Wave Arts
Wave Arts is a US-based developer of professional audio DSP plugins for digital audio workstations, founded in 1998, serving mixing, mastering, post-production, and game audio professionals via perpetual licenses sold direct-to-consumer.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersArlington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Wave Arts does
Wave Arts is a privately held US-based developer of professional audio DSP plugins for digital audio workstations, founded in 1998 by MIT Media Lab Ph.D. Bill Gardner following his seven-year tenure at Kurzweil Music Systems. The company's product portfolio centers on the Power Suite 7 bundle — TrackPlug 7 (channel strip), MasterVerb 7 (reverb), FinalPlug 7 (peak limiter), MultiDynamics 7 (multi-band dynamics), and Panorama 7 (HRTF-based 3D binaural spatializer) — complemented by the Master Restoration Suite 6, Tube Saturator 2, Dialog 2, and the free Convology XT, IR Capture, and Sofa2Pan utilities. Core technology rests on proprietary DSP algorithms covering reverberation, multiband dynamics with custom crossover networks, tube preamp circuit simulation, and HRTF/SOFA-based spatial audio, all developed in-house.
The business operates on a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model through wavearts.com, powered by FastSpring with global distribution, educational discounts, and 30-day fully functional demos for all paid products. Revenue is generated primarily through one-time perpetual plugin licenses, version upgrade purchases (v5/v6 to v7), IR library sales via the Impulse Record storefront, and technology licensing to third parties (notably 2K Sports for NBA 2K). GTM is product-led, anchored by free plugins that funnel users into paid upgrades and bundles, with marketing driven by named endorsements from Grammy-nominated, Emmy-nominated, and MPSE-awarded professionals in music, film/TV post-production, and game audio.
Wave Arts serves four primary customer segments: professional recording studios, film/TV/game audio professionals (composers, re-recording mixers, sound designers), musicians and audio enthusiasts, and broadcast facilities. As of September 2025, the company is operated by sole founder Bill Gardner following his transition to a full-time engineering position elsewhere, with the site, downloads, purchasing, registration, and customer support maintained for the foreseeable future in a maintenance posture.
Wave Arts firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wave Arts
- Legal name
- Wave Arts
- Website
- https://wavearts.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Wave Arts is a US-based developer of professional audio DSP plugins for digital audio workstations, founded in 1998, serving mixing, mastering, post-production, and game audio professionals via perpetual licenses sold direct-to-consumer.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wave Arts industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Audio Production Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX) (MPAIAIAB)
Keywords
Where Wave Arts is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Arlington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Wave Arts business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Plugin Licenses (One-time Purchase): One-time purchase model for professional audio plugins. Customers buy a serial number/license for the number of users or machines. Supports Wave Arts licensing (up to 3 machines) or Pace/iLok licensing.
- Upgrade Purchases: Reduced pricing for upgrades from legacy products (v5, v6) to current versions (v7). Upgrade prices vary by product (TrackPlug v6 to v7: $25, v5 to v7: $50).
- IR Library Purchases: Convolution reverb impulse response libraries sold through Impulse Record storefront. Bundles include Vintage Complete ($274), Real Spaces Complete ($159), True Stereo Complete ($124).
- Technology Licensing: Licensing of proprietary audio processing algorithms to other companies. Example: 2K Sports licenses Wave Arts' audio processing algorithms for NBA 2K video game.
- Free Products (Conversion Funnel): Free plugins (Convology XT, Tube Saturator Vintage, IR Capture) drive user adoption and future paid upgrades/bundles.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Power Suite 7 - Complete bundle of 5 plugins |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Individual Plugin Upgrades |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | IR Libraries - Individual |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | IR Library Bundles |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Convology XT - Free Plugin |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Plugins |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Wave Arts product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wave Arts develops and sells professional audio DSP plug-ins that run inside digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton Live, Cubase, and Reaper. Its products cover channel-strip processing, reverb, peak limiting, multi-band dynamics, 3D binaural spatialization, audio restoration, tube saturation, and dialog cleanup, sold as individual plug-ins or bundled in the Power Suite 7 and Master Restoration Suite 6 suites. Wave Arts also licenses its proprietary audio processing algorithms to third parties such as 2K Sports for use in the NBA 2K video game series.
Product overview
Wave Arts is a professional audio software company founded in 1998 by MIT Media Lab Ph.D. Bill Gardner, specializing in audio processing plugins for digital audio workstations. The product portfolio centers on Power Suite 7, a comprehensive bundle of five core plugins: TrackPlug 7 (channel strip with EQ, gate, compressor, transient shaper, and tube saturator), MasterVerb 7 (multi-algorithm reverb), FinalPlug 7 (peak limiter with loudness metering), MultiDynamics 7 (multi-band dynamics processor), and Panorama 7 (3D HRTF-based binaural spatializer). The ecosystem also includes Master Restoration Suite 6 (containing MR Noise, MR Hum, MR Click, and MR Gate for audio cleanup), standalone plugins Tube Saturator 2 and Tube Saturator Vintage (circuit simulation of tube amplifiers), and Dialog 2 (spoken voice processing). Free offerings include Convology XT (convolution reverb with extensive built-in IR libraries), IR Capture (impulse response measurement application), and Sofa2Pan (SOFA HRIR format converter). Wave Arts operates as a one-person business following the owner's transition to a full-time position elsewhere, maintaining operations for downloads, purchasing, and customer support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Convology XT: Free convolution reverb plugin developed in collaboration with Impulse Record, featuring vintage and real spaces impulse response libraries.
