Waves Doubler doubling plug-in: features and spec-based rating

Waves’ Waves Doubler is a plug-in that creates a doubling effect (the effect of double-tracking) on a vocal. Each of its four voices has a delay (up to 100 milliseconds), pitch wobble, pan and volume, and there are more than 50 presets.

A harmony and doubling plug-in makes harmonies from a single vocal, or gives it the thickness of several people singing.

In this article we compare Waves Doubler with 10 harmony and doubling plug-ins and rate how well it serves its purpose on three criteria. The basis is official manufacturer information.

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Summary

Among the 10 harmony and doubling plug-ins, Waves Doubler is rank B. The ranks run S, A, B and C, and B is third from the top. Averaging the scores for the three criteria (out of 5) gives 3.3.

Strengths

• Per-voice adjustment (4 points): you can adjust each created voice in detail to finish naturally.

Who it suits: people who want to thicken and widen a vocal without the effort of recording it twice.

Main features of Waves Doubler

Doubling with four voices

There are four independent voices, and each can have a delay of up to 100 milliseconds and feedback. Layering voices with slightly different timing gives the thickness of double-tracking.

Pitch wobble for each voice

For each voice you can set the amount and speed of the pitch wobble. There is detune (shifting the pitch) of up to ±100 cents and a switch that lowers a voice by one octave. This keeps the voices from being exactly the same and brings the layering closer to natural.

Set pan and volume on screen

On the graphic screen you can drag to set the volume and pan of each voice. By spreading the voices left and right, you can also widen a mono sound.

Output filters

The output has high and low shelving filters, so you can shape the tone of the layered voices.

Where it is useful

• Thickening and widening backing vocals
• Adding a thin doubling to the lead vocal in the chorus
• Spreading an acoustic guitar left and right

Rating by criterion

Range of effects: 3 / 5

We check how many of harmonies, same-pitch voice layering (doubling), choir and stereo width it can make.

It makes doubling with four voices, and stereo width with pan. No function for making harmonies at different pitches is listed.

Speed: 3 / 5

We check whether you can get an effect quickly, for example by choosing or automatic creation.

You can choose from more than 50 presets. The delay and wobble for each voice are set by hand.

Per-voice adjustment: 4 / 5

We check whether you can make the created voices sound natural (for example by shifting the timing or tone of each voice).

Each of the four voices has delay, pitch wobble, detune, pan and volume. There is no change of tone for each voice.

How we score (Harmony and doubling plug-ins)

Criterion	Basis	5 pt	4 pt	3 pt	2 pt	1 pt
Range of effects	Which of harmonies, same-pitch voice layering (doubling or choir) and stereo width are officially described	All three	—	Two of the three	One of the three	—
Speed	How quickly you can get an effect (automatic creation, just choosing, presets)	Parts can be created automatically (harmonies that follow the key or chord, or doubling from the original voice)	The effect is decided just by choosing the number or type of voices	Choose from presets	Detailed settings are needed	—
Per-voice adjustment	Features that make the created voices sound natural	Tone, vibrato, pan and more can be changed for each voice	Variation between voices, or per-voice volume and pan, can be adjusted	The tone and wobble of the whole effect can be adjusted	Volume and pan only	—

Each criterion is scored from 1 to 5 on how well the product serves one goal: adding harmonies, thickness and width to a vocal. Scores follow the conditions in the table above. So that products that make harmonies and products that double (layer the same pitch) can be compared by the same standard, there are three criteria: "Range of effects", "Speed" and "Per-voice adjustment". The basis is official manufacturer information. The naturalness of the sound has not been compared by ear, so it is not part of the score. Price is not part of the score. Features that cannot be confirmed from the manufacturer's or a retailer's description are scored as if absent. The "OBS (streaming)" column in the table shows whether the official page lists the VST2 format that the streaming software OBS Studio can use (○). OBS does not support the VST3 format. It is not part of the score.

Waves Doubler system requirements and getting started

Operating system	Windows 10 or later / Mac (macOS 12 to 15)
Plug-in formats	VST, AAX (Windows); VST, AU, AAX (Mac)
Trial	Not listed on the retailer’s product page
OBS (streaming)	Works with conditions (via Waves’ StudioRack)

Checked on the manufacturer’s official pages on October 17, 2026.

Compared with other harmony and doubling plug-ins

Click a heading to sort. On a phone, the table scrolls sideways.

Read next

• Quadravox: features and rating (rank B)
• MicroPitch: features and rating (rank B)
• Harmony Engine: features and rating (rank S)
• Choir: features and rating (rank A)