Waves Maserati HMX

What Waves Maserati HMX Is For

Waves Maserati HMX is an enhancement plugin dedicated to keyboard instruments, designed to quickly add dimension and personality to takes that can sometimes be too "straight" or too dry. It is aimed at producers and mixers who want to give an acoustic piano more space and width, make a polysynth more lively, or place a keyboard in a coherent sonic environment without multiplying effects across multiple tracks.

Beyond keyboards, HMX can also serve as a creative tool on other sources: a light layer on drums or percussion can add air, relief, and a room impression, while a melodic instrument (clean guitar, pads, arpeggios) can gain presence and movement. The goal remains the same: enhance ambiance, texture, and stereo image with a very immediate workflow.

Main Features

Two sound engines: MODAL and BOUNCE

The core of Maserati HMX relies on two distinct approaches to process your keyboards according to the musical role of the part. MODAL targets more ethereal ambiances and a natural sense of width: it highlights the upper harmonics and attacks while adding spread and reverb to bring life to a piano or an accompaniment keyboard. It's a relevant choice for vocal demos, sensitive ballads, or any situation where elegant depth is sought without overloading the arrangement.

BOUNCE, on the other hand, is focused on energy and movement. By combining reverb and delay, it creates trails that help "glue" the keyboard to the groove and establish a more dynamic sense of space. This is particularly effective on rhythmic keyboards, funk parts, denser compings, or synths that need to breathe in a full band mix.

Stereo widening and playing enhancement

HMX is designed to reinforce what defines a keyboard's identity in a production: the relief of the playing, useful brightness, and stereo space occupation. MODAL can help widen a piano with a dosed chorus effect to avoid excess, while maintaining a usable center in the mix. You thus get a "bigger" and more inspiring instrument without necessarily increasing volume or EQ in an intrusive way.

Delay control: manual or tempo-synced

In BOUNCE mode, delay control allows building a depth that remains musical. You can adjust the delay manually for a free approach (useful on rubato passages or transitions), or sync it to the tempo to lock the movement to your DAW's rhythmic grid. The result: a feeling of "live-ness" and flow in the space, while keeping a fast and coherent workflow from one track to another.

A signature workflow for fast mixing

Designed in close collaboration with Tony Maserati, HMX favors a results-oriented approach: rather than starting from a complex chain (chorus, reverb, delay, widening), you choose the overall character (MODAL or BOUNCE) then adjust to place the keyboard exactly where you want it. It's an ideal solution to speed up mixing, homogenize multiple keyboard layers, and give an immediately recognizable sonic signature.

Technical specifications