wavelab is a dissapointment

[FALKEN]

man,

I finally got wavelab essentials installed. paid 89 bucks for it I think. not a huge ton of money. but man it is a dissapointment. Sound Forge really kicks its ass. it was a bitch to install, because I had to rearrange the jumpers on my cd drives, or it would crash. I have to train myself not to double click a plugin or it is autmatically deleted. that's nice and intuitive! the plugins don't save when you reopen a file. you can't tell what your RMS is. after burning a CD, the project starts playing all by itself. You can't edit all of the text fields. I could go on and on. This software pretty much sucks.

 

[mshilarious]

Well, you might like SF better, I can't say.

Regarding Wavelab:

- to reopen a hidden plugin, right click the on button, or right click the slot and select Show. Yeah, the double click thing is disturbing

- Wavelab just saves the .wav file, unless you create an Audio Montage and use effects inserts, or save your master section settings as a preset. The master section is designed to be independent of a .wav file, as it can apply to all open .wav files or a Montage.

- RMS is under Analysis/Global Analysis

- Dunno what fields you are trying to edit

Personally, I think nearly all music production software is ergonomically painful and visually disgusting. They would be better off using stock libraries. It's just a question of relative badness. Wavelab is a lot easier for me than 90% of the multitrack software I've tried. Unfortunately Wavelab doesn't do mixing

 

[Robert D]

I used Wavelab back before I started using Samplitude. Samplitude rendered it redundant, but otherwise I think it's a great wave editor. I especially like it for analysis. I think your problem is that it just sucks learning a new program that behaves differently than you've come to expect. Maybe look to see if you can find options to "correct" it's behavior.

-RD

 

[FALKEN]

it just feels like a regression from what was out five years ago.

 

[BigRay]

wavelab does mix...."audio montage" function...I have wavelab, samplitude(which is horrible , IMHO) SF8(which is 2nd to wavelab) and Cool Edit Pro...(dont ask) Wavelab is pretty easy compared to some of the other programs...I love it more than any program ive ever used..only thing I dont like about it...Is that you cannot open a file over 2Gigs in wavelab unless it is split...SF8 uses a different file system, so you can open as big a file as you want(just cant SAVE due to the M$$ limitation of 2gigs)

Well, you might like SF better, I can't say.

Regarding Wavelab:

- to reopen a hidden plugin, right click the on button, or right click the slot and select Show. Yeah, the double click thing is disturbing

- Wavelab just saves the .wav file, unless you create an Audio Montage and use effects inserts, or save your master section settings as a preset. The master section is designed to be independent of a .wav file, as it can apply to all open .wav files or a Montage.

- RMS is under Analysis/Global Analysis

- Dunno what fields you are trying to edit

Personally, I think nearly all music production software is ergonomically painful and visually disgusting. They would be better off using stock libraries. It's just a question of relative badness. Wavelab is a lot easier for me than 90% of the multitrack software I've tried. Unfortunately Wavelab doesn't do mixing

 

[mshilarious]

wavelab does mix...."audio montage" function...I have wavelab, samplitude(which is horrible , IMHO) SF8(which is 2nd to wavelab) and Cool Edit Pro...(dont ask) Wavelab is pretty easy compared to some of the other programs...I love it more than any program ive ever used..

Well shut my mouth . . . I never thought Montage would work that great for multitracking, but I just tried it, and other than a couple of oddities it's not too bad. I'm surprised they don't plug it at all . . . they just mention radio spot production

Is that you cannot open a file over 2Gigs in wavelab unless it is split...SF8 uses a different file system, so you can open as big a file as you want(just cant SAVE due to the M$$ limitation of 2gigs)

2gig? Does that come up often

 

[Farview]

It really boils down to what you are used to. I used to use SF until they got rid of CD Architect. I moved to Wavelab and hated it for about a month. I would still like to edit in SF, but the way WL handles plugins is much nicer and I like the montage thing in WL better than CD Architect.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

...only thing I dont like about it...Is that you cannot open a file over 2Gigs in wavelab unless it is split...SF8 uses a different file system, so you can open as big a file as you want(just cant SAVE due to the M$$ limitation of 2gigs)

Ummm, Windows has not had a 2GB limit since Win98/ME and the FAT16 file system. Standard FAT files under the FAT32 system used in Win2K and WinXP can go up to 32GB in size. If you need to go larger than that, you can use the Windows NTFS file system which can support file sizes up to 16 terrabytes (especially good for striped drive arrays).

These limits are independant of the software, with one exception: if you have an older 16-bit version of the software (meaning bit width in the computer internals, not in the audio resolution, which is an unrelated animal altogether) it may only be able to address the first 2GB of a file.

But any 32-bit software (again, meaning CPU data width, not audio depth) written in the past 5 years and running under Win2K or WinXP (Pro or Home) and using the default file system type should work with files up to 32GB in size, and astronomically more than that if using the optional NTFS file system.

G.

 

[xstatic]

Wavelab isn't so bad. However, alot of the stock features are very different in Sound Forge. I can understand how it would be frustrating moving between the two. But, Wavelab certainly has some real advantages as well. For one, real time plug in chains. Also, the montage feature is nice when it comes to sequencing things like a CD master. The integrated CD writing is much better than SF8's track at once system. However, in the end I find that for basic editing I move around much quicker in Sound Forge. Mostly because I have used Sound Forge for almost 8 years now. Luckily they brought CD Architect back as well because I have yet to find another application that does what CD Architect does even NEARLY as well.

