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Operation Manual
Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Christina Kaboth, Insa Mingers, Sabine Pfeifer,
Benjamin Schütte
This PDF provides improved access for vision-impaired users. Please note that due to the
complexity and number of images in this document, it is not possible to include text descriptions
of images.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by
this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except
as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied,
reproduced, or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written
permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Registered licensees of the product
described herein may print one copy of this document for their personal use.
All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective holders. For more
information, please visit www.steinberg.net/trademarks.
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2013.
All rights reserved.
Release Date: June 18, 2013
3
Table of Contents
8 Introduction
8 The Help System
9 About the Program Versions
10 Typographical Conventions
10 How You Can Reach Us
11 Setting Up Your System
11 Connecting Audio
11 About Audio Cards and Background
Playback
12 About Latency
12 Defining VST Audio Connections
16 CD/DVD Recorders
16 Remote Devices
29 WaveLab Concepts
29 General Editing Rules
30 Startup Screen
31 Basic Window Handling
34 Selecting Audio
42 Sliders
43 Renaming Items in Tables
43 File Browser
45 Tab Groups
46 Peak Files
47 Companion Files
48 EBU Loudness Standard R-128
50 Program Overview
50 Command Bars
51 Status Bar
53 Context Menus
54 Time Ruler and Level Ruler
61 Value Editing
61 Drag Operations
64 Undoing and Redoing
66 Zooming
73 Managing Tabs
75 Presets
77 Saving a Picture of the Active Window
78 Log Window
80 File Operations
80 List of All Open Files Throughout the
Application Dialog
81 Recently Used Files
83 Favorite Files
85 Save and Save As
88 Templates
92 File Renaming
93 Deleting Files
94 Special Menu
95 Temporary Files
95 Work Folders vs. Document Folders
98 Uploading to SoundCloud
98 Copying Audio Information to the
Clipboard
99 Setting the Focus on the Current File
100 About Workspaces
101 Elements of a Workspace
101 Audio Files Workspace
102 Audio Montage Workspace
102 Batch Processors Workspace
102 Podcast Workspace
103 Control Window
104 Creating an Empty Workspace
104 New Workspace Dialog
105 Opening Files in a Workspace
106 Organizing Workspace Windows
106 Saving a Workspace Layout
107 About Tool Windows
4
112 Playback
112 Transport Bar
129 Playing Back Only One Channel
129 Starting Playback From the Ruler
130 Using the Play Tool
130 Playback Scrubbing
132 Timecode Window
133 Jog/Shuttle Function
134 Scroll During Playback
135 About Playback in the Audio Montage
Workspace
136 Speaker Configuration
139 Audio File Editing
139 Wave Window
150 File Handling in the Audio Files
Workspace
174 Changing the Audio Properties
176 Meta-Data
183 Silence Generator Dialog
186 Waveform Restoration with the Pen Tool
187 Audio Analysis
187 Error Detection and Correction
195 Global Analysis
206 Audio File Comparator
208 3D Frequency Analysis
211 Offline Processing
211 Applying Processing
212 Gain Dialog
212 Normalize Level Dialog
213 Loudness Normalizer
216 Pan Normalizer Dialog
217 Envelope Dialog
219 Fades in Audio Files
220 Crossfades
221 Inverting the Audio Phase
222 Reversing Audio
222 DC Offset
223 Time Stretching
225 Pitch Shift
228 Pitch Quantize Dialog
229 Pitch Bend
232 Resample
233 Effect Morphing
236 Audio Montage
236 Basic Terminology
237 Montage Window
240 Signal Flow in the Audio Montage
241 Creating a New Audio Montage
243 Creating an Audio Montage from an
Audio File
243 Import Options for Audio Montages
245 Missing Files in Audio Montage Dialog
246 Assembling the Audio Montage
259 Rearranging Clips
267 Clip Editing
