We’re pleased to announce the immediate availability of SpectraLayers Pro 7 and SpectraLayers Elements 7.
This new version of our advanced spectral editing software now includes many powerful features that have been enhanced through Artificial Intelligence, including:
• New Artificial Intelligence algorithms that can sense discrete events in a sound field and isolate them on independent, colorful layers for processing.
• Unmix tracks to stems to extract the different instruments to separate layers, such as vocals, piano, bass, drums, and more.
• Unmix components to deconstruct stems into tone, noise and transient component layers.
• Pattern Finder to select a target sound and then automatically locate and select every other similar sound in the spectrum.
• Voice Denoiser to recognize and isolate the human voice and then attenuate everything but the voice for maximum intelligibility.
• Repair processes including AI-powered Clip and Click repair, Hum reduction and improved Healing.
• Improved Playback tool and Transform tool now featuring a new Transform Selection mode.
• Improved ARA 2 layer management creates new layers in the ARA environment.
• VST 3 plug-in support on a per-layer basis, in both standalone and ARA modes.
• Further improvements including customizable UI luminosity, a playback VU meter, rapid tool toggling, the ability to render a selected layer directly and much more.
Check out a more detailed description of the new features at the Steinberg website and get ready to get your minds blown.
I’ve got it. Now to learn how to use it! I don’t know if I’m just tired, or if my eyes would have glazed over that fast anyway. But… looking forward to the adventure.
I haven’t upgraded to SL7 yet but have been using SL since version 4, now on 6 and also have RX7.
To be honest, SL is really a different horse for a different course. If you need to get down to the finest detail in a sound and surgically fix things, with unparalleled visualizations in a Photoshop-like environment (“layers”), then IMHO SL is right up there, but you have to spend time learning it and also invest some thought in how to adapt your workflow to make the most efficient use of it.
RX7, on the other hand, does certain jobs really well with less effort, and dialog de-noise is one of them however to get the really good stuff you have to invest in RX7 Advanced, which is about four times the price of SL7.
Can I use SL to remove varying background and ambient noise from dialog in short interview clips? Absolutely, and it does a great job; but would I want to use SL on footage for a 90-minute documentary while working to a deadline where getting it done is more important than getting it perfect? Probably not.
Sounds like we’re in the same basic arena. I do not see SL7 replacing RX7 Advanced. I’m trying to get over the SL initial learning hump to see where it could actually fit in, audiobook-wise. RX just appears to be much more suited to the “set it and forget it” batch processing approach that’s so much a part of preparing audiobook files, for which there’s no apparent analogue in SL.
I’m looking forward to exploring the things SL can do that RX is less suited for, but I don’t think they’re going to be found in audiobook-land, other than MAYBE for spot fixes.
Thanks for the quick and on-point replies. It looks like a luxury to my work flow right now, one that I’ll probably succumb to at some point. If I did more music or mastering then it looks perfect for that.
But, I find it disappointing that Steinberg have conveniently avoided - for years - including even a lightweight spectrographic view option for tracks in Nuendo. It took them years to provide eqs with spectral analysis viewable - before that we had the sucky tool that was around since N2, so using a third-party plug-in was unavoidable until N7 (or was it N8?)
Sure SLP will be great for doing detailed stuff, but what if you simply want to quickly see, spectrographically, what’s happening on audio just dropped into a project - and across multiple tracks - instead of still being limited to amplitude info only?
In Reaper it’s possible, and being able to “see” the audio is a time saver, whereas having to open SLP via ARA 2 in Nuendo - just to quickly get a sense of the material - isn’t.
In 2020, with a DAW as “advanced” as Nuendo, a spectrographic tool-set shouldn’t be an optional extra, it should be core component.
I would absolutely love it if Steinberg would release a series of short videos showing a SpectraLayers workflow for dealing with ‘the usual suspects’ regarding dialogue and post-production, and not focus so much on the ‘sound design’ capabilities or ‘unmixing or ‘marketing style videos’’. Just show me how it might work ‘in the trenches’ in a real-world situation for basic audio post using Nuendo + ARA integration.
For example, does SpectraLayers offer any kind of workflow that could give similar results to the RX ‘ambience match’ module?
Here are a few videos I’d love to see, that are straight to the point. No ‘beats’ playing under the VO or anything, no slick promotional skews. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that for people looking for an RX alternative (like myself), it’s REALLY hard to tell how SpectraLayers would actually perform, what it’s capable of, and what the workflow would look like.
-Dialogue denoise
-Removing mouth clicks
-Removing wind buffets from dialogue