Steinberg WaveLab 7 Operation Manual

							9.3 Metering 227
ˆ Similarly, -1 indicates that the two channels are the same, but one is inverted.
ˆ Generally, for a "good" mix, the meter should show a value between 0 and +1.
Unlike the main Phasescope, the Phase Correlation meter is also available in "Analyze audio
selection" mode, showing an average value for the selected range.
Changing settings
You can define display colors, peak hold time, and the resolution or number of samples to
display from the Functions>Settings... menu.
The Phasescope meter can be found in the Metersmenu of the Audio Files and Audio Mon-
tage Workspaces. It can be used either as a floating window, or docked in the Workspace
or the
Control Window .
Related topics
Metering
9.3.6 Spectrometer
The Spectrometer uses FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) techniques to display a continuous
frequency graph, providing a very precise and detailed real-time frequency analysis.
ˆ The current frequency spectrum is shown as a linear graph.
ˆ Spectrum "peaks" are shown as a short horizontal lines, indicating recent peak/maxi-
mum values.
Snapshots
By using the "Add snapshot" and
"Erase last snapshot" buttons, you can take and erase
snapshots of the current spectrum. These will be superimposed over the current peak spec-
trum graph, in a color you can customize, until you click the icon again to take a new snapshot.
One use for this is to check the effects of adding EQ, for example. Up to five snapshots can
be superimposed on the display; the sixth snapshot replaces the earliest one in the display,
and so on. (Don't confuse the order of snapshots with the numbered buttons - these are
Spectrometer presets, see below.)
Zooming
You can adjust the frequency scale and range in the Settings dialog as described below,
but it's also possible to temporarily zoom in on a frequency area of interest. This is done by
clicking and dragging a rectangle in the Spectroscope display. When you release the mouse
button, the display is zoomed in so that the enclosed frequency range fills the window. To
return to full-scale display, select "Zoom-out fully" from the Functions menu, or double-click
anywhere on the display.
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							228 Control Window
Making settings
You can adjust the behavior and display of the meters as desired, and assign up to five sets
of Spectrometer settings to the Preset buttons, for instant access. Open the Settings dialog
by selecting "Settings" from the Functions menu or clicking the
"tool" icon. Note that you
can apply your settings without closing the dialog, by clicking the Apply button.
If you want to store your settings for later use (or assign them to a Preset button), select "Save
as..." from the pop-up menu in the lower part of the dialog, and specify a name for the preset
in the file dialog that appears. Now, you can choose to make the settings instantly available
for selection in the FFT Meter window, by using the "Assign to preset button" submenu on
the pop-up menu.
ˆ When you are finished, click OK to close the dialog.
Selecting Spectrometer presets
If you have assigned your settings to the Preset buttons in the Settings dialog, you can quickly
switch between different level scales and display modes, by clicking one of the Preset icons
[1]-[5], or selecting the desired preset from the Options pop-up menu.
Exporting FFT data as ASCII text
When using the Spectrometer in off-line mode ("Monitor Edit cursor Position" or "Analyze
audio election" mode) you can export the displayed FFT data as a text file, by selecting
"Export FFT data as ASCII" from the Options pop-up menu. The resulting text file can then
be imported into applications that allow graph plotting from text files (Microsoft Excel, for
example).
The Spectrometer can be found in the Metersmenu of the Audio Files and Audio Montage
Workspaces. It can be used either as a floating window, or docked in the Workspace or the
Control Window .
Related topics
Metering
Spectroscope
9.3.7 Wavescope
The Wavescope meter displays a real-time waveform drawing of the audio signal being mon-
itored.
It can be useful when recording or rendering a file if "Monitor File rendering" mode is active.
Making settings
You can adjust settings for the display via the Wavescope Settings dialog. This can be
accessed via Functions>Settings... menu, or by using the
icon. Here you can set
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							9.3 Metering 229
various color options for the background, grid and waveform display, as well as setting the
waveform rendering speed and vertical zoom. If "Clear waveform when reaching right of
pane" is checked the waveform display is cleared each time the cursor reaches the right end
of the display. If unchecked, the previous waveform is overwritten.
Tip: Wavescope is a useful meter for visualizing audio during recording. The Wavescope
meter can be found in the Metersmenu of the Audio Files and Audio Montage Workspaces.
It can be used either as a floating window, or docked in the Workspace or the
Control Win-
dow
.
Related topics
Metering
WaveLab 7 
						