299 Audio Montages Within Audio
Montages
305 Managing Source Files of Clips
311 Track Activity Indicator
311 Envelopes for Clips
323 Fades and Crossfades in the Audio
Montage
335 Clip Time Stretching
336 Clip Pitch Shifting
337 Effects for Tracks, Clips, and the Master
Output
353 About the CD Window
363 About Cloning Audio Montages
368 Snapshots
370 Mixing Down - The Render Function
372 Loudness Meta Normalizer
375 Navigator Window
376 Notes Window
376 About Groups
379 Backing Up Audio Montages
380 Multichannel Operations in the Audio
Montage
394 XML Export and Import of Audio
Montages
394 AES-31 Files Export and Import
398 Recording
398 Setting Up the Recording Dialog
399 Dropping Markers During Recording
400 Recording Dialog
408 Recording in the Audio Montage
Workspace
5
409 Master Section
410 Master Section Window
423 Rendering
430 Record From an ASIO Input
431 Smart Bypass
434 Saving a Master Section Preset
439 About Monitoring Background Tasks
441 About Dropouts
442 Markers
443 Marker Types
444 Markers Window
448 About Creating Markers
454 Deleting Markers
457 Moving Markers
457 Moving Multiple Markers
459 Navigating to Markers
459 Hiding Markers of a Certain Type
459 Converting Marker Types
461 Renaming Markers
462 About Selecting Markers
463 Selecting the Audio Between Markers
463 Binding Markers to Clips in the Audio
Montage
464 Exporting the Markers List as Text
465 How Marker Information is Stored
466 Metering
466 Metering Window
466 Real Time vs. Non-Real Time
467 Metering Monitor Modes
468 About Meter Settings
468 Multichannel Metering
469 Resetting the Meters
469 Using Presets in the Meter Windows
470 Level Meter
474 Loudness Meter
478 Phasescope
480 Spectroscope
481 Spectrometer
484 Bit Meter
486 Oscilloscope
487 Wavescope
488 Basic Audio CD
489 Basic Audio CD Window
492 About CD Markers
493 Preparing a Basic Audio CD
495 Opening CD Tracks for Editing
496 About Playing Back Files in the Track
List
497 Saving Basic Audio CD Tracks as
Separate Files
498 Saving Basic Audio CD Tracks as One
File
499 DVD-Audio
500 Structure of a DVD-Audio Project
500 DVD-Audio Formats
500 DVD-Audio Format Considerations
501 DVD-Audio Window
504 Preparing a DVD-Audio
506 Opening Audio Montages for Editing
506 Checking the DVD-Audio Conformity
507 Writing Operations
507 Write Audio CD or DDP Dialog
510 Erase Optical Media Dialog
511 About Writing Audio Files
514 About Writing Audio Montages
530 Write DVD-Audio Function
535 Data CD/DVD Projects
539 About Audio CD Formats
543 Spectrum Editing
544 Spectrum Display
545 Surgical Processing
548 Master Section Processing
549 Spectrum Editor Window
556 Defining a Region for Spectrum Editing
557 Processing Frequency Ranges via the
Master Section
558 Auto Split
558 Auto Split in Audio Files
562 Auto Split in Audio Montages
565 Loops
565 Basic Looping
566 About Refining Loops
576 About Looping Seemingly Unloopable
Audio
579 About Sample Attributes
581 Generating Signals
581 Signal Generator
585 DTMF Generator
6
588 Importing Audio CD Tracks
589 Import Audio CD Dialog
593 Importing Audio CD Tracks
594 Searching Track Names on the internet
594 About Ultra-Safe Mode
594 Converting Audio CD Tracks to an
Audio Montage
595 Converting Audio CD Tracks to a Basic
Audio CD
596 Batch Processing
597 Advantages of the WaveLab Batch
Processor
598 Batch Processing Meta-data
598 Overview of the Batch Processors
Workspace
604 About Off-Line Processors
606 Opening the Batch Processors
Workspace
607 Creating a Batch Process Document
607 Saving a Batch Process Document
608 Adding Files to a Batch Process
610 Custom Plug-in Chain vs. Associated
Master Section Preset
611 Adding Plug-ins to the Batch Process
612 Removing Files and Plug-ins from the
Batch Process
612 Changing the Order of the Plug-ins in
the Batch Process
613 Previewing the Effect of the Batch
Process
613 About Processing Open Files
614 Selecting an Output Format for the
