Waves Immersive Wrapper Now Supports VST3 Plugins – Game Changer for Spatial Audio

In this video, I take a look at one of the most underappreciated plugins in immersive audio: the Waves Immersive Wrapper. While I covered this plugin about a year ago, Waves recently added a game-changing feature that deserves its own discussion—the ability to wrap any VST3 plugin, not just Waves plugins. This means you can now use virtually any mono-capable plugin across multi-channel layouts ranging from 5.1 surround to 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos in multi-mono mode. I demonstrate how this works using Reaper and show you how to load plugins like Gullfoss, adjust parameters for individual channels or channel groups, and even set up sidechains. The functionality is outstanding, and there's truly nothing comparable on the market today.

However, I need to address the elephant in the room: this plugin comes from Waves. For those unfamiliar with the controversy, in March 2023, Waves attempted to eliminate all perpetual licenses and force everyone into a subscription model—including those of us who had spent thousands of dollars on perpetual licenses. While they eventually walked this decision back after massive backlash, the damage was done. I, like many others, uninstalled all my Waves plugins and haven't reinstalled them since (except for videos like this). So my final verdict is this: if you can look past Waves' business practices, the Immersive Wrapper is a must-have plugin for immersive audio work. If you can't, you'll need to wait for someone else to develop a viable alternative.