CLA-76 by Waves: what it does + free alternatives
Classic FET compressor for aggressive vocals and drums.
Opens Waves's own site.
Put SCRAMBLE. on your drums, 808s and vocals
One button rolls a new FX chain: glitch, stutter, tape stop, chops, reverb, delay and vocal tune. There are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible chains, the same count as the positions of a 3x3 cube. Save 10,000 presets a day and 1% of them would take 118 billion years, over 8x the age of the universe.
Not just loops: drum buses, 808s and bass, hats, vocals and the master bus. 3,000+ downloads so far.
Free alternatives to CLA-76
All free compressors →
FreeTDR Kotelnikov
Super clean, mastering-grade compressor.
FreeMJUC jr.
Vari-mu style tube compressor with two knobs.
FreeDC1A
One-knob compressor that just sounds good on everything.
FreeRough Rider 3
Aggressive, pumping compressor for drums.
FreeLoudMax
Simple, transparent brickwall limiter.
FreeCouture (free edition)
Transient shaper: more punch or less attack in seconds.
FreeTDR Nova
Dynamic EQ: tame harshness and boom only when it happens.
FreeTDR VOS SlickEQ
Musical three-band EQ with built-in saturation.
FreeFresh Air
Adds high-end air and brightness in two knobs.
FreeYoulean Loudness Meter (free)
Check LUFS before you upload to streaming.
More paid mixing plugins
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Pro-Q 4
The EQ most engineers reach for first.
Pro-L 2
Transparent mastering limiter for loud, clean masters.
Pro-C 2
Flexible compressor for vocals, drums and buses.
Saturn 2
Multiband saturation and distortion.
Ozone
All-in-one mastering suite with an AI assistant.
CLA-76 FAQ
Is CLA-76 free?
No. CLA-76 is a paid mixing plugin from Waves. Free alternatives in the same lane include TDR Kotelnikov, MJUC jr. and DC1A.
What is CLA-76 used for?
Classic FET compressor for aggressive vocals and drums.
When does CLA-76 go on sale?
Many plugin makers run their biggest discounts around Black Friday (November 27, 2026) and Cyber Monday. Check Waves's own page for the current price; we list confirmed sales on our Black Friday page.