My only experience with Wavelab was the original Wavelab Essential, which was a joy to use. Since Windows 10 my only option was Wavelab 12. I have of course found some advantages in my current Cubase 9 for mastering over WL Essential. Now that I have WL Pro 12 I expect even better results when I overcome the learning curve. I am working on a personal project to create a CD. I had hoped to use a professionally recorded track of the style I desire for a reference in loudness, EQ etc. I ripped a few songs from several CDâs and find that the loudness metering is all over the place, not usually near what is being recommended today. Also, the project that I started in Cubase gave very different loudness measurements for each song in Wavelab. Is there a setting I need to change?
That is normal. Not all songs are mastered to the same loudness. But what do you mean by âloudness meteringâ? What are you actually measuring? integrated loudness for the whole song or something else?
Are you referring to integrated loudness? What method are you using to measure the loudness in Wavelab 12? And what method are you using to measure the loudness in Cubase 9?
I should have specified that I am mainly referring to integrated loudness in both programs. Other measurements did not precisely match between them as well.
OK. So precisely what method are you using to measure the integrated loudness in Wavelab 12? And what method are you using to measure the integrated loudness in Cubase 9?
What is the precise difference in the results? (please provide the integrated loudness value results you are seeing for any given example where you see a difference).
Use the montage and read up on the Meta Normalizer (found in the Process ribbon). Meta Normalizer can be used very effectively to even up the loudness between different songs, if thatâs what you need (but note that the same loudness for all songs is not always a good idea and depends entirely on the style and nature of the material).
Thanks for the reply. I used the default method in Cubase 9 in Control Room for Integrated Loudness. I have not even looked into the various settings yet. In WL12 I used SuperVision and the analyse button in the Audio Montage window. I will have to get back into the studio to answer your question more specifically.
AFAIK there is not really a default method in the Control Room, other than playing the whole song and reading the loudness meter (which tends to be prone to human error).
The best way to do a proper analysis for integrated loudness in Cubase is to select an audio event containing the whole song, making sure the audio has undergone no volume changes, and select Audio>Statistics.
Using SuperVision for real-time analysis of integrated loudness is prone to human error.
The best way to do it would be the Global Analysis function (Analyze ribbon ) in the Montage for a selected clip containing the whole of the same song, making sure you are analyzing the original audio with no volume changes.
In a quick test, I can confirm that the same file analysed in Cubase 9.5 and Wavelab 12 gives an identical result for integrated loudness. AFAIK there are no errors with regard to integrated loudness analysis in either of these programs; they are both extremely reliable in this regard.
Thanks for the information. When I said the âanalyze buttonâ I was referring to the Global Analysis function in Wavelab. When I compared that with the Audio>Statistics feature in Cubase they did agree. That method certainly saved much time!