Batch Process
614 Setting Up a File Location for the Batch
Process
615 Specifying an Overwriting Strategy
615 Naming Rendered Audio Files
616 Running and Stopping the Batch
Process
616 Batch Processing Status Icons
617 About Multitasking During the Batch
Process
619 Batch Conversion
619 Batch Conversion Dialog
620 Batch Converting Files
621 Batch Renaming
621 Batch Renaming Dialogs
622 Batch Renaming Files
623 Batch Renaming Markers
625 Batch Renaming Clips
626 Renaming Operation Categories and
Types
632 List of Renaming Operations
632 Preview Section
633 Range Parameters
635 Previewing and Performing All
Renaming Operations
635 About Regular Expressions
640 Podcasts
641 Podcast Workspace
646 Global Podcast Options
646 Creating a Podcast
647 Setting Up a FTP for Podcast Publishing
647 Publishing a Podcast
648 FTP Site Dialog
649 Checking the Podcast
650 Master Projects
650 Setting Up a Master Project
651 Saving a Master Project
651 Writing Files of a Master Project to Data
CD/DVD
652 Master Project Window
654 Customizing
654 Window Layout
660 Customizing the Wave Window and the
Montage Window
669 About Customizing Shortcuts
676 Plug-ins Organization
685 Variables and Text Snippets
687 About Scripting
710 Configuring the Software
710 About Global Preferences
720 Audio File Editing Preferences Dialog
725 Audio Montage Preferences Dialog
729 Settings Management
729 Multi-User Settings
730 About External Tools
8
Introduction
The Help System
The detailed help system of WaveLab makes it easy to look up interface
features and get information from within the program.
Three main types of help are available:
• The help provides detailed information on the features and
functionality of WaveLab. You can set bookmarks, and use the
search function and index to quickly find information.
• “What’s This” tooltips give detailed information on the functionality
of a specific user interface element.
• The status bar at the bottom of each workspace window gives
detailed information on menu items when moving the mouse over
an item.
• In the Audio Montage workspace, the status bar shows what kind
of editing can be performed when using the mouse and modifier
keys.
Accessing the Help System
There are several ways of accessing the help system.
• To open the WaveLab help, select Help > Contents.
• To open the manual in PDF format, browse to the installation
folder. The documents are located in the Documentation folder.
• To show tooltips, move the mouse over an interface icon.
• To open the help for the active dialog, click the question mark icon
on the title bar (Windows) or in the dialog (Mac OS) to show the
Help button, and then click the Help button, or press [F1]
(Windows) or [Command]-[?] (Mac OS).
Introduction
About the Program Versions
9
• To use the menu help, move the mouse over a menu item. The help
text is displayed on the status bar at the bottom of the workspace
window.
• To see information on what kind of editing can be performed when
using the mouse and modifier keys in the audio montage window,
move the mouse over the montage window. The help text is
displayed on the status bar at the bottom of the workspace
window.
• To activate/deactivate the help texts on the status bar, select
Options (WaveLab menu on Mac) > Global preferences >
Display tab, and in the Workspaces section, select Display
status bar.
To open the “What’s This” help, you have the following possibilities:
• In any workspace, press [Shift]-[F1], and move the mouse over an
interface item, or select Help > What is this?.
• In a dialog, select the question mark icon on any title bar
(Windows) or in the dialog (Mac OS), and move the mouse over
an interface item or a menu option.
• Some “What’s this” tooltips have a different background color to
indicate that a dedicated help topic is available in the WaveLab
help. Click the link in the tooltip to open the corresponding
information in the help.
