Waves Audio is now shipping the Waves Berzerk, the first in a new line of distortion plugins.

Waves Berzerk is designed for “wild, unhinged and creative” distortion and includes 10 distortion shapes, advanced feedback, pitch, dynamics, sidechaining and M/S options for versatile experimentation—plus a “Go Berzerk!” button for randomized, unpredictable distortion sonic madness.

Waves’ engineers started to design Berzerk by first amassing a large array of well-loved distortion units of all types: amps, tube devices, stomp boxes and old analog units. They then went on to develop  custom wave shapes, based on their all-time favorite distortion curves.

Waves Berzerk includes 10 unique shapes, each with its own ‘personality’. Some transform the sound to add grit, dirt and character; others sonic extremes.

The “Go Berzerk!” button creates random variations in each waveshape, letting you personalize the signal. Turn the Density knob to shift the waveshape in amplitude; the unique Feedback section is like an on-board analog synth. It can either run a tunable sine wave through the signal, producing interesting bass lines, melodies or rhythms; or it can oscillate while “riding” the input—think “crazy” synthesized vocal FX. It also includes a Speed knob to shape the groove, as well as octave, pitch, range and blend adjustments—all of which you can sidechain.

The Dynamics section sits before the distortion and twists the character of the generated harmonics. The “Up/Down” knob controls a gate/expander, which, after setting the threshold, will affect the range of sound affected by the clipper. The “Rider” option rides the amount of gain hitting the distortion, giving you full dynamic control.

Berzerk also offers unique M/S processing, distorting just the mids or just the sides when needed; a master Temperature knob to control the overall color and feel of the output; and an overall mix knob.

Features:

• 10 original distortion shapes with wildly different personalities
• “Go Berzerk” button to randomize each distortion shape in surprising ways
• Versatile Feedback oscillation section with pitch/speed controls, int/ext sidechaining & more
• Dynamics section to gate, expand or ride the input into the distortion
• M/S processing enables to distort just mids or just sides while leaving the rest clean
• Detailed EQ section
• Temperature control to set overall signal color & warmth

Here’s an example of Drum Distortion with Berzerk:

Pricing and Availability

Berzerk is available now for $29 USD (normally $99).