How to correctly launch Wavelab from Cubase to edit Audio in a Project?

Cubase
1

I already have a workaround for the problem below (Stereo Combined Panner with both sides set to c) but I’m really puzzled about what happened when I initially tried to resolve it using WaveLab. So this is more asking about what is going on under the hood (or bonnet if that’s how you roll).

I have a Project with a lot of speech vocal files. These were all supposed to be Mono content in Stereo files. Except when they were created one file, ABC.wav, was panned center right. This wasn’t discovered until after a bunch of editing had occurred, or at least more than I wanted to redo.

So I figured this could be easily corrected using WaveLab. Normally I use WaveLab standalone, but this seemed a good time to use Audio>Edit in WaveLab. WaveLab launches, I make the correction and Save and close WaveLab. Back in Cubase ABC both looks and sounds like it is still panned right.

I’m wondering maybe I only thought about saving the file but didn’t actually do the save (it happens…). So I launch Wavelab again, which shows the content panned right. Then I make the fix again and use Save As… this time and notice it wants to save to a location different than the Project’s Audio Folder & this location already has an ABC.wav file - presumably from the first edit. So I navigate to the Project’s Audio Folder and try to save it there as ABC.wav. But I get a message saying it can’t overwrite the existing ABC.wav file because another program is using it. So I close Cubase thinking that will release the file. But when I try again I get the same message about another program using it (which wasn’t the case). I save the file as ABC NEW.wav and close WaveLab.

Out in Windows this new file plays centered. So I rename the 2 files so the centered one is now ABC.wav and launch Cubase. Again in Cubase the Audio remains panned right. In the Pool I can see it is pointing at the file which sounds Mono in Windows but not in the Pool. Right clicking in the Pool and selecting Show in Explorer gives this message
image
Which kind of implies that the Audio playing in the Project isn’t really the file shown in the Pool.

Anybody understand what’s happening with all this and how can I launch WaveLab from Cubase in the future and have the edits ‘stick’?

2

You want to press this button in Wavelab to trigger a Cubase update:

It can be easy to miss. Destructive edits (fades, etc…) don’t have to be rendered first, but if you’re using the Master Section, you should Render the file and select the “In Place” option.

3

Oh great, that makes sense now. I guess I was so accustomed to using WaveLab standalone it never occurred to me that Cubase would need to be updated.