by Steve Cunningham
Like so many other businesses in the 21st century, the audio software business is changing. In some ways audio software has become something of a commodity, as the differences between Pro Tools and Audition and Sound Forge and Wave Editor and Twisted Wave are not measured by sound quality; they all sound good, and only dogs can hear the differences. What differentiates them is their workflows and user interfaces. Once esoteric DSP-based software has become commonplace. Heck, you can record, edit, and mix on an iPhone if you’re so inclined.
In an effort to differentiate themselves, some companies are going cross-platform. Cockos was smart to introduce Reaper in both Mac and PC formats; Adobe introduced Audition for the Mac in an effort to steal some Pro Tools thunder; Avid’s defense was to remove the hardware requirement from the already cross-platform Pro Tools software. Steinberg, went cross-platform a while ago with Cubase and Nuendo. Now the company has granted a long-standing wish of mine by releasing its WaveLab 7 stereo editor in both Windows and Macintosh formats. This is a big deal for me personally... I kept a Pentium 4-powered Windows XP box around for a long time just to run WaveLab.
WaveLab 7 is available as a “full” version, with all the bells and whistles I’m used to, and in a slightly cut-down but still useful version called WaveLab 7 Elements (more about those below). In addition, both versions have been updated from version 6 in several ways having to do with workflow, and so far I like ‘em. Let’s have a look.
HOOK IT UP
The system requirements for Wavelab 7 are reasonable. The only real differences on the PC side is that Windows 7 is now the only supported operating system. Win XP and Vista will run (I did try it on the old XP box, but it simply ran out of RAM and thus didn’t perform well), but you’re on your own for support on anything but Win 7. WaveLab wants to see a 2GB processor and a Core Duo is recommended, although it seems to me that the best performance will be on a Core 2 Duo or better. The same goes for RAM; Steinberg says 1GHz is the recommended RAM, but I don’t think you’re going to like the performance. 2GB would seem a better minimum, and 4GB would be smokin’. More is more when it comes to RAM, that’s for sure.
The requirements are similar on the Mac side, including the CPU and RAM, but of course the operating system is Snow Leopard, aka 10.6. Mac OSX 10.5 is not supported. On both platforms you can run WaveLab in 64-bit mode, although the program is not a true 64-bit application -- Steinberg says there’s no real advantage to being able to access huge amounts of RAM.
The install process is fairly straightforward, although it does require a Steinberg eLicense USB dongle and its associated eLicenser software program. When you enter an activation key in the program, it goes online and downloads the appropriate license and installs it in the USB dongle. It’s relatively painless, and fortunately I had a Steinberg dongle left from WaveLab 6 so I didn’t have to buy one. One important note: there is a demo version of WaveLab 7 available on Steinberg’s site, but it too requires the dongle. If you don’t have one, you won’t be able to run the demo, so you’ll have to buy one. Steinberg will credit back the cost of the dongle IF you end up buying the software, but it does turn the otherwise fully-functional 30-day demo version into a gamble of about $40.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Since WaveLab has been around for over fifteen years, I won’t spend a great deal of space reciting a list of things that haven’t changed. Rather, let’s focus on what is new and/or especially cool in the new version.
The most obvious item is that WaveLab 7 now includes four task-specific workspace options: Audio File, Audio Montage, Batch Processor and Podcast. These are accessible using the new the Windows Switcher, a small and resizable floating window that remains visible at all times -- even after switching to another application, although you can disable this (and you’ll likely want to do so). The Switcher provides one-click access into the aforementioned audio file editing, multitrack montage, batch-processing or podcasting modes.
While you could run multiple instances of WaveLab 6 on Windows, to simultaneously work across several projects, this functionality has also been seriously upgraded in WaveLab 7. Each new workspace you open is a separate entity, enabling you to quickly switch between the four modes at will. There are also several dozen editing, viewing and analysis functions that you can now open in the new Tab area inside tabbed Tool Windows, covering such things as various metering alternatives, marker creation and editing, file browsing, error detection and correction, spectrum editing options and so on. These Tool Windows are highly flexible and can be set up to suit your workflow. As in previous versions of WaveLab, you can open and close them in stand-alone “floating” mode above your workspace or drag them to various on-screen locations and dock them.
This approach is a significant improvement, since you can carefully arrange your most-used tool windows in tabbed sets, dragging and dropping the various tool-window sections wherever you like, while all others move themselves out of the way to make room. Horizontal and vertical zooming functions now have thumbwheel graphics for easier control, and they respond nicely to a mouse scroll wheel when the cursor is hovered on the graphics. Do be careful when zooming in and out while viewing the Loudness curves, however. Since these take awhile to generate, and re-generate themselves for every zoom level, you may find yourself waiting as you try another zoom level.
FOR NEWBIES AND MAC-OIDS
To help ease the transition for new users, there are several possible preset layouts you can choose when you call up one of the four functions, from basic (which exposes a minimum number of options) to advanced. I found the defaults to be well thought out. Check out the screenshots to see the four modes in action.
