Steinberg WaveLab 7 Operation Manual

							15.14 CD Frame 397
The name "Blu-ray" derives from the 405 nanometer blue-violet laser used to read the disk
(standard DVDs use a 650nm red laser, CDs use 780nm). The shorter wavelength allows for
five or 10 times more data storage than a DVD although a recent development has pushed
the storage capacity to 500GB on a single disc by using 20 layers. In addition to optical
improvements, Blu-ray Disks feature improvements in data encoding that further increase
their capacity.
Data CD/DVD
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15.14 CD Frame
In a Red Book CD-DA, the time format is commonly measured in minutes, seconds and
frames (mm:ss:ff), where one "frame"corresponds to one sector, or 1/75th of a second of
stereo sound. In editing and audio extraction, the frame is the smallest addressable time
interval for an audio CD, so that track start and end positions can only be defined in steps of
1/75 second duration.
Red Book CD-DA
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15.15 CD Pre-emphasis
CD pre-emphasis refers to process designed to increase, within a band of frequencies, the
magnitude of some (usually higher) frequencies compared to the magnitude of other (usually
lower) frequencies in order to improve the overall signal-to-noise ratio. Pre-emphasis aims to
minimize the adverse effects of attenuation distortion or the saturation of recording media in
subsequent parts of the system. When carried out properly, pre-emphasis enables a received
signal to more closely resemble the original or desired signal and produces fewer bit errors.
Pre-emphasis is commonly used in telecommunications, digital audio recording, record cut-
ting and in FM broadcasting transmissions. The presence of pre-emphasis on a track is
sometimes indicated by a tick in the
column on theImport Audio CD dialog.
Import Audio CD
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15.16 CD Text
CD Text is an extension of the Red Book Compact Disc specifications standard for audio
CDs. The standard allows disc and track information (album name, song name and artist, for
example) to be embedded on a standards-compliant audio CD.
CD-Text information is usually stored in the lead-in area of the CD (where there is roughly
5KB of space available). Support for CD-Text is common, but not all CD players can display
it.
Red Book CD-DA
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15.17 Chorus
Chorus is an time-based effect produced by combining the original signal with a number of
moving delays and pitch shifted copies, often panned across a stereo field.
Steinberg Chorus
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15.18 Clip
Clip A Clip contains a reference to a source Audio File on your hard disk, as well as start and
end positions in the file (allowing Clips to play back smaller sections of their source Audio
Files). Any number of Clips can reference the same source file.
Note that a Clip is a reference to the original source file and does not contain audio data.
Focused Clip versus Select Clips
It is important to note that there is a difference between a "focused" Clip and a "selected"
Clip. Some editing functions can only be executed on an individual Clip or "Focused Clip",
while others can be executed on multiple Clips or "Selected Clips".
ˆ Focused Clip - there can only ever be one or no Focused Clip at a time. The Focused
Clip's name is displayed in red. It's necessary to identify the Clip as focused because
there are certain functions that can only be executed on a single Clip. You use the
Focused Clip window to perform these functions.
ˆ Selected Clip - there can be many selected Clips. This allows you to edit multiple Clips
at the same time using functions such as copy, delete, move, etc. Selected Clips have
a different background color.
Glossary contents
15.19 Clipping
Clipping is a form of audio distortion that occurs when a signal is truncated because it
exceeds the capabilities of the amplifier circuit. On an oscilloscope, the audio peaks appear
sliced off.
To avoid clipping, reduce the system gain in or before the gain stage in which the clipping
occurs.
Steinberg Limiter
Glossary contents
15.20 Compression
Compression This dynamic process is used to smooth out any large transient peaks in an
audio signal that would otherwise cause distortion through clipping or otherwise overloading
the system. Levels are progressively attenuated as they approach maximum levels.
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Steinberg Compressor
Steinberg Multiband Compressor
Steinberg Vintage Compressor
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15.21 Cross fade
Cross fade is mixing two audio signals by fading one out at the same time as fading the
other in.
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15.22 DAW
DAW A Digital Audio Workstation is a software and hardware system dedicated to recording,
editing and playing back digital audio tracks on hard disk.
Because of the computational demands of audio editing and mastering, DAWs are often
based on very highly specified PC or Macintosh computers, equipped with high-quality
sound cards, large amounts of RAM, fast (multi-)processors and large capacity high-
performance hard disks. In addition, they may also feature a noise suppressing enclosure
and a passive cooling system.
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15.23 DC Offset
DC offset occurs when hardware (such as a sound card) adds DC current to an audio
signal. The recorded waveform is not centered around the baseline (i.e. negative infinity).
WaveLab can correct a DC offset, which would otherwise artificially reduce the headroom
available during normalization processes.
DC Remover
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15.24 DDP files
DDP (Disk Description Protocol) is an industry format for submitting CD and DVDs to
replication facilities.
DVDs are usually submitted in DDP 2.0 format; this is also referred to as "Plant Direct"
(Sonic Solutions) and "DDPi" (Universal Music). A DDP file set for CD consists of: DDPID
(Mandatory), DDPMS (Mandatory), PQ
DESCR (Optional) and one or more Image.dat file(s)
(Mandatory).
CD-RWs, formatted as "Audio CDs" are really only suitable for content distribution, not disk
replication or publishing. The DDP format offers the much more robust CIRC error correction
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and so protects both the audio data and its associated metadata.
The DDP image is a data file, and when burned to optical media, is a data disc. As such,
it has the full measure of CIRC error-correction to allow error-free copying of files on your
computer and across networks (including the internet). It’s also why you often need a DVD-R
to contain a DDP image of a CD, because the data redundancy is more robust in data form
than in streaming audio form.
Sending DDP files is "best practice