About the Program Versions
The documentation covers two different operating systems, Windows
and Mac OS X. Some features and settings are specific to one of the
operation systems.
This is clearly stated in the applicable cases. If nothing else is said, all
descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid for all
WaveLab versions for both Windows and Mac OS X.
The screenshots are taken from the English Windows version of
WaveLab.
Introduction
Typographical Conventions
10
Typographical Conventions
Many of the default key commands in WaveLab use modifier keys, some
of which are different depending on the operating system. For example,
the default key command for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] on Windows and
[Command]-[Z] on Mac OS X.
When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual,
they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following way:
• [Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key]
For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z] means “press [Ctrl] on Windows or
[Command] on Mac OS X, then press [Z]”.
Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] on Windows or [Option]
on Mac OS X, then press [X]”.
NOTE
This manual often refers to right-clicking, for example, to open context
menus. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down
[Ctrl] and click.
How You Can Reach Us
On the Help menu in WaveLab, you find items linking to additional
information.
The menu contains links to various Steinberg web pages. Selecting a
menu item automatically launches your browser and opens the page. On
these pages, you can find support and compatibility information,
answers to frequently asked questions, information about updates and
other Steinberg products, etc. This requires that you have a web
browser installed on your computer, and a working internet connection.
11
Setting Up Your System
Before you start working, you need to make some settings.
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
Make sure that all equipment is turned off before making any
connections.
Connecting Audio
Your system setup depends on many different factors, for example, the
kind of project that you want to create, the external equipment that you
want to use, or the computer hardware available to you.
About Audio Cards and Background
Playback
When you activate playback or recording in WaveLab, other
applications cannot access the audio card. Likewise, if another
application uses the audio card, WaveLab is unable to play back. The
Windows MME driver is an exception from this.
You can run WaveLab together with other applications and always give
the active application access to the audio card.
To do so, select Options > VST Audio Connections, and on the
Options tab, activate Release driver when WaveLab is in
background.
Setting Up Your System
About Latency
12
About Latency
Latency is the delay between when audio is sent from the program and
when you actually hear it. While a very low latency can be crucial in a
real-time DAW application such as Steinberg Nuendo or Cubase, this
is not strictly the case with WaveLab.
When working with WaveLab, the important issues are optimum and
stable playback and editing precision. You should not try to reach the
lowest possible latency figures.
The latency in an audio system depends on the audio hardware, its
drivers, and settings. In case of dropouts, crackles, or glitches during
playback, raise the Buffer Number setting on the VST Audio
Connections dialog, or increase the buffer size in the ASIO control
panel, specific to the audio card.
Defining VST Audio Connections
To be able to play back and record audio in WaveLab, you must specify
how the internal input and output channels in WaveLab are connected
to your sound card and which device you intend to use for audio
playback and recording.
You can define the buffer settings for your device as well as set up
connections to external gear, such as external effects units. You should
select at least two channels for stereo playback and recording.
If you have no third-party audio card, you can select the Windows MME
driver or Built-in Audio (Mac) options. You can also use MME with most
third party audio cards, with the advantage that you can record and play
at different sample rates. However, Windows MME drivers do not allow
audio monitoring in the Recording dialog or multichannel operation, and
other drivers generally offer better sound quality and performance.
Setting Up Your System
Defining VST Audio Connections
13
Selecting an ASIO Driver
Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) is a computer device driver protocol
for digital audio specified by Steinberg. It provides a low-latency and
high fidelity interface between a software application and the soundcard
of a computer.
PROCEDURE
1. In any workspace, except the Podcast workspace, select Options
> VST Audio Connections.
2. From the Audio Device menu, select your ASIO driver.
The ASIO plug-ins tab and the Control panel button are activated.
3. Optional: Click the Control panel button and make your settings.
4. On the ASIO plug-ins tab, select the audio ports that are used for
recording and monitor input of the ASIO plug-ins.
5. Click OK.
Selecting a Windows MME Driver
PROCEDURE
1. In any workspace, except the Podcast workspace, select Options
> VST Audio Connections.
