Steinberg Wavelab 9

[Guy Rowland]

Wavelab 9 is out. Here's the new UI video



And full details here - http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/wavelab/start.html

UK price is £428, with various update discounts.

[Tobias Escher]

WL9 has been released.
This is an outstanding release in my opinion. Makes WL workable for the regular user. Earlier versions had a very convoluted UI.
I can actually see myself using WL9 for curtting CDs and so on.

[wst3]

I am very tempted! I skipped V8, and sat on the fence about 8.5, but 9 looks like something I could use. At $200 for the upgrade it isn't a no-brainer, but I will be thinking about it!

[Ian Dorsch]

I've been on version 6 for years. Trigger finger is reeeeal itchy

[wst3]

I'm with you Ian - I upgraded to 7, I think, for the 64 bit compatibility, and just didn't find a compelling reason to upgrade to 8 or 8.5.

V9 has me checking for loose change under cushions.

[Jack Weaver]

Finally had a chance to see the intro videos. Wow, I have v.8.5, but this version is a whole new world. An incredible step up. Very well thought out. Good new workflow and some incredible plugins.

It seems like if you do much mastering then v.9 is the way to go. If I was a Cubase user (which for better or worse I'm not) that would be a great combo of MIDI, mixing and mastering. Too bad Pro Tools doesn't have that kind of integration with their own editing and mastering program. Avid is missing the boat here.

It's unfortunate that true parameter automation and real surround editing and output are still missing. So they still have a ways to push it into greater professional viability.

Nonetheless, I'll have to keep this in mind. Quite impressed.

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[RobS]

Slightly O.T. does anyone know if it's possible to have the reverb tail keep lingering on when playback is stopped in Wavelab?

[Raymond_Kemp]

Slightly O.T. does anyone know if it's possible to have the reverb tail keep lingering on when playback is stopped in Wavelab?

Not unless you are processing the audio file with a hardware reverb to your playback system.

[RobS]

Slightly O.T. does anyone know if it's possible to have the reverb tail keep lingering on when playback is stopped in Wavelab?

Not unless you are processing the audio file with a hardware reverb to your playback system.

thank you Ray, seems like something that should be implemented to me...

[Jack Weaver]

Yeah, it would be great if it spanned the gap between DAW and mastering software a bit more.

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[Raymond_Kemp]

I'm quite pleased with this version. So many folks talk about it being simpler to understand but I've been working with all versions up to 8.5 to where I was confident in getting the job done. This needs a bit of playing around with but I absolutely see the pros in the new layout.
One thing that comes up already as a bonus is the relatively simple task of using the plugin Kush Audio Electra where I can process the left and right channels separately (dual mode) just by having two instances in the master section. The ease in splitting the audio L/R or M/S is welcome.
It isn't that it couldn't be done before but just, now it's so straightforward and quick. Yes, I'm very pleased with this and Cubase 8.5 integration.
Bugs? nothing that gets my knickers in a twist.

[RobS]

I'm liking it as well... it's also a lot nicer and tidy

[Guy Rowland]

I'm just toying with getting the Elements version for the Macbook instead of running Audition in Windows. Only 3 tracks in their multitrack mode, but that doesn't bother me too much, and I think 5 fx slots on the master should be ok for life on the road - all I really need is a good VST host, quick and efficient editing tools. Any thoughts from any users if it would be good for this? I realise I'll be missing out on the Cubase 8 Pro integration, but really do want a dongle-free solution.

[RobS]

for what I use it for, audio manipulation or final retouching/eq/mastering etc I'm quite satisfied with WL9 elements. 5 effects slots+1 final before rendering are more than enough for me... but you have more professional requirements I suspect compared to mine

[playz123]

I upgraded to the full version since that's what I've been using since Wavelab was first released years ago. I am liking the new version, and am actually finding it more stable than 8.5 One glitch right now though...some controllers such as my Steinberg CC121 are not working properly with Wavelab 9. Philippe has acknowledged the problem though, and a fix is promised in the next maintenance release.

[Guy Rowland]

Folks, I'm just getting to grips with Elements 9, and it's a pretty rocky experience for me. Two very very basic things I'm struggling with:

1. Return cursor to start position on stop (default behaviour as opposed to needing another keypress) [EDIT 3 - someone at the Sternberg forum posted the solution, it's right click on the stop button in the transport control of all things], and
2. Applying an effect to a selection (as opposed to the entire track on the master bus)

Both these must be embarrassingly simple that I've missed them?

EDIT- figured out a convoluted way to do #2, by adding a plugin in the master section, looping the audio manually to set the effect, rendering the effect in place, unbypassing the whole master section, bypassing the effect in the master section - only to discover the edit was poor or something. Surely something more elegant than this?

EDIT 2 - minor improvement - figured out there's a render in place button on the plugin. However it's still pretty cumbersome, being as you need to add it to the master section, loop manually (seriously no way to preview a looped highlighted selection with one click?!), then bypass the effect (which is now in-line across the master bus) and audition across the join. Again, any tips to improve on this very gratefully received - at the moment I'm figuring I made a horrible mistake with Wavelab.

[RobS]

in the render tab, set "source" to "selected audio range", and the rendering is applied to selection only...

[Guy Rowland]

Thanks Rob - yes, that's where I got to. It still does seem awfully clumsy. In either Cubase, PT or Audition you just highlight a section, choose your plugin, preview to get it right and render.

It's one of those things that coming to it cold is quite inexplicable in its operation, doubly so because Steinberg's own Cubase has the functionality built right in. The big conceptual flaw is that it seems you only have access to the plugins on the master bus, so you have to work around that the whole time. Oh, and there's no one-click preview of your selection either.

So have to say my initial impressions are very underwhelming. I know much was made of the improvements in 9, I shudder to think how 8 was. The core workflow seems very poor.

[Raymond_Kemp]

Are two effects per clip not enough for you?
The price difference between Pro and Elements is enormous so I can only think many of the things I take for granted just aren't available to you.

[Guy Rowland]

Are two effects per clip not enough for you?
The price difference between Pro and Elements is enormous so I can only think many of the things I take for granted just aren't available to you.

I don't think any of my issues are specific to Elements, they are common to both. I think I get 5 effects slots in the Master, that's perfectly fine. Since I have a lot of great third party effects, I don't miss any of those from the full version - I can even insert Ozone in one slot which itself can host a ton of effects.

My issue is to do with the cumbersome workflow to apply any effect to a selection rather than the whole track - that's a serious hinderance.

[RobS]

I guess it's about how you're used to work... me, I prefer WL's way, over audition or soundforge. Don't like to have to open a separate window for the effect, I find that cumbersome... load two/three fx in the master, turn them on/off until I'm satisfied, then render, that's how I like it to be.

[Guy Rowland]

I guess it's about how you're used to work... me, I prefer WL's way, over audition or soundforge. Don't like to have to open a separate window for the effect, I find that cumbersome... load two/three fx in the master, turn them on/off until I'm satisfied, then render, that's how I like it to be.

That's fine for whole-track mastering, but it doesn't work if you're doing a fix within a track. Its the reason why Cubase, Pro Tools and Audition all have the ability to work in both ways - in Cubase you can use Audio Process or add in the master section; in Pro Tools you can use AudioSuite or again insert sends in your master bus, in Audition you either apply single effects to a selection or whole track in Wave editor, or stack plugins in multitrack.