It is also important to remeber that the Wavelab in question here is the cheap "essentials" version. The full blown newer version may be considerably different.

 

[chessrock]

You can't really compare the two.

Sony products, like Sound Forge, Vegas, Acid, etc ...

... are all professional tools.

Wavelab is just kind of a toy; used for dinking and futzing around.

Sony is a company who makes cutting-edge, professional-level tools. Unfortunately, they tend to market themselves as more of a "consumer" or "prosumer" company, which I don't really understand. I suppose that's a subject for a whole nother discussion. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Sony is the real deal. They were the real deal way back when they were Sonic Foundry, and they're still the real deal today -- even moreso.

 

[Massive Master]

I dumped 'em all for Samplitude Professional and haven't looked back.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

They were the real deal way back when they were Sonic Foundry, and they're still the real deal today -- even moreso.

Yes yes yes yes yes. I have never agreed with you more Chess. (and no it's not just because I'm in a good mood because of the Sox. )

It's also kind of an unfair comparison between SF and full WL. It's kind of like comparing a carbon steel-tipped screwdriver to a Swiss Army knife. As a digital file editor - which is really what SF is meant to be - SF is, IMHO, the standard setter for editing mono or stereo audio. Full WL is kind of the equivalent of SF and Architect put together (with just a light sprinke of Vegas thrown in) in a single executable. As such it has more functionality than SF alone, but as an editor (again just an opinion) it is a distant but respectible second to SF. I would - and actually have - taken SF and CDA as seperate tools over Wavelab as an all-in-one package.

But again, these are subject opinions. Everybody has their own preferences. Use whatever tool feels good in your hands and gives you the best results.

G.

 

[FALKEN]

well crap. All I've heard on this board for the last year is :

"mastering enginerrs won't touch anything other than wavelab"

thanks a lot.

I would have rather stuck with sound forge (even though they're owned by sony now, which is questionable)...had I known it would do what I want.

which is to burn a replication ready master,

which is the only thing wavelab seems to do.

I hope.

 

[FALKEN]

But again, these are subject opinions. Everybody has their own preferences. Use whatever tool feels good in your hands and gives you the best results.

umm...

that is why I hate buying software. because once you find this out you've already blown your wad.

 

[Massive Master]

Ah - But Samplitude has a demo!

But also a rather goofy and somewhat steep learning curve - Even just making a new project was very confusing at first, the way it handles files and directories... Very odd.

 

[noisedude]

I've not used Wavelab myself, but ALL of the Sony software I've used has been a joy to work with - brilliantly uncluttered and intuitive, which is more than can be said for anything Native Instruments have ever made, for example.

This whole software thing really winds me up because it is SO personal. I can work with Cubase if I have to, but I can get the tracking, editing and mixing done so much quicker using Vegas as the platform. Other people will swear religiously by Pro Tools, or even Tracktion (crapware with a cool workflow).

Falken - I guess I would suggest that you concentrate on listening to your results from Wavelab. If they're disappointing then I guess you bought a turkey. If you are actually getting what you need from it, then maybe it's worth going through the pain barrier a bit to use the thing.

 

[zed32]

i agree with noisedude in that Sony/Sonic Foundry software is easy to use. i've been using Acid for years, since version 2.0, and it's very intuitive and get's the job done for me. i'm trying to switch to Cubase temporarily since it came with my Firepod, but everything seems much more complicated. i almost bought Wavelab Essentials a while back, but the place i ordered it from told me they were out of stock so i decided to forget about it for now. i think i'm going to try Samplitude when i get my new computer put together, so hmm maybe i should check out that demo.

 

[mshilarious]

i'm trying to switch to Cubase temporarily since it came with my Firepod, but everything seems much more complicated.

I freakin' hate Cubase, and unlike Wavelab, there is no demo for SX3. Ya gotta dig deep to find the SX2 demo. Hard to believe the same company makes both.

 

[xstatic]

Personally, I love Cubase. It only took about an hour of playing with it to get some of the workflow down, and then off to the races. I also have found that there isn't really anything I can't do in Wavelab that I can in Sound Forge. However, 8 years of Sound Forge use has left me much more proficient with it so thats why I continue to use it. I am glad that Sony took it over. It seems like Sound Forge has matured faster with sony at the helm, plus we got CD Architect back, and did not need specific updates to recognize specific burners.

As far as Sound Forge being pro though and Wavelab not? I find that to be not true at all. I see them as professional and fully capable programs. I just have more experience with SF and have no real desire to buy or switch to anything else. I am sure that if my 8 years of experience was with Wavelab, than thats the program I would be talking about here instead

 

[Robert D]

I dumped 'em all for Samplitude Professional and haven't looked back.

Ditto. I was running a stack of standalone HDRs and mixing on an 03D, using Wavelab 3 for editing, until Samplitude V6 Producer came out. Wavelab kept it's job for a little while, mostly because I paid to much to shelf it so soon, but keeping everything within Samplitudes integrated environment won out. I haven't raved about it for awhile, but Samplitude really is just an awesome program, and was years ahead of the curve when everyone was just waking up to DAW recording. What they suck at is marketing. In a way, I'm kind of glad.

Massive - Are you running V8? I haven't budged from 7.2 Pro, not because I don't want to pay for the upgrade. I'm just perfectly happy where I'm at.

RD