The CLA-3A is a compressor/limiter that combines the fast attack of solid-state circuitry with the gentle release of optical compression.

It is an exact model of the original hardware unit from Chris Lord-Alge’s personal collection and delivers the tight, punchy compression that played an important role in 1970s studios – without tube colouration and with only a slight hint of harmonic distortion. This makes it a favourite on guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, staying transparent even when you slam peak reduction hard. Two main controls and one switch are all you need, while the Mix control for parallel compression, Trim, sidechain input, an option to favour high frequencies against harshness and optional noise and hum extend its range. Chris Lord-Alge’s own presets, based on his mixes for Foo Fighters, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen, are included.

Features

• Modelled on Chris Lord-Alge’s personal unit
• Transparent sound, even with significant compression
• Limiter mode to increase sustain
• Mix control for parallel compression and Trim for quick level adjustment
• Optional subtle hiss and hum
• Zero latency for studio and live mixing

Technical details

• Operating systems: Windows, macOS
• Plug-in formats: VST3, Audio Unit (macOS only), AAX
• Architecture: 64 bit
• Licensing: licence key, machine-bound or USB flash drive (via Waves Central)

System requirements

• macOS 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia, 26 Tahoe or 27 Golden Gate (Apple silicon or Intel)
• Windows 10 64-bit (version 22H2) or Windows 11 (Intel or AMD, x64)
• 16 GB RAM
• 30 GB free disk space on the system drive

The licence is registered with the manufacturer at https://www.waves.com/downloads/central. You will receive your serial number and the download link by e-mail immediately after purchase.