Waves Abbey Road RS124 Compressor

Waves Abbey Road RS124 Compressor - Plugin | The Secret Weapon of a Legendary Studio, Recreating The Beatles' Classic Bass Tone

You've heard it on nearly every recording by The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios. Most famously, on Paul McCartney's immortal bass lines. This heavily modified Altec compressor was Abbey Road's "secret weapon" for a reason. Now, meticulously modeled by Waves, the legendary sound of the Abbey Road RS124 can finally be a core part of your music creation. This rare tube compressor has infused countless classic tracks with its unique compression character.

From history to the modern era, the charm of the RS124 has not diminished. Grammy-winning mix engineer Tony Maserati is a devoted fan, using its unique compression texture on the vocals of Beyoncé and Alicia Keys to create a warm and powerful sound. The original RS124 was Abbey Road's modification of the Altec 436B compressor, with only 25 units ever produced. It shaped the thick, creamy texture of nearly all of Paul McCartney's Beatles bass lines, with the classic song "Come Together" being a prime example. Now, you don't need to own the priceless hardware to easily get this legendary compressor with the Waves plugin, bringing a revolutionary change to your mixing and mastering workflow.

Key Features & Applications

Recreate Legendary Bass Tones
Abbey Road engineers would often push the input signal to 15-20 dB of gain reduction, resulting in an incredibly rich and lush compression effect. This is the secret to Paul McCartney's classic bass tone. With the RS124, you can easily recreate that thick, warm, and dynamic legendary sound, making your bass, vocals, or any instrument stand out in the mix.

Two Classic Models to Choose From
Due to the nature of hand-modding, no two original RS124 units sounded exactly alike. Waves has precisely modeled two of the most iconic units: the Studio model simulates the famous 60070B unit, which has faster attack and release times for a more aggressive sound that effectively tames transients; while the Cutter model has a slower attack time, a characteristic favored by Abbey Road's mastering rooms, making it more suitable for bus compression and mastering.

The Ultimate Destructive Aesthetic
Want to make the RS124 even more aggressive? The exclusive Super Fuse mode matches the release time to the attack time, creating a brutal compression character that sounds like it's "fighting itself." Try this mode on your drum bus to completely crush the room sound, or make your beats jump out of the speakers with unprecedented impact.

Modern Workflow Integration
While preserving the authentic classic sound, Waves has added several features needed for modern mixing. In addition to stereo, dual mono, and mono processing, it includes Mid-Side processing capabilities; smooth out the sound with a High-frequency roll-off; remove low-frequency interference from the trigger signal with a Sidechain Highpass filter; and easily achieve parallel compression with the Dry/Mix knob.

Tech Specs

• Sample Rate Support: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 176.4 kHz, 192 kHz
• Channel Processing: Mono-to-Mono, Stereo, Dual Mono, Mid-Side
• Latency: 0 ms
• Max Level: -0.1 dBFS
• Plugin Formats (Windows): AAX Native (64-bit), VST3
• Plugin Formats (Mac): AAX Native (64-bit), Audio Units (AU), VST3
• CPU Support: Supports Intel Core i5 / i7 / i9 / Xeon / Apple M1, M2 & M3 series processors
• Operating System (Mac): macOS Catalina 10.15, Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14
• Operating System (Windows): Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11
• Activation: Requires Waves Central application for online activation or offline authorization to a USB flash drive