							230 Control Window
WaveLab 7 
						

							Chapter 10
Master Section
The Master section contains WaveLab's "Real Time Engine" and is the final element in the
signal path, before your audio material is passed on to the audio hardware, or before it is
rendered to disk as an Audio File. The Master section is where you can set the master
volume level and add effects processors.
The Master Section is a "shared tool window". This means there is a unique instance of
it: it can only show up at one place at a time. You can access it from Workspace menu >
Shared tool windows. If the Master section is not visible, click on
to dock it in the relevant
Workspace.
The Master Section includes:
ˆ Effects slots For adding real-time effect plug-in processors such as Crystal Resam-
pler, Steinberg Studio EQ, etc. WaveLab provides a number of effects slots. Click on
to access plug-ins. If you need more effects than you have slots available, you can
render the tracks and add further effects in a subsequent pass before storing the final
Audio File.
Plug-ins can be individually by-passed for playback by toggling
to , but this does not
affect the rendering process.
To give priority to a single effect (that is, to switch the other effects off temporarily), press 'S'
(Solo bypass).
The
icon allows you to store, access and manage plug-in presets. For Steinberg VST3
effects, an interesting set of Factory presets are provided from the drop-down submenu.
Other buttons in this row allow you to hide or display the effect's control panel and switch
an effect on (
) or off ( ) - for both playback and rendering.
ˆ Master level faders The right and left faders are normally linked, but you can press
"Unlink" to control the output levels independently. Select "Mono" to sum the audio
channels into a single mono output. "Reset peaks" clears the last peak level indicator.
The tools at the bottom pane are:
ˆ Smart Bypass - this opens the
Smart bypass dialog , which allows you to choose
whether to bypass all the active effects in the Effects slots, including faders. The pur-
pose of this feature is to allow you to compensate for any level difference introduced
by the Master Section. Note that this is for playback only, not for file rendering . 
						