- Power Suite 7
- Master Restoration Suite 6
Products and services
- Power Suite 7 Bundle of five professional audio plug-ins (TrackPlug 7 channel strip, MasterVerb 7 reverb, FinalPlug 7 peak limiter, MultiDynamics 7 multi-band dynamics, Panorama 7 3D spatializer) for mixing, mastering, and sound design in DAWs.
- TrackPlug 7 All-in-one channel strip plug-in combining gate/expander, compressor with sidechain EQ, 10-band parametric EQ, transient processor, tube saturator, and peak limiter for mixing engineers.
- MasterVerb 7
Quantifiable outcome
- Plug-ins are CPU efficient and don't hog system resources
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Wave Arts
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Wave Arts technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability1 record
Feature8 records
Wave Arts partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Impulse RecordcoreWave Arts and Impulse Record collaborated on Convology XT: Wave Arts wrote the convolution reverb plug-in, and Impulse Record provided the impulse responses. The product is primarily branded as an Impulse Record product, with library purchases handled through the Impulse Record storefront. Wave Arts provides registration and licensing infrastructure.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Wave Arts competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Universal Audio (UAD): Universal Audio sells both DSP-accelerated and native plugins (channel strips, reverbs, limiters) plus hardware, directly competing with Wave Arts' Power Suite 7 bundle for studio and project-studio customers.
- FabFilter: FabFilter is a Dutch pro audio plugin developer offering EQ, compressor, reverb, de-esser, and limiter plugins that directly overlap Wave Arts' TrackPlug, MasterVerb, FinalPlug, and MultiDynamics categories. Comparable size, target market, and perpetual license pricing model.
- Arturia: Arturia offers audio effects plugins (REV PLATE-140, TUBE-STA, Efx FRAGMENTS) alongside software instruments, sharing Wave Arts' plugin-only model and targeting similar home and professional music producers.
- iZotope: iZotope (now part of Native Instruments) makes RX, Ozone, Neutron, and Nectar, directly competing with Wave Arts' restoration, mastering, multiband dynamics, and channel strip offerings. Targets the same professional and prosumer mixing/mastering engineer base.
- Slate Digital: Slate Digital sells analog-modeled channel strips, compressors, and EQs (Virtual Console Collection, FG-X) targeting the same mixing engineer segment as Wave Arts' TrackPlug with a comparable perpetual license plus subscription hybrid model.
- Eventide: Eventide makes high-end effects plugins (H910, Blackhole, Instant Phaser) and hardware for pro audio, overlapping with Wave Arts' reverb and creative processing category and serving similar film/TV/game audio professionals.
- Soundtoys: Soundtoys produces pro audio effects plugins (EchoBoy, Decapitator, FilterFreak) used by mixing engineers, parallel to Wave Arts' tube saturation and creative processing tools, serving the same film/music mixing customer base.
- Waves Audio: Waves is one of the largest pro audio plugin companies, offering channel strips, reverbs, limiters, multiband compressors, and spatial audio plugins serving the same music production, post-production, and broadcast customers as Wave Arts, with similar VST/AU/AAX delivery.
Broad incumbents
- Native Instruments: Native Instruments is a broad music technology incumbent spanning instruments, effects, and production platforms, including iZotope. While not a single-plugin competitor, it competes with Wave Arts' full-suite value proposition for the same end users.
- Plugin Alliance: Plugin Alliance is a marketplace aggregator for boutique plugin brands (Brainworx, SPL, TBT, elysia), competing with Wave Arts by offering deep catalogs and bundle deals that a single-brand Wave Arts cannot match.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Wave Arts social profiles
Digital presenceWave Arts financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wave Arts leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Wave Arts funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wave Arts M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wave Arts
What does Wave Arts do?
Wave Arts develops and sells professional audio DSP plug-ins that run inside digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton Live, Cubase, and Reaper. Its products cover channel-strip processing, reverb, peak limiting, multi-band dynamics, 3D binaural spatialization, audio restoration, tube saturation, and dialog cleanup, sold as individual plug-ins or bundled in the Power Suite 7 and Master Restoration Suite 6 suites. Wave Arts also licenses its proprietary audio processing algorithms to third parties such as 2K Sports for use in the NBA 2K video game series.
Is Wave Arts a public or private company?
Wave Arts is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Wave Arts founded?
Wave Arts was founded in 1998. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Wave Arts based?
Wave Arts is headquartered in Arlington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Wave Arts make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Plugin Licenses (One-time Purchase) is the primary driver. The others are upgrade Purchases, IR Library Purchases, technology Licensing and free Products (Conversion Funnel).
Who are Wave Arts's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Universal Audio (UAD), FabFilter, Arturia, iZotope, Slate Digital, Eventide, Soundtoys and Waves Audio. Broad incumbents are Native Instruments and Plugin Alliance.
Does Wave Arts have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wave Arts.
What industry is Wave Arts in?
Wave Arts's product category is Professional Audio Production Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIAIAB, Audio Plugins & Virtual Instruments (VST/AU/AAX).