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What’s new in WaveLab 6?

This exceedingly flexible editor employs highest quality linear phase filters and offers many exciting new sound replacement options including cut and paste of an audio file's background ambience to another part of the file or plug-in processing on selected frequencies.

DIRAC Time-stretching and Pitch-shifting

DIRAC is among the most advanced algorithms for time-based manipulation of audio material available today. Excellent audio quality, outstanding performance and maximum precision are among the superlative qualities this technology brings to WaveLab 6. Its flexibility allows it to be used on a huge range of audio material including vocals, drum loops and classical string ensembles to name just a few.

New Audio Processors

The Crystal Resampler is a top-end new sample rate converter supporting up to 384 kHz, with other new additions including time-saving new tools such as the Loudness Normalizer and the Smat Silence plug-ins.

Audio File Handling

WaveLab 6 places no limit on the size of clips, and even files exceeding 2GB in size can now be imported. Other optimizations include enhanced performance when reading and writng files, automated renaming of files as a batch process and a new file list manager handling access and sorting of up to 200 hundred recent audio files.

Software and Hardware Integration

A further highlight is the full integration of external effect hardware within the digital mastering process. With WaveLab 6, any favorite analog hardware unit can be used within WaveLab, combining the advantages of both the digital editng and analog processing domains into one personalized, integrated mastering environment. Version 6 also supports MIDI remote controllers, allowing intuitive, immediate control over many software functions from a compatible hardware controller.

Non-destructive editing in the Audio Montage

The Audio Montage is the heart of the non-destructive editing processes in WaveLab. All editing tasks and actions are either processed in real-time or rendered into the audio material. The powerful Audio Montage environment supports not only several audio tracks each with up to 8 channels but also a video track or an extra track for a Slide show for DVD-A.

External effect hardware integration

WaveLab 6 includes a powerful new system for integrating outboard FX in the Master Section audio signal chain. Each external effect unit is integrated as a plug-in at any desired position in the Master Section. WaveLab supports up to 8 parallel input and output channels to ASIO-compatible audio interfaces.

Restoration with the Spectrum Editor

The Spectrum Editor is an immensely powerful new tool for restoration and editing of an audio file’s frequency information. The precision linear phase filters allow editing of even microscopically narry frequency bands.

The Spectrum Editor displays the audio material as a sonogram that shows the changing intensities of the frequencies over time in different colors and shades. The Spectrum Editor offers two different editing modes – Surgical processing and Master Section processing.

Master Section Processing

This mode allows the processing of the selected frequency area using the Master Section plug-ins, including dithering and noise-shaping algorithms. With this powerful editing tool, a defined frequency area can, for example, be sent through the DeClicker or other restoration plug-in. Other uses include complete dynamics control over user-defined frequency bands.

Another new editing process provided by the Spectrum Editor is the copying of audio material from one “place” to another in the sonogram view. Using the Source/Destination functions a suitable area can be isolated very quickly and copied to several different locations. The area that is to be replaced is defined by stretching a rectangle, and the selected area can be moved and adjusted in size quickly and easily. Editing can be performed independent of the audio channel or simultaneously on both channels of a stereo file.

Recording through plug-ins

In WaveLab 6, audio signals can be recorded through the effects of the Master Section. This allows effects such as EQ, compression or noise gating to be used while recording, preparing the material for further editing and processing later.

Depending on the number of channels offered by the ASIO-compatible hardware, up to eight channels can be recorded simultaneously, allowing WaveLab to perform recording tasks such as recording a mixer’s subgroups or in recording surround. WaveLab supports recording sample rates up to 384 kHz, and is limited only by the converters of the system’s audio hardware.

Advanced Crossfades

Version 6 also offers an intuitive crossfade editing concept. A crossfade is automatically created as soon as two clips overlap in the Audio Montage window. The clips show the results of the crossfade directly in the waveform, offering a useful aid in positioning the fade in exactly the right place. Functions like Snap To Waveform and Snap To Fade speed up editing work and allow an exceedingly efficient worklflow in WaveLab.

Multi-channel editing

The Audio Montage environment is fully surround-capable, supporting fast efficient workflow with surround recordings. 5.1 files are automatically imported as two stereo and two mono files, and each track can be routed independently to its own audio output. For audio files that are routed to the LFE channel, a low pass filter can be also be used as an insert effect.

Remote controller integration

This version of WaveLab is the first to offer direct tactile access to WaveLab functionality through support for MIDI remote controllers. Assigning the parameters to the hardware is completely flexible and user-definable