Question 1

What is Waves Clarity Vx and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Waves Clarity Vx is an AI noise removal plugin from Waves Audio, powered by their Neural Networks technology. It operates inside a DAW as a plugin on an audio track. The interface is minimal — essentially a single knob you turn clockwise to increase noise removal intensity. Clarity Vx is specifically designed for vocal tracks: dialogue, podcasting, singing. It has two modes: Broad 1 (preserves secondary voices when multiple speakers are present) and Broad 2 (more aggressive, for separating the main voice from background voices or louder noise). Clarity Vx works in real time within the DAW session and supports offline AudioSuite rendering in Pro Tools. It supports AAX Native, AudioSuite, AU, and VST3 formats. MSRP is $199, but Waves frequently runs sales with prices around $30-50.

Question 2

What's the difference between Waves Clarity Vx and Waves NS1?

Accepted Answer

Waves NS1 (Noise Suppressor) is Waves' older, simpler noise suppression plugin — it has a single fader that controls the amount of noise suppression without AI or neural network processing. NS1 works across any audio content (not just vocals) and uses smart gating to attenuate noise below a learned threshold. Clarity Vx uses Waves' Neural Networks technology, is trained on vocal-specific data, and produces cleaner results on voice recordings with fewer artifacts than NS1 at similar suppression levels. Clarity Vx Pro is the professional version with multiband control and Ambience Keeping (removes voice while keeping background ambience, useful for ADR). For vocal podcast recordings, Clarity Vx significantly outperforms NS1 in quality.

Question 3

Do I need an Waves account or subscription for Clarity Vx?

Accepted Answer

Waves plugins are sold as perpetual licenses — you purchase once and own the plugin. However, Waves' licensing system has changed over the years. Currently, Waves plugins are available through a subscription (Waves Creative Access at $10-20/month for their entire library) or as individual perpetual purchases. Perpetual license holders receive updates for a limited period (typically included for the first year). Continuing to receive plugin updates after that may require an Update Plan purchase. Plugin licenses are tied to your Waves account and authorized to specific computers or USB dongles. This is more complex than browser-based tools, which update automatically with no license management required.

Question 4

Can Waves Clarity Vx handle room echo/reverb in addition to background noise?

Accepted Answer

Waves Clarity Vx is primarily a noise suppressor — it reduces broadband noise and background sounds but is not specifically optimized for de-reverbing (removing room echo). Waves does not include a dedicated de-reverb plugin in the Clarity Vx product. For reverb removal, Waves offers other tools in their library, or dedicated de-reverb processors from companies like iZotope (RX De-reverb) or Accusonus (ERA Reverb Remover) are more appropriate. If you need both noise removal and de-reverb on the same vocal recording, using Clarity Vx for noise removal first and then a separate de-reverb plugin in the DAW chain works well.

Waves Clarity Vx vs Voice Isolate — Plugin vs Browser-Based Noise Removal

Choosing between Waves Clarity Vx (a DAW plugin) and a browser-based audio cleanup tool for noise removal?

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