2. From the Audio Device menu, select the Windows MME driver.
3. On the Playback tab, select the audio ports that are used for
playback.
4. On the Recording tab, select the audio ports that used for
recording and monitor input.
5. Click OK.
VST Audio Connections Dialog
This dialog allows you to specify how the internal input and output
channels in WaveLab are connected to your sound card and which
device you want to use for audio playback and recording.
In any workspace, except the Podcast workspace, select Options >
VST Audio Connections.
Setting Up Your System
Defining VST Audio Connections
14
Global Settings
Audio device
Here, select the audio device that you want to use for playback and
recording audio. If you do not have a third-party audio card, you
can select the Windows MME driver or Built-in Audio (Mac)
options.
Control panel
When you select an ASIO driver, the Control panel button is
activated. Click the button to open the settings application of your
sound card, which is usually installed with the sound card.
Depending on your sound card and driver, this provides settings
for buffer size, digital formats, additional I/O connections, etc.
Refresh
This button causes audio devices to be evaluated again to reflect
device changes.
Playback Tab
This tab allows you to select and name audio ports that are used for
playback. If you are monitoring on a surround system, specify your
surround speaker outputs here. Furthermore, you can rename the
channels and set up the Speaker configuration to be able to switch
between different speakers.
Setting Up Your System
Defining VST Audio Connections
15
Recording Tab
This tab allows you to select and name your audio ports that are used
for recording and input monitoring. The inputs that you define here are
then available in the Recording dialog. Furthermore, you can rename the
channels and select the Speaker configuration.
External Gear Tab
This tab allows you to select inputs from and outputs to external audio
processing equipment. The name of this tab corresponds to the
installed driver, for example, ASIO plug-ins.
Options Tab
This tab allows you to specify the number of buffers and the control
driver functionality.
Buffer Number
Increasing this value improves the elasticity of audio streaming to
avoid dropouts.
MME Specific - Buffer size
Increasing this value improves the elasticity of audio streaming to
avoid dropouts. This is only available when an MME driver is
selected.
Setting Up Your System
CD/DVD Recorders
16
Initialize streaming engine at first use
Initializes the audio streaming engine when playback or recording
are used for the first time. If this option is deactivated, the audio
streaming engine is initialized at program startup.
Reset driver when changing sample rate
Resets the driver when sample rate is changed. When playback or
recording must be set to a new sample rate, certain audio device
drivers must be fully reset to work properly. This operation takes
some time.
Perform short fade-in/out when starting/stopping playback
Performs a short fade-in when starting playback and a short
fade-out when stopping playback. This avoids clicks that are
caused by waveforms that are not starting on a zero-crossing
point.
Release driver when WaveLab is in background
Closes the audio device when WaveLab is no longer the front
application. This allows other audio applications to use the same
audio device.
CD/DVD Recorders
For general instructions on installing internal or connecting external
recorders via USB or Firewire, please refer to the instruction manual for
your computer or your recorder.
Make sure to have the latest firmware version installed on your recorder
unit. For CD recorders, the existing firmware must support disc-at-once
mode. In addition, running a unit with older firmware can prevent you
from writing sub-index markers into the tracks, for example.
Remote Devices
You can use remote devices to remote-control WaveLab.
Several commands can be controlled with knobs and sliders of your
remote control device.For all commands that can be assigned to a
keyboard shortcut, a MIDI trigger can also be assigned.
Setting Up Your System
Remote Devices
17
Remote Devices Dialog
This dialog allows you to select a device to remote-control WaveLab,
and see and edit the control map of MIDI control devices.
In any workspace, except the Podcast workspace, select Options >
Remote devices.
Device Editing Tab
This tab lets you select a MIDI control device, see the control map,
assign WaveLab commands to MIDI controls, and import/export control
assignments.
Device menu
Select the MIDI device to edit. Select MIDI shortcuts for menus
to define the MIDI input port that is used for MIDI shortcuts. The
shortcuts can then be assigned in the Customize commands
dialog.
