Problem with raw Loudness in Global Analysis tool

Hi,

I recently upgraded from Wavelab 6 to Wavelab 8. I do freelance editing and mastering work for a major audio book publisher, and since the upgrade there have been problems with the masters I have delivered not meeting their in house spec. I get projects as ProTools sessions and edit in Pro Tools, but I do my mastering work in Wavelab.

Today I did a careful rundown of my entire editing and mastering chain and discovered that the Raw Loudness readings in Wavelab (using the default settings) are consistently 4dBFS hotter than the RMS values measured in Pro Tools (using the Gain Audiosuite plugin).

I had assumed that the “Raw Loudness” measurement was RMS as in previous versions of Wavelab, is that not the case and if not then what exactly is it a measure of? Is there any way to calibrate the raw loudness measurement, or will I have to subtract 4 from my loudness measurements in Wavelab in order for my masters to fall within spec when measured in Pro Tools?

Thanks

Hi,

Could it be RMS is 3 dB hotter ?
then maybe it’s menu /Preferences / Formats

Use AES17 standard for RMS values
Determines how RMS values are reported.
° If this option is activated, the displayed level for a full scale sine audio file is 0 dB. This follows the AES17 standard.
° If this option is deactivated, the displayed level for a full scale sine audio file is -3 dB.

regards S-EH

Thanks, I’ll give that a shot. It’s approximately 4db hotter but the difference varies by about +/- .5db so it’s probably a combination of what you suggested and differences in the analysis resolution between Wavelab and the Pro Tools gain plugin that my client is using to measure RMS (which has no configurable settings for analysis and provides no details, just an RMS figure or a peak figure in dB, one more thing to add to the long list of things I dislike about Pro Tools).

Thanks for the quick response!

Still measures .5db to 1db hotter in Wavelab but that’s well within the tolerance I’d expect since Pro Tools is undoubtedly calculating the RMS a bit differently. Thanks again for the advice, you’ve saved me a lot of future headaches.

Do you use Meters and/or Global Analysis inside WL when making measurements ?

RMS shouldn’t vary that much between programs ! or ?

maybe ask around in PT forum.

regards S-EH