaneously.
In the years since, Waves has grown into the world’s
leading developer and supplier of software-based audio signal processing
tools, while expanding to meet the demand for Waves processing in hardware-based
products. Waves’ current product line has increased to over 60
processors that have been embraced by the audio industry in music production,
film, post and broadcast. In fact, the name Waves itself has become
synonymous with top-of-the-line audio processing, and the company’s
products are used where superior quality is a pre-requisite: hit records,
major motion pictures and top-selling games worldwide.
Gilad remembers Waves’ modest beginnings. He notes,
“In the early days, a lot of people thought software would be
a toy compared to hardware! But now, our products often replace multiple
hardware boxes.”
The Waves mission is to develop and provide solutions
that enable unparalleled sonic quality for all audio applications. Underscoring
this achievement, Waves award-winning audio processor plug-ins are now
the standard technology for thousands of audio professionals in content
creation. These plug-ins utilize Waves’ proprietary DSP algorithms
based on their psychoacoustic expertise. Psychoacoustics is the study
of the perception of sound.
Waves’ Maxx® technologies leverage its expertise
in psychoacoustics to provide custom semiconductor and DSP licensing
solutions to consumer audio manufacturers worldwide. These solutions
compensate for the acoustic quality limitations from small, power efficient
speakers systems found in today’s most popular CE products such
as LCD TVs, notebook PCs, portable speaker systems and mobile phones.
Maxx is already being used by some of the most important audio and consumer
electronic firms in the world including Altec Lansing, Audio Products
International, Clarion, JVC, Microsoft, Samsung, Sanyo and Sony.
Waves’ comprehensive products support over 20 different
audio editing environments, both for CPU-based operation and DSP accelerator
solutions. With over 150,000 users worldwide, Waves offers the broadest
selection as well as the highest quality set of software solutions available.
For more information, visit the Waves web site at http://www.waves.com.
About Waves Ltd.:
Waves is a leading provider of audio DSP solutions for professional,
broadcast, and consumer electronics audio markets. Waves has ten years
of expertise in the development of psycho-acoustic signal processing
algorithms that leverage knowledge on the human perception of hearing
to radically improve perceived sound quality. Waves’ award-winning
processors are utilized to improve sound quality in the creation of
the world’s most popular music, movie soundtracks, and multimedia
titles. Waves offers computer software solutions and hardware plus software
solutions for the professional and broadcast markets. Waves also offers
semiconductor with embedded software solutions under the Maxx brand
for the consumer electronics audio applications. Waves’ Maxx technology
dramatically enhances audio performance in consumer applications and
has been licensed to several leading companies, including Motorola and
Microsoft. For more information, visit the Waves web site at http://www.waves.com.
Other brand and product names may be trademarks of the
respective companies with which they are associated.
Waves Contacts:
North America Offices:
Waves, Inc., 306 West Depot Avenue, Suite 100, Knoxville, TN 37917;
Tel: 865-909-9200, Fax: 865-909-9245, Email: info@waves.com,
Web: http://www.waves.com
Corporate Headquarters Israel:
Waves Ltd., Azrieli Center, The Triangle Tower, 32nd Floor, 132 Derech
Petach-Tikva,
Tel-Aviv 67027, Israel; Tel: 972-3-608-4000, Fax: 972-3-608-4056, Email:
info@waves.com,
Web: http://www.waves.com