NAMM 2024: Steinberg has updated its flagship audio editor WaveLab to version 12. It comes with nearly 80 extra features and is the biggest update the iconic software platform has had in years. And how many years has WaveLab been doing its audio thing? More than you might think…
Indeed, can you believe that Steinberg's WaveLab – a software workstation that expertly tackles sample editing, audio mastering and sound restoration – has been with us since 1995? Any software title with that amount of history must be doing something right, and WaveLab's genius has always been remaining a step ahead of the trends and fashions.
Version 11, released a couple of years ago, featured handy podcasting extras, and this latest release claims to have more new additions than any previous one, including improved editing, workflow and mastering features.
The biggest of these additions comes in the form of ARA support so you can effectively use the WaveLab editor in any ARA-supported DAW. Taking this further, it's now easy to copy and paste audio edited within WaveLab - with or without effects on top - between applications.
Within the software itself a new Rainbow Waveform view eneables you to separate and identify troublesome frequencies, making it easier to spot artefacts like sibilance, excess bass and a lot more.
The audio editing process has also been refined, with automatic transient markers and automatic crossfade options that help snap audio to transient and release points, so helping reduce clicks and pops.
Loudness management has always been an important process in mastering and this latest WaveLab offers extra tools to help monitor all aspects of loudness and peak levels within audio files. It is now much easier to match loudness with reference tracks, for example, and a new reporting feature delivers all the information you need when mastering for specific broadcast platforms such as Netflix.
There are a lot of other extras, too. Tracks can be hidden to help declutter the screen and reduce CPU loads, and there are new plugins like the Black Valve and VoxComp compressors, and EQ-P1A and EQ-M5 EQs (likely aimed at Pultec fans by the sounds of those names). Plus there are "myriad improvements" to the Audio Editor, Audio Montage, and Batch Processor.
WaveLab is available in two forms, Pro 12 and the cut-down Elements 12, which are $€499 and €$99.99 respectively. There are various upgrade offers from previous versions, and all of these pricing details – and a lot of other WaveLab info – are available from the Steinberg WaveLab website.
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