Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

WAVELAB
Plug-in Processor Reference 33 – 781
Q
Q is a high-quality 4-band parametric stereo equalizer with two fully para-
metric midrange bands. The low and high bands can act as either stan-
dard shelving filters or fixed-gain high/low-cut filters.
Making settings
1.Click the corresponding On button below the EQ curve display to acti-
vate any or all of the Low, Mid 1, Mid 2 or High equalizer bands.
When a band is activated, a corresponding EQ point appears in the EQ curve display.
2.Set the parameters...

WAVELAB
33 – 782 Plug-in Processor Reference
Spectralizer
The Spectralizer is a type of audio “enhancer” or “exciter”. It can be put to 
many uses:
• To restore lost harmonics in a recording.
• To improve the clarity and transparency of a recording.
• To make a recording sound “warmer”.
How Spectralizer works
Most audio equipment introduces a slight low-pass filtering to the audio 
signal. This means you lose “high end” or “clarity”. The lost high frequency 
components often have a level close to the...

WAVELAB
Plug-in Processor Reference 33 – 783
• The second harmonic is a signal at twice the frequency (one octave) above the 
basic frequency (the fundamental). 
• The 3rd harmonic is three times the fundamental (one octave and a fifth above it).
The reasons for limiting the processor to these two frequencies are; 
firstly, higher harmonics are most often perceived as “too high”, and se-
condly, their amplitude normally doesn’t follow that of the fundamental in a 
natural way.
• Please note the relation...

WAVELAB
33 – 784 Plug-in Processor Reference
Stereo Echo
The Stereo Echo is a delay with separate settings for the left and right 
channel. It can also be used as a single mono delay, in which case the 
maximum delay time will be doubled.
The Stereo Echo has the following parameters:
Gain This adjusts the level of the signal just before it reaches the harmonic 
generators.
As you increase this, you will most probably have to lower the Input set-
ting to avoid clipping.
2nd This sets the level of the 2nd...

WAVELAB
Plug-in Processor Reference 33 – 785
StereoExpander
The StereoExpander plug-in narrows or enlarges the stereo width of an 
existing stereo signal. There is only one parameter, the horizontal stereo 
effect slider. Setting this to a value of -100% produces two equal output 
channels (the original stereo image is lost). Values between -99 and -1 
correspond to a narrower stereo image. A value of 0 corresponds to the 
original signal, while values between 1 and 100 enlarge the stereo image.
Tools...

WAVELAB
33 – 786 Plug-in Processor Reference
Voice Attenuator
This plug-in can be used to remove lead vocals from a recording, to pro-
duce a “karaoke” effect. The principle concept is based on the fact that 
vocals are usually mixed to center position in the stereo field, and that the 
human voice occupies a limited area of the frequency spectrum. 
Note, however, that it is nearly impossible to remove a vocal completely, 
without using very complex processing beyond the scope of this plug-in. 
• If the...

WAVELAB
Plug-in Processor Reference 33 – 787
The following processors are available on the VST Dynamics panel (click 
an item in the list for more information about the corresponding processor):
•“AutoGate” on page 787
•“AutoLevel” on page 789
•“Compress” on page 789
•“SoftClip” on page 790
•“Limit” on page 790
AutoGate
Gating, or noise gating, is a method of dynamic processing that silences 
audio signals below a certain set threshold level. As soon as the signal 
level exceeds the set threshold, the...

WAVELAB
33 – 788 Plug-in Processor Reference
Trigger Frequency Range 
AutoGate has a feature that allows the gate to be triggered only by sig-
nals within a specified frequency range. This is a most useful feature be-
cause it lets you filter out parts of the signal that might otherwise trigger 
the gate in places you don’t want it to, thus allowing more control over the 
gate function. The Trigger Frequency Range function is controlled using 
the control in the upper part of the AutoGate panel, and the...

WAVELAB
Plug-in Processor Reference 33 – 789
AutoLevel
AutoLevel reduces signal level differences in audio material. It can be 
used to process recordings where the level unintentionally varies. It will 
boost low levels and attenuate high level audio signals. Only levels above 
the set threshold will be processed, so low level noise or rumble will not 
be boosted. If the input level is greater than 0dB, AutoLevel will react very 
fast, because it looks ahead in the audio material for strong signal...

WAVELAB
33 – 790 Plug-in Processor Reference
SoftClip
SoftClip is designed to ensure that the output level never exceeds 0dB, 
like a limiter. SoftClip, however, acts differently compared to a conven-
tional limiter. When the signal level exceeds -6dB, SoftClip starts limiting 
(or clipping) the signal “softly”, at the same time generating harmonics 
which add a warm, tubelike characteristic to the audio material. SoftClip 
is simplicity itself to use as it has no control parameters. The meter indi-...