I have Wavelab 6 but I prefered mastering with Samplitude 10. I purchased Wavelab 7, and even purchased a DVD tutorial that explains in detail on using Wavelab 7. After going through the whole DVD and working with it, it does what it intends to do. I was very exicted about the improvements that Wavelab 7 offered. However I just find the Samplitude’s workflow, look of the screens and what Samplitude offers so much better. I really tried to wrap my head around Wavelab , but with the way I work, Samplitude is the best mastering software for me (Sequoia adds some more features but a lot more money). Samplitude also has the amazing Ammunition compressor that I can’t seem to live without.
Many have complained with the way Wavelab 7 looks and some bug issues even with version 7.1 out. Also this is the first time there was no manual for latest version of Wavelab. I really wanted to like Wavelab 7, but I can’t get the workflow under my belt. Perhaps if all I did was master on a regular basis and forced myself to really learn and understand the program better. I guess one reason why I like Samplitude so much is, it’s a DAW that offers mastering capabilities. I always work with a DAW for recording, so using a DAW for mastering just seems easier since it is more familar to me. Believe me, I am disapointed. In Samplitude, I can open up all the songs, and put them in order rather quickly on a stereo track. Then with it’s object editing, you just open the plug ins or external hardware for each song and jump to the next one. Montage is very deep and I don’t like the way it looks. In Samp you just click on the markers and the names show up, the 2 second delay is there between songs. Then you just click the CD icon on top and burn the music. In Montage you have to render, and I just can’t seem to figure it all out.
I will perhaps give it one more try, but I have to run to the DVD to really understand how to do things.
Really looking forward to getting Samplitude 12 when it comes out. I will enjoy the extra features and 64 bit that it will offer.
I spent a full day when I was slow customizing the interface. I ran into a couple of bugs and reported them (since fixed in 7.1), but this was a eureka! moment for me with the app: I realized I could literally make it look/feel however I wanted. If I wanted to spend (waste) the time I could make it look/behave pretty much like soundBlade or Peak or DSP Quattro.
Reading the old manual to learn the, I see no obstacles to making it behave more like WL6, and suggest it’s default layouts (like “Ultimate” workspace) exist more to show off features and geegaws than get anything done. Other features are implemented in new ways - DDP is integrated very nicely, appropriate to the nature and purpose of the format, but a little different from the “bolted on” optional DDP of WL6. CD Burning seems different, but again, if I lay it out based on MY workflow, it can be as fluid as any tool on the market and better than most.
I completely understand the frustration of people who had a tool that works suddenly become more complicated. The default workspaces range from “nearly useless” to “toy factory explosion”, with nothing very task-optimized in between. If Steiny wasn’t going to include something that was essentially the default stock WL6 layout, they should have included a few highly optimized task-oriented layouts to rationalize the big changes.
Make no mistake: This degree and kind of customization IS the point of WL7 vs WL7, and no, its not a bug or step backwards. It’s benefits haven’t been shown at all in the shipping product, much less made obvious. WL7 so far is definitely a sideways step for the installed-base of users however, and your frustration is fueled by the lack of more workspace alternatives, real documentation, and tutorials making this new rational clearer. That doesn’t mean the product sucks, or the changes aren’t positive, it highlights the on-going train wreck of Yamaha communications and learning materials they’ve not supplied.
I agree, most other pro mastering apps have better support for multichannel recording and editing. I’d like to be able to simultaneously adjust the width and in and out shapes of a crossfade edit that’s across all 6 tracks of a 5.1 montage, like I could in Soundblade, but I can’t in Wavelab.
In Wavelab with a new montage, click the File tab and drag your files to the track. Then click the Clips tab, and drag and drop in the Clip list to reorder.
Select a clip, click the Effects tab/Clip, and add or modify your plugins. Select the next clip, and so on. (although I guess there’s no way to get the external gear plugin on a clip in Wavelab). But with it’s ability to apply plugins to clips, I guess that would be considered object editing in Wavelab.
Select the CD tab, and use the CD Wizard to create your CD markers and 2 second gaps.
CD tab again. Just click the Burn button. As others have said it’s usually not necessary to render first.
I did the same thing attempting to make it exactly like Wavelab 6. I almost wish there was a “Wavelab 6 layout” button, because it was a fair amount of work.
In Samplitude, I can open up all the songs, and put them in order rather quickly on a stereo track. Then with it’s object editing, you just open the plug ins or external hardware for each song and jump to the next one. Montage is very deep and I don’t like the way it looks. In Samp you just click on the markers and the names show up, the 2 second delay is there between songs. Then you just click the CD icon on top and burn the music. In Montage you have to render, and I just can’t seem to figure it all out.