Explainer
Rider vs Waves Vocal Rider: Vocal Rider Plugins Compared (2026)
Updated 3 min read
Waves Vocal Rider and Rider do the same job: they ride a vocal's volume toward a target level so every word sits in the mix without the tone change of heavy compression. Waves Vocal Rider is the long-standing standard, with zero latency, a music-relative sidechain mode and editable automation output. Rider listens 20 ms ahead and adds separate breath control and a noise floor, for €29 once. Pick Waves for live use and automation; pick Rider for studio vocals, rap and podcasts where breaths and room noise matter.
Rider vs Waves Vocal Rider at a glance
What it does
- Rider
- Rides vocal level toward a target
- Waves Vocal Rider
- Rides vocal level toward a target
Price
- Rider
- €29 once
- Waves Vocal Rider
- $199 list, usually on sale; also in Waves subscriptions
Formats
- Rider
- VST3, AU, AAX
- Waves Vocal Rider
- VST3, AU, AAX (Native and AudioSuite)
Latency
- Rider
- 20 ms (lookahead, compensated)
- Waves Vocal Rider
- Zero latency
Ride relative to the music
- Rider
- No
- Waves Vocal Rider
- Yes, via sidechain
Writes DAW automation
- Rider
- No
- Waves Vocal Rider
- Yes
Lookahead
- Rider
- 5–20 ms, so it moves before a loud word
- Waves Vocal Rider
- No lookahead needed (real-time)
Breath control
- Rider
- Yes, a dedicated control
- Waves Vocal Rider
- Not a separate control
Ride direction
- Rider
- Up and down, up only or down only
- Waves Vocal Rider
- Up and down within its range
What Waves Vocal Rider does well
Waves Vocal Rider has been a mixing staple for years. It rides gain with zero latency, so it works on live vocals and while tracking. Its sidechain input lets it ride the vocal relative to the music, pushing words up when the track gets louder. And it can write its moves as automation in your DAW, so you can see every ride and fix one word by hand. It also runs in AudioSuite in Pro Tools and on Waves' live-mixing platforms.
What Rider does well
Rider steers the vocal's short-term loudness toward your Target within a Range of up to 12 dB, at the Speed you set. Its detector listens to the voice band so S sounds and plosives don't throw it off, and its 20 ms lookahead means it starts lowering a loud word before it arrives. Breath control finds breaths between phrases and tucks them down on their own, and the Floor stops it lifting room noise and bleed in the gaps. Direction can limit it to lifting quiet words only or taming loud ones only. 42 presets cover pop, rap, podcasts, backing vocals and live mics.
Where Waves Vocal Rider is stronger
- Zero latency, which matters for live sound and for monitoring through it while recording.
- Music-relative riding through the sidechain, so the vocal follows the track's dynamics.
- Automation output you can edit word by word.
- Track record: it's been on countless sessions and many engineers already know it.
Where Rider is stronger
- A dedicated Breath control that keeps breaths down even when the ride lifts the quiet words around them, plus a Floor in dB below which nothing is boosted.
- Lookahead, so it catches loud words on time instead of reacting after the fact.
- One-way modes (up only, down only) for ad-libs and stacks.
- Simple pricing: €29 once, no subscription, no iLok, and every preset plays in your browser first.
Which should you choose?
- Live vocals, tracking through it, or you want automation lanes: Waves Vocal Rider.
- You already subscribe to Waves: it's included, so start there.
- Studio vocals, rap verses and podcasts with breaths and room noise: Rider.
- Either way: put the rider before your compressor so the compressor does less work. Our vocal rider vs compressor guide explains why.
Try Rider in your browser
FAQ
What does Waves Vocal Rider do?
It automatically rides a vocal's level toward a target, like an engineer moving the fader, so quiet words come up and loud ones come down. It can also ride relative to the music through a sidechain, and write its moves as automation you can edit.
How much is Waves Vocal Rider?
As of November 2026, its list price on the Waves site is $199, but it is almost always on sale for much less; on 3 November 2026 it was $29.99. It's also included in Waves' Essential and Ultimate subscriptions.
Is a vocal rider better than a compressor?
They do different jobs. A rider moves the overall level of words and phrases slowly, like a fader, without changing the tone; a compressor reacts fast and shapes the sound. Using a rider first and a gentler compressor after it sounds the most natural.
Does Rider add latency?
Yes, a fixed 20 ms, because it listens ahead to move before a loud word arrives. Your DAW's delay compensation keeps it in time on playback. For live sound or monitoring while tracking, a zero-latency rider such as Waves Vocal Rider is the better fit.