tombuur said:
I believe Sonar will do most things for you, including mastering.
You can also pound a nail with a shoe, but a hammer is generally better.
tombuur said:
But are there any other useful purposes for a wave editor?
In addition to those you've mentioned, here's some others that come to mind:
Detecting and eliminating DC offset.
Splitting stereo tracks to mono tracks, or converting a stereo track to mono.
Changing sample rate and/or bit depth.
Stretching/shrinking clips.
Converting to AIFF format (or MP3, or WMA, etc.)
Fade-Ins/Outs (with significantly more control over the shape of the fade than offered in Sonar).
Spectrum Analyzer
Loudness Analyzer
Phase inversion
However, the advantage of a program like Wavelab is not JUST as an audio editor, it is also it's function as a Mastering Platform and CD burning program (with options you don't normally find in non-audio CD burners - such as cross fades between tracks, track markers anywhere you want them, etc.).