Select MIDI Control Device #1 - #10 to select a slot for a
connected MIDI control device. You can then assign a device by
selecting a MIDI input port and output port.
Setting Up Your System
Remote Devices
18
Active
Activates the selected device and scans the MIDI ports.
In-Port/Out-Port
Select the MIDI input/output ports of the device that you want to
use.
Edit map
Activates the edit mode of the MIDI control map for the selected
device. To leave the edit mode, click again.
Save
Saves the modifications that have been made to the MIDI control
map.
Undo
Undoes the modifications that have been made to the MIDI control
map.
Reset
If the map has a factory preset, clicking Reset resets all changes
that have been made to the map. If the map has no factory preset,
the map is cleared.
Import
Opens the file browser where you can select a map definition file
(XML file). This kind of file can be supplied by a MIDI device
manufacturer or another WaveLab user, for example.
Export
Lets you export a map definition file (XML file). This file can be sent
to another WaveLab user, for example.
Name
Lets you enter a map name.
Only display assignments
If this option is activated, the control map only displays the
parameters that are associated with a remote control.
Expand/Collapse
Expands/collapses the folder tree of the control map.
Setting Up Your System
Remote Devices
19
WaveLab action list
This folder tree lists the parameters that you can remote-control.
The top folder represent contexts. The related parameters can only
be controlled if the context is active. For example, if an audio file is
active.
A remote control can be used in several contexts if these are
exclusive. For example, parameters that can be used for an active
audio file or an active audio montage.
The Global folder contain the parameters that can always be
controlled.
Control editor - Save
If a control has been created or modified, click this button to save it.
Control editor - Undo
If a control has been modified, click this button to undo the
changes.
Control editor - Clear
Erases the selected control’s definition.
Control name
Lets you enter a name for the control. Each control must have a name.
Type
In the Type section, you can edit the type of the selected control.
When more than one type of control can be assigned to a
parameter, you can select a type from the first pop-up menu. You
can choose between relative and absolute editing for certain
parameters. For example, a master section slider can be
associated to a remote motorized fader (absolute editing), or to an
infinite knob (relative editing).
Several protocols are supported to interpret the MIDI messages.
You can select the protocol that you want to use from the second
menu. The MIDI learn function can automatically change this
protocol, according to the received MIDI messages.
Remote controls send messages but can also receive messages
from WaveLab, to light up a button or move a motorized fader, for
example. You can select the mode to use from the third menu.
Message
Activates the MIDI learn function. When activated, you can use the
control (knob, fader, etc.) on your MIDI controller. When MIDI
messages are received, they are analyzed after the MIDI activity stops
for several milliseconds. The result is displayed in the Message field.
This is then used by WaveLab as the control identifier.
Setting Up Your System
Remote Devices
20
Clear
Erases the MIDI event that identifies the control.
Conditions
A modifier is a WaveLab parameter that can be activated by a MIDI
control (for example, a foot switch) or a computer key
([Ctrl]/[Command], [Shift], etc.). By associating a remote control
with one or two modifiers, you can use a single remote control to
edit different parameters.
Options Tab
This tab lets you use the MIDI Learn function to assign a control of a
MIDI remote control device to a function.
Emulate mouse wheel
If this option is activated, the AI knob acts as a mouse wheel in the
WaveLab user interface, except for plug-ins.
Edit focused numeric field
If this option is activated, the AI knob can be used to edit the
focused numeric field that you find in many WaveLab windows and
dialogs.
Selecting a MIDI Remote Control Device
PREREQUISITE
The MIDI remote control device is connected to your PC/Mac.
PROCEDURE
1. In any workspace, except the Podcast workspace, select Options
> Remote devices.
2. On the Device editing tab, select one of the MIDI control device
slots or the MIDI shortcuts for menus option from the pop-up
menu at the top.
3. Select Active to activate the selected device.
4. From the In-Port and Out-Port menus, select a MIDI input port
and output port.
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