For those who are seasoned WaveLab on Windows users, the graphics, windows and general color schemes will be familiar, as will the toolbars. If anything, the overall presentation of WaveLab 7 is significantly toned down from previous versions. However, Mac users will find the overall appearance to be decidedly un-Mac-like to the point of jarring. Yes, WaveLab’s PC roots show up, but I would gently suggest that y’all get over it. WaveLab 7 on the Mac is one of the better looking PC ports I know of, and it appears to me that many Mac software products are actually moving towards the crisper, high-contrast Windows look anyway. If anything, you’ll want a much larger display to show you all those bells and whistles at a glance, and Switcher puts Pro Tools’ limited window configurations to shame. Here are just a few examples to illustrate the point.
If you regularly edit audio alongside other applications, the new “Position on screen” menu option can help your workflows by offering a couple dozen predefined choices setting up windows, ranging from the “Full screen view” to WaveLab occupying the top or left half of the screen, or the bottom right-hand quarter. This flexibility makes it very easy to create split-screen views with a video application, Internet browser, or script. Better still, these multiple window arrangements can now be saved as workspaces, so you can organize everything for different project, such as VO recording, editing, and sweetening, with everything resized, repositioned and tabbed to your taste. This is particularly helpful to those using multiple monitor screens, but even those of you with a single monitor will end up making better use of available space when a list of carefully tweaked layouts is only a couple of mouse clicks away.
MASTER BLASTER
The Master section has always been an important part of WaveLab, since that’s where you add effects, apply dithering, do rendering, save and load presets of particular effects configurations, and so on. It’s much improved over version 6; for example, take the Effects slots at the top of the Master section. You can quickly bypass individual effects with a single click on the checkmark icon to the left of the plug-in, show or hide up to 10 total slots, or hit the icon with three vertical lines to re-order the effects in the slots. The plus (+) and minus (-) icons let you add or remove empty slots, leaving more space for the faders and meters.
To the left of each effects slot you have three buttons: Bypass (for playback only... the effect will be printed to the track when you render), Solo, and the “Monitoring Point”. The latter lets you hear the audio going through the Master section at exactly that point in the effects chain. Three other buttons to the right of each effects slot, from left to right, show and hide the effect’s interface when clicked, lock the effect in place even if you load another effects chain preset, and disables the effect from both playback and rendering. Another function not found in WaveLab 6 lets you right-click to shift effects up or down starting with the slot from where you clicked.
The next section is devoted to Master level functions, including metering (obviously). You can choose to monitor in mono, unlink the stereo faders, and reset peaks at the bottom of this section. Following this comes Dithering, which offers the usual list of suspects for adding noise-shaped dither -- essential if you’re rendering a 24-bit recording down to 16-bits. At the bottom you’ll find the Rendering and Presets Section. This is another area that is far more advanced than WaveLab 6. You can bypass all effects for playback but not for rendering, bypass master section and disconnect all master section plug-ins from the CPU, dock/float, reset everything (which gets rid of plug-ins and resets meters), engage smart bypass that lets you compare processed and unprocessed signal while maintaining a consistent volume, and the various rendering options. For those of you who’ve forgotten, “rendering” is WaveLab-speak for bouncing an audio file or montage to the hard drive. You can process in place, or create a named file (in which case it appears in the main window). Finally, those of you using WaveLab 6 (or 5 or even 4) can easily import your existing effects presets into version 7, and I do mean easily.
NEW PLUGS
WaveLab 7 features some 30 VST3 plug-ins, including three new ones from Sonnox. These are DeNoiser, DeClicker and DeBuzzer, and they deal with hiss, pops/clicks and hum respectively. They are available as inserts in all workspaces, including the Batch Processor. While I am not familiar with Sonnox’s Restoration Suite plug-ins, from which these were plucked, I found them to quite serviceable in the cleanup department. They’re a nice addition to the wide selection of dynamics, EQ’s, choruses and flangers, reverbs, and whatnot provided with WaveLab 7. It’s a very useful set of tools that is well-suited to radio production... no duds anywhere.
Although they’re not plug-ins, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the various metering and analysis tools provided with WaveLab 7. While there are no significant additions to that collection, they comprise one of WaveLab’s most compelling aspects, and they’re all still there.
The documentation for WaveLab 7 consists of a combination of tooltips and context-sensitive, searchable PDF documents. Some users in forums have complained about the lack of a hardcover manual as was provided with version 6, but I don’t see any huge problems with this. In fact, more and more products are moving to the model found in WaveLab, and again some may just have to get over it.
WORTH IT?
Although WaveLab 7 remains on the pricey side at $599 US retail and about $475 on the street, there is a slightly cut-down but still useful version called WaveLab 7 Elements that retails for about $130 and hits streets below $80. The main restrictions are that Elements can have two tracks only (as opposed to nearly unlimited in the Montage section for the full version), just a handful of fade curves, half the plug-ins and half the slots for them, and the loss of some of the more esoteric analysis tools. But the excellent time stretch, Sonnox plugs, workspaces, and all of the essential analysis tools helps ease the pain, as does the radically lower price. Frankly, Essentials should be more than just fine for most radio production folks. If you don’t mind risking the forty or so bucks for the USB dongle, which may become a very light paperweight if you don’t go for the software, Steve sez check out a very solid two track editor.
For more information, visit www.steinberg.net.
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