							232 Master Section
ˆ Reset all- removes all the active effects from the Effects slots and sets the master
output to 0dB.
ˆ Settings menu - provides access to various options.
ˆ Rendering functions - brings up the
Render Wave window . This allows you to
process the Audio File or Audio Montage with the effects you have selected and create
a temporary or final Audio File. By rendering the effects, they become a permanent
part of the file, rather than using them in real-time to test a set of effects on the file.
The rendering options differ slightly so they are appropriate for Audio Files and Audio
Montages.
ˆ Master section On/Off - removes the Master section from the signal path. Note
that this is for playback only, not for file rendering .
Tip: When working in the Master Section window, the mouse wheel can be used to adjust
the master volume. You have to point the cursor in the Master Section for this to work.
Docking/Undocking Master Section
The Master Section is a shared tool window and can be docked and un-docked like other
Shared tool windows. There are however, some exceptions to its behavior, because of its
central importance in WaveLab.
If you dock the Master Section in a Workspace, then close that Workspace, the Master
Section will be automatically un-docked and re-displayed as an independent floating window.
This is done so that the Master Section remains visible at all times and is not closed with the
Workspace (the normal behavior for a Shared tool window). If however, you place it in the
Control Window then it is not docked but part of a tab group. As such if you then close the
Control Window it will also hide the Master Section.
The "Global" menu (in all menu bars), always has an entry "Master Section", to easily reveal
the Master Section if it is ever hidden in this manner. If the Master Section is docked or in
a tab group, its main host will be made visible again. The Master Section can be docked in
some Workspaces (Audio File, Montage), but not in some others (for example, the Podcast
Workspace).
Related topics
Render Wave window
Render Montage window
Plug-ins settings
Audio Plug-ins
10.1 Render Wave window
This dialog allows you to process the Audio File or selection you are working on, applying
any effects you have active.
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							10.2 Render Montage window 233
It applies all active plug-ins to the selected audio region or the whole file, and you can op-
tionally change the format of the rendered file. This process is sometimes also referred to as
"mixing" or "bouncing down".
You can select options for which regions of the session are rendered, whether to create a
new file or process in place, and whether to mute the effects chain when finished. You can
also choose to copy marker locations to the new file.
You can access this dialog in the Audio File Workspace via the
Render button from the
Master Section window.
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Rendering
Audio Plug-ins
Audio File Format Dialog
Master Section
10.2 Render Montage window
This dialog allows you to process the montage session you are working on, mixing down
multiple tracks into a mono or stereo file and applying any active plug-in effects you have
active. This process is sometimes also referred to as mixing or bouncing down.
You can select options for which regions of the session are rendered, whether to create a
named file or a temporary, untitled file, and whether to mute the effects chain when finished.
There are various options to render all or parts of the Montage, into one or more files - use
"What's this..."
You can access this dialog in the Audio Montage Workspace via the
Render button from
the Master Section window.
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Rendering
Audio Plug-ins
Audio File Format Dialog
Master Section
10.3 Plug-ins settings
This dialog allows you to access a number of options for managing your VST plug-ins.
WaveLab 7 
						

							234 Master Section
You can specify where WaveLab should search for your VST plug-ins and which ones it
should ignore. It also allows you to choose how your VST plug-in knobs respond to mouse
interactions and how frequently they are updated visually.
If you use your own file structure to organize and store VST Plug-ins, this dialog allows you
to have full control over which ones are loaded or not. This can be particularly useful if you
want to disable a particular plug-in that you suspect of not functioning properly, or to only
load a certain set of plug-ins for a specific project, for example.
You can access this dialog from the Master Section via Options>VST Plug-in settings... .
For an explanation of each parameter and interface feature, click on , or the 'What's this?'
question mark icon. For more information see
Getting Help
Related topics
Audio Plug-ins
WaveLab 7 
						

							Chapter 11
Interface Elements
This section contains links to all of the various types of windows and dialogs within WaveLab.
Related topics
Dialogs
Shared tool windows
Specific tool windows
11.1 Dialogs
There are many dialog windows within WaveLab that allow you to access all its features and
processing power. You can get help on a particular dialog by using the
Help button
from within the dialog. Using the
"What's this?" tool will help you to access detailed
information on a dialog's parameters. See
Getting Help for more information on.
The following is a list of all the dialogs within WaveLab that have help entries available:
Insert link
Align Clips
Recording channels
Audio CD Report
Audio file comparer
Audio File Format Dialog
Audio Montage properties
Split Clip at silences
Audio properties dialog
Audio Range
Audio Streaming Settings
Auto Split 
						

							236 Interface Elements
Batch Conversion
Basic Audio CD Settings
Batch Renaming
CD Text Editor
CD-Text Browser
CD Wizard
Copy audio information
Customize Commands
Data CD/DVD
DVD-Audio options
DVD-Audio Creation
Document list dialog
Ducking options
Effect morphing
Edit playback times
Error detection and correction
Configure external tools
Folder Preferences dialog
Frequency range
FTP site
Change Level
File attributes (OGG/WMA)
Global analysis
Import Audio CD
Insert Audio Files
Level envelope
Loop Tone Uniformizer
Loudness distribution
Loudness normalizer
Global Preferences
Convert marker type
Load Master Section Preset
Save Master Section Preset
Audio Montage Clone
Write Audio CD
Meta-normalizer
WaveLab 7