Sadly it’s been no help. Sadder still, a 3rd party manual’s already appeared. It doesn’t suck but it doesn’t fully replace the manual (still dig through the WL6 manual at times). All it does is remove the pressure from Steiny/Yammy to do the right thing.
The slog continues. Sigh.
That book’s ok, but it spends a lot of ink on very specific workflow and mastering theory (some of which isn’t quite “conventional wisdom” even for a WL-specific mastering, and not entirely relevant to WL7 itself), while never fully documenting the application.
I feel kind of bad mentioning that last bit, since it shouldn’t be up to a 3rd party to fully document the features of an application. It’s only a disappointment because we STILL have no comprehensive, definitive reference for WL7. Just a weak help system, and a PDF version of same that lacks any narrative or continuity, includes no tutorials, and provides no “active help” on OSX to pop-open windows or requesters or highlighting for items it mentions.
As a tool I’m learning to use and trust WL7, and find it very solid. I might be able to use it as a main axe, but there’s no way to really know since it’s got no real documentation. The only way to find out if you can do something is to try to do it with guesses and dumb luck. Since there are no workflow-oriented procedures or demo tutorials to walk you through it’s workspaces and features, everything is mystery meat.
I’m not complaining about the book. Wavelab Power is as unfairly hobbled by Steinberg’s decision not to author any real documentation and tutorials, as the application itself. We’re approaching a year since launch, and in spite of complaints from virtually every user who’s commented, we still have no manual. I’ve never seen anyone here suggest the status quo is useful or workable as a basic “help” tool, much less acceptable as “documentation.” WL7 has no real documentation, just a limited, Win-crippled help system that does less than OSX does on it’s own out of the box.
Oh yes,
even that I now got Matthew Loel T. Hepworth’s "Wavelab 7 Power!,
I still find it ashaming for Steinberg to even not comment on this lack of documentation after a full year of WL7 !!! 
Jean
There has been an ‘official’ comment long ago which apparently is still valid: Creativity First — Our Passion for Music Inspires | Steinberg (Quote from PG in the old forum, 5 Oct 2010: “There will be a minor manual update to correct/add some points, but there is no new manual in the works, printed or not. At least in the near future.” Too bad Steinberg doesn’t care.
Luck, Arjan
I’m about to stop caring too.
This is the last version of WaveLab I will be buying, and this is a sad day as I have been a user since version 1.6.
No more, never again.
I’m about to stop caring too.
This is the last version of WaveLab I will be buying, and this is a sad day as I have been a user since version 1.6.
No more, never again.
Same for me. I am unlikely to buy Wavelab in the future unless it comes with proper documentation.
I was the first person to comment (on the old forum) that a full user manual was essential for WL7. That was about a year ago and nothing much has happened since.
I ordered WL7 as soon as it was announced, but sent it back unopened as soon as I learned that there was no effective documentation.
Can we get some feedback from Steinberg please? What about the promised update since last October?
Actually Steiny HAS spoken. See Arjan’s post above.
Ok.
So, have we at least seen the minor updates that PG had promised on the old forum? If not, is this still the plan?
There’s been no change or announcement of change in plans, so it’s safe to say this remains the plan.
As you note updates have appeared to the app, and since launch they did make a (useless copy of the help system) pdf available, which is more than they actually promised.
I’m not defending any of this. I think it was a short-sighted and dumb decision, but probably worth a try. The experiment has failed spectacularly - I’ve never heard anything complimentary about this radical approach, here or in a review, and most users will tell you it’s a disaster - the only way for newbies to figure things out is go back to WL6 manual.
It’s a shame Steiny doesn’t eat the same dog food: go back to WL6, update the text to reflect changes, and add new sections for the overall workflow, and call it done.
I’ve read the book Wavelab 7 Power, and bought videos. They’re all wonderful as far as they go. But none come close to replacing a real manual, or have the depth of the WL6 manual. As we approach the anniversary of it’s release, it’s shameful that an app as deep and powerful as WL7 lacks any true documentation whatsoever, and is solely supported by a weak, poorly indexed built-in help system. Steiny’s commitment to a failed approach is maddening.
I am wondering if there is any way that I could get hold of the WL6 manual?
Maybe start a new topic here, asking for it from users who can do without. I’m sorry to tell you I’m not such a user - I’m very glad I have the WL6 manual, cause even in WL7 it can sometimes give very good (backgroud) info about functions in both versions.
Luck, Arjan
Thank you. The WL6 manual seems very helpful indeed. I wonder how much effort it really is to bring it up to speed with the new WL7 functionality.
Indeed, this has been suggested several times - and no reaction from Steinberg… BTW, I totally forgot about the pdf, since I usually use my paper version: good one, Lutz!
Luck, Arjan
I honestly believe if enough users took the time to send a simple message explaining just how valuable a detailed manual is to them, Steinberg might reconsider.
On the current route, at sometime in the not-too-distant-future, Wavelab will become unusable because of it’s complexity. The current so called “help” for me doesn’t help me.
I think it’s just a matter of time, but I hope they don’t wait too long because the competition could capitalize on Wavelabs marketing weaknesses which is…no manual.
Sadly, I could not agree more.
And having been a loyal WaveLab owner since version 1.6, it gets sadder as I will not be going to WaveLab 8 without a printed manual, or at the very least a complete & fully comprehensive PDF document.
It;'s not worth rehashing old ground explaining why any longer as nobody is listening apart from other users who feel the same way, but unless this changes that is it for me and WaveLab.
Assuming that the discussion is about the lack of a printed manual and not the quality of the information; personally I do not care for printed manuals… at all.
My use of a manual involves quickly finding the information regarding a specific technical issue: in pdf I use the ‘find’ command - it works everytime.
I recently attended a training course on some rather complex software (my day job) and guess what …no detailed manuals other than setup and configuration guidelines, the hairy stuff is covered in pdf’s.
Out of curiousity, which other editor comes with full printed manual, and how many users bother reading them? CS5.5? Soundforge? Peak?
On the topic of ‘in depth explaination’ - there I agree PG could really be less coy about the inner workings of some of the tools 
You assumed wrong - at least for me it doesn’t matter whether the manual is printed or not. The issue is quality of information, which is close to useless with the present pdf (which is just a bundling of ‘help’ items taken from the program itself). Take a look at the WL6 manual, and check the difference for yourself.
Then on a sidenote; if the manual is to be pdf only - let it be of a normal printable size, like A4. If one wants to print parts of it, at least the full paper real estate is used.
Luck, Arjan