Wavelab 8.5 requests

WaveLab
1

First of all, I’m very much happy with 8.0.3. I am experiencing very few bugs, and I’m not missing any major features in my daily workflow. Now that these major bugs and features are taken care of, here are some things that I think would make WL 8.5 great:

-I love the new montage master but I think it really needs a way to bypass all plugins like you can do with the original master section. I also think there should be a way to copy an entire master section chain rather than just one plugin as you can currently do with the montage master

-Ability to change project sample rate without having CD track markers move. I prefer to use iZotope SRC to convert down to 44.1k for CD masters because I think it sounds better than Crystal Resampler and I like that resampling is not running live on the rendering or DDP creation process. This feature would be ideal when I need to make a native sample rate version (for vinyl or Mastered For iTunes) for projects that I have run through my analog chain at sample rates higher than 44.1k. Right now, after running through my analog chain (using other software), I convert down to 44.1k using iZotope SRC and then load into WL at 44.1k for sequencing, small tweaks and final limiting of a standard digital version at 44.1k. The ability to quickly easily and quickly do a save as… to my 44.1k up to 48k, 88.2k or 96k would be ideal. Right now, when I save as… and change the sample rate, the markers all move too and it makes a headache/mess.

-vinyl export: clients are doing more and more vinyl each year. Currently for the vinyl master, I do a save as… from the approved digital master and make some adjustments on the master effects to optimize sounds and levels for vinyl pre-mastering. Then I have to make a save as… for each side (side A and side B) because I (and most lacquer cutters) feel that it is best to send one continuous file for each side of the record to be sure no space between songs changes and they don’t have to think about reassembling the album before cutting the lacquer. Since vinyl pre-masters can be 24-bit and sample rates higher than 44.1k it doesn’t make sense to do DDP to send the pressing plant or lacquer cutter. It would be great to see a feature in Wavelab that allows for “vinyl side split” marker so I can keep just one vinyl montage to create a continuous WAV for both sides with a PDF file for each side that shows the true time code for each song start/stop and for both sides of the record. Right now, if I try to make a file for side A and side B from the same montage, the times on the PQ/PDF for side B would be incorrect compared to the actual file because side B doesn’t start from 0:00 in the montage unless I make a special montage for only side B which is extra work. Basically, I have to go from the montage of the approved digital master, to the vinyl master to make master section adjustments, to a montage for both Side A and another for Side B. I would like to have a way to just go from the digital master, to the vinyl master montage so it’s less steps.

-Bigger font for CD marker names in Montage

-CD-Text box always opens at start. I feel like in WL 7 the CD-Text box would always open at the start where you enter the album name and performer name. In Wavelab 8 it seems to open at whatever region you might have selected but I don’t think that’s an improvement, the old way was better in my opinion.

-ability to lock/bypass the speaker gain/management setting. For those that don’t use the speaker management feature, could there be a way to just disable this? I spent an hour or two one day trying to figure out why my levels to my monitor controller didn’t match the levels in Wavelab. I finally discovered that the speaker gain setting was accidentally lowered. I would like to see a way to lock or disable this setting.

-ISRC in WAV file support. I know there isn’t exactly a standard for embedding ISRC codes in WAV files. Another forum member showed me a complex way to embed ISRC codes into a WAV using the new metadata features but I think it would be nice to have a simpler method or maybe try to create a standard for others to follow

2

I would like to see improvements to Wavelab’s “realtime” operation. In particular, I am referring to the “audio input” plugin. I would prefer a button in the master section that instantly enables audio input going into the master section. This way, I could have an audio file open in Wavelab playing as a reference, and with a single click, I could monitor the audio input instead. This way I can A/B between a reference and the audio input I am mastering.

It would be nice also, if when switching it would also bypass all plugins in the master section, then re-enable. Obviously I am monitoring through these plugins in realtime when mastering, but when I switch to the reference I don’t want to hear it with FX or dither or anything.

3

Ability to work with multichannel files, please ……

4

vinyl export

What about using sub-montages? One per vinyl side.

5

I’m not familiar with sub-montages. Is that a current feature? I will have to look into it more.

thanks.

6

I have found the export/render as sub-montage option but I can’t make sense of this dialogue when I try to use the feature:

“No action can be performed, because no open audio montage refers to the active audio montage.”

How do a make an open audio montage into an “active” montage?

7

Also, it would be great to straighten out the way favorite plugins are organized.
Screenshot attached.

Right now, UAD all go into one folder, Waves just goes to the root and doesn’t make it’s own folder and iZotope seems to make a folder for Ozone 5 sub-plugins and Ozone 5 full, and RX3 gets it’s own.

I think a simple folder for each vendor would be great in the favorites folder.

thanks.
Screen Shot 2013-12-30 at 10.58.24 AM.png

8

This is a current feature: you could drop a montage into another montage. Check the doc.

9

On bypassing plugins en masse in montage master section:

It would be great to have that in the clip and track section also.

Another thing I miss in montage section is the ability to bypass the source and listen only to the effect, as you can in the Master section proper. It would be nice to have that feature on any plugin in the montage: clip and track, as well as montage master.

10

+1 for vinyl export features mentioned above, and let me throw in that’s useful for Mastered for iTunes workflows (yes, you can’t run their plugs, but you can set up a montage to produce clean files and verify post-bounce with Apple’s tools).

+1 also for bypass of each section… very handy thing.

A couple of my own items (which may exist, in which case tell me to rtfm):

  1. a good means of dragging/shuffling CD tracks in the track list, not the Montage, which preserves the post-gap of tracks (I suppose some might prefer pre-gap, but post is how iTunes and others handle space between tracks on the client end, so may as well start there).

  2. I’d really really like rendered MP3s to open in Audio File window, or really ANY rendered file to open there. I guess somebody must like that. I hate it. I’m done at that point, don’t need the file open. All I hope for is a preference to change this behavior if it’s not there. :wink:

11

I’d really really like rendered MP3s to open in Audio File window, or really ANY rendered file to open there. I guess somebody must like that. I hate it. I’m done at that point, don’t need the file open. All I hope for is a preference to change this behavior if it’s not there

This option is already controlled by the check box “Open resulting audio file”, in the Render dialog.

12

Here comes four wishes:

  1. Much more control on how Wavelab looks!

  2. Much better stability, when using third party plugins. I have pretty often crashes in WL due to plugins.
    This almost never happens with my other hosts, Reaper and Samplitude.

  3. Bypassing full chain of plugins, on tracks and clips, in the montage.

  4. That resizing of Voxengo VST3 plugins would actually work [including the CurveEQ that comes with WL8].

::
Mads

13

Icons for all commands please. Delete could have a rubber or X for instance.

Create skip region. That would be very practical. Skip markers, without gap.

Support for 32 bit plugs. So we don’t have to use jBridger.

Multi colored waveforms. Like for instance Traktor has. Colors represent frequency. Toggle-able of course.

More video support. This world lacks video editors. I’m not talking about what I call video sequencers. I mean open a video file, remove intro for instance, normalize perhaps, then click Save. Not render.

Is it decided that the next release will be named 8.5? Or that there will be a 8.5 version at all? Also are there anywhere to read about what’s in store for WaveLab 9?

14

Create skip region. That would be very practical. Skip markers, without gap.

This exists already. We have skip marker pairs (region).
It is also possible to program the Transport bar to skip other regions.

15

Oh. Didn’t know that. Thanks. Cool.