Water 3

Name: Water 3
Author: Acustica Audio

by Acustica Audio · Channel Strip · Germanium limiter and EQ

Not rated yet

Water 3 pairs a diode-bridge limiter/compressor and a passive germanium EQ sampled from 1960s Austrian hardware with transformers.

Hyper 2 adds attack, hold, power, morph and external sidechain controls; the shop page did not show a price.

Best for: Mix Bus, Mastering, Vocals, Drum Bus. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: germanium, 60s, diode-bridge, transformer, bus processing, external sidechain, sidechain input, vintage, analog-sounding, classic, full mix, warm, drum bus, gentle, glue, hardware emulation, mastering, mix bus, mixing, modern, oversampling, resizable UI, transistor, tube, vocals.

What it does

Water 3 models 1960s Austrian hardware hand-built around germanium transistors and audio transformers. The developer describes its colour as "reminiscent of classic legendary tube devices", reworked to be more useful for modern production.

Limiter/compressor: a discrete diode-bridge design with transformer colour; a review identifies the source as a rare 1968 WSW (Siemens) 601430S unit with modifications.
Compressor controls: adjustable release and ratio, plus the newer Attack, Hold Attack, Hold Release, Power and Morph controls and an external sidechain.
Passive EQ: a stereo germanium equalizer based on a 1961 unit, with three fixed bands and a high-pass filter.
Channel strip: a combined strip version is included alongside the separate compressor and EQ, according to the review read.
Hyper engine: the updated emulation adds oversampling, numeric parameter values and a resizable interface, with lower CPU load than Water 2.

KVR's listing is for an older generation.

Source: Acustica Audio product page

When to use it

Water 3 is the pick for thick vintage colour from a rarer kind of compressor: its diode-bridge limiter and germanium EQ sound warmer and more coloured than VCA bus compressors like the SSL G-Master Buss Compressor or The Glue. Compared with full channel strips such as Scheps Omni Channel or Native Channel Strip 2, it has far fewer tools; its EQ has only three fixed bands. The reviewer found the compressor the essential part, with the EQ and strip more situational. The same review found it CPU-intensive, so it suits a few key buses better than every track.

Best for: vintage colour and gentle limiting on buses and masters, and characterful compression on single sources.
Genres: any; the strong analog colour suits vintage and organic styles more than clean modern ones.
Look elsewhere if: you want a clean, transparent bus compressor (Pro-C 3) or a full-featured strip (Scheps Omni Channel).

What producers say

The one review read rates the compressor highly and the EQ as a nice extra.

Raya Sound Art Studio called the compressor the "must-have" part, praising its "warm, analogue sound" and finding it better than Water 2's.
Criticisms: the analog vibe "can sometimes be overwhelming" in modern genres, CPU use is high, and the channel strip leaves out advanced features.

Raya Sound Art Studio review

Where to buy

Acustica Audio: see store

Tutorials and reviews

Similar plugins

Virelia by Mixland · Passive EQ and PWM compressor · $37.99
Cobalt 2 by Acustica Audio · Tube EQ and compressor suite · $203.25
BLYSS by Kush Audio · Mastering channel (saturation, EQ, compressor) · $99
NFuse by Kiive Audio · Dual-path hybrid bus processor · $99
U17 by NEOLD · Diode-bridge compressor · $125
D.W. Fearn VT-15 by MixWave · Tube EQ and compressor channel · $199
Sunglow by Acustica Audio · Class A British console strip
EChannel by Eventide · Simple channel strip · $49
UniChannel by United Plugins · Vintage channel strip · $37

All channel strips & consoles