Waves NS1 Noise Suppressor
User Guide
1.1 Welcome
Thank you for choosing Waves! In order to get the most out of your Waves processor, please take the time to read through this manual.
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1.2 Product Overview
The Waves NS1 Noise Suppressor is an intuitive professional noise suppression plugin designed to intelligently differentiate between dialog and unwanted noise. It is perfect for post-production, audio forensics, and musical applications. The NS1 instantly analyzes and adapts to your signal in real-time, bringing the foreground into focus by eliminating unnecessary background noise. It is controlled by a simple single fader and features an attenuation meter that shows how much overall energy is being removed from your input signal.
With NS1, noise suppression is as easy as fading away.
- Automatic adaptive real-time noise suppression
- Intuitive one-fader control
- Ideal for dialog, voiceovers, broadcast, music and more
- SoundGrid® and MultiRack Native compatible
1.3 Components
WaveShell technology enables Waves to split processors into smaller plugins, referred to as components. This provides flexibility in choosing the configuration best suited to your material. Waves NS1 includes two components in two channel configurations: NS1 Mono and NL1 Stereo.
Chapter 2 - Quick Start Guide
Move the fader up to suppress noise.
Chapter 3 - Interface and Controls
The plugin interface features a prominent vertical fader labeled 'FADER' which controls the amount of noise suppression. To its right is an 'ATTENUATION METER' displaying the amount of energy removed from the input signal, with a scale from 0 to -48 dB. The interface also includes controls for 'Setup A/B', 'Load', and 'Save'.
The FADER determines the amount of noise suppression.
The ATTENUATION METER displays the amount of overall energy removed from the input signal.
Chapter 4 - The WaveSystem
4.1 The WaveSystem Toolbar
All Waves plugins feature the WaveSystem toolbar, which handles most administrative functions. The features are consistent across Waves plugins, making familiarity helpful.
Toolbar Functions
- [Waves logo]: Opens the plugin About box
- Undo: Undoes the last 32 actions
- Redo: Redoes the last 32 undone actions
- Setup A/B: Toggles between two presets for parameter comparison
- [Left arrow] [Right arrow]: Move to the previous or next preset
- Copy A → B: Copies current settings to the second preset register
- Load: Recalls presets from file
- Save: Saves presets in Waves file formats
- ?: Opens the PDF manual for the plugin
4.2 Preset Handling
Preset Types
Factory Presets: Permanent presets in the Load menu. They cannot be overwritten or deleted. Different component plugins may have different factory presets.
User Presets: Your saved favorite settings, found in the Load menu under 'User Presets'. User Presets can be overwritten and deleted.
Setup Files
Setup Files can contain multiple presets for a session. Opening a Setup File adds all its setups to your Load menu for quick access, which is particularly useful for multiple plugin instances. Saving all created settings into a single Setup File makes them readily available.
Loading Presets and Setups
Click the 'Load' button to open the Load pop-up menu, divided into four sections (unavailable sections will not appear).
- Open Preset File...: Select to open any setup or preset file from the Library or your own creations.
- 'Filename.xps': Displays any currently loaded Setup File and its presets.
- Factory Presets: Displays the default Factory Presets.
- User Presets: Displays any loaded User Presets.
Saving Presets and Setups
Click the 'Save' button to open the Save pop-up menu. Four options are available (unavailable options will be grayed out).
- Save to New File...: Starts a new Setup file, prompting for setup and preset names. Creating a folder for multiple setup files for a project is recommended.
- Save 'File Name' – "Preset Name": Overwrites the settings of the loaded preset (User Preset or Setup File preset) with current settings.
- Save to 'File Name' As...: Saves current settings as a new preset into the open Setup file.
- Put into Preset Menu As...: Saves current settings into a User Preset, which remains in the Load menu until deleted.
Deleting Presets
User Presets and presets within a Setup File can be deleted. Factory Presets and Setup Library files cannot be deleted or overwritten.
- Hold the Command (Mac)/Control (PC) key down.
- Click-and-hold the Load button to see the pop-up menu.
- While still holding the Command/Control key, select the preset or setup to delete.
- A confirmation box will appear, allowing you to cancel or 'OK' the deletion.
A/B Comparison and Copying
The Setup A/Setup B button allows comparison of two settings. Loading a preset in Setup B does not affect Setup A, and vice-versa. To modify settings in Setup A slightly, copy them to Setup B using the 'Copy to B' button, then alter Setup A and compare with the original Setup B.
Note: An asterisk will be added to the preset name when a change is made to the preset.
4.3 Interface Controls
Controls can be in one of three states:
- Not Selected: The control is not the target of any user entry.
- Selected: The control is the target of mouse control entry only.
- Selected and Active: The control is the target for both mouse and keyboard entry.
Toggle Buttons
Toggle buttons display a control's state and allow switching between two or more states. A single click changes the state. Some toggle buttons have text displays, while others (like bypass, solo, or monitoring) illuminate when active.
Some plugins have link buttons between toggle buttons for click-and-drag adjustment while maintaining offset.
Value Window Buttons
Value windows display a control's value and allow click-and-drag adjustment or direct keyboard control.
- Using the mouse: Click-and-drag on the value window. Some support left/right, others up/down (indicated by arrows). The mouse-wheel can also adjust values.
- Using the arrow keys: Click the button once with the mouse to select it, then use up/down or left/right keys to adjust across the button's range. Holding the keys moves faster.
- Using key entry: Double-click the button to open the value window and enter the value directly from the keyboard. Out-of-range numbers will keep the button selected but at the current setting.
Some plugins have link buttons between value windows for click-and-drag adjustment while maintaining offset.
Sliders
Click or scroll the mouse-wheel on the slider or its track. The numerical value appears in a hover window above the slider path.
Hover Box
Hovering boxes display the control value when the mouse hovers over a control.
Multiple Control Selection
Select and adjust multiple controls simultaneously. Drag-select a group by clicking and holding outside the controls, forming a rectangle. Alternatively, hold Shift while clicking controls. This is useful for non-adjacent controls.
TAB Functions
TAB moves the 'selected' status to the next control; Shift+TAB moves in reverse. On Mac, Option+TAB moves 'down' and Shift+Option+TAB moves 'up'. TAB functions cycle through selected controls only.
Pressing Esc or Return returns focus to the DAW application.
4.4 Waves Preferences (Pro Tools only)
When launching Pro Tools, hold Shift to view the Waves plugin Preferences window. The following options are available:
- Don't use AudioSuite plugins
- Don't use RTAS plugins
- Rescan all plugins
- HUI control surface support (low resolution)
- Enable single-click text entry
