R/E/P Community
R/E/P => Mastering Dynamics => Topic started by: bradsarno on October 30, 2014, 07:19:31 PM
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I'm on Mac, so Wavelab is sparking some curiosity for use as a mastering CD layout tool with plug-in implementation & DDP creation.
Any opinions on Wavelab in its current state? (Fall 2014)
Thanks,
Brad
www.bluejadeaudio.com
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WL 7.0 was a disaster IMHO. WL 8.0 was OK and 8.5 seems to be very good. FWIW
I still use WL 6.0 daily and have for years. Good stable platform. I would recommend WL 8.5 as a good mastering DAW.
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Would also like to hear some user feedback of the modern versions. I've been on SADiE since '96, so I'm a little frozen over when it comes to checking out different apps!
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I may have to check out WL 8.5. Still generally frustrated in the Mac world when it comes to laying out CD/DDP masters. Sonic's soundBlade is still weird to me. It's great on a basic level, but the way I tend to work, I bring in songs that were mastered thru an analog process and monitored thru the peak limiter, but I don't print the peak-limited files. I let the peak limiter do its work in the final output stage. That makes it easy for me to go back in and make subtle EQ and loudness tweaks for the client.
SoundBlade is fine with a peak limiter in the final output, but their implementation of plug-ins on individual song tracks has been pretty abysmal. Maybe they've got it better now, but I just lost faith in that aspect a while ago. DSP Quattro is basic and handy, but BEWARE. It can place a "tick" at the beginning of a track because of some buffering issues. So you have to close the session and re-open it and DON'T hit play or else you load the buffers and risk the "tick". Apple abandoned Waveburner Pro years ago with absolutely no fix to their broken DDP function.
Lately, I've been very impressed with Presonus Studio One v2 for master DDP creation, plug-in implementation, and even track exporting in various formats. It's a nice tool, very stable. BUT, they are still way behind with respect to track marker implementation, ability to control start and end markers, and even the ability to delete a track marker. If they fix that, then I would suggest people really check it out, mac or pc. It's impressive other than the miserable track marker issues.
So now I'm interested in Wavelab and may give it a go. I just hate having to buy a dongle just to test drive it.
B
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I started with Wavelab 6, went to version 7 that included some new features, there was some learning curve on learning it though. It seems with Version 8 they listened to some of the complaints and made some changes and improvement in work flow. Version 9 is suppose to be out in 2015 which is suppose to include automation for plug ins. Can't wait for that.
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I have been using WL 8.5.2 for the past couple of months and I must say that I am very impressed with what PG has accomplished, WL7 was a complete disaster and the original 8.0 was not to stunning but 8.5.2 is amazing since PG has gone back to the old WL6 for a lot of the workings but done everything to make it an great DAW for mastering including a very good DDP implementation. Most of what I wanted to see changed has been implemented and the program works flawlessly with no crashes. I am running it on a Window 7 machine with lots of memory. I know this is an old topic but wanted to update it for people who may still be looking for a good DAW.
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Might be finally worth a look, would like to see a good mastering app for Mac finally. Thanks for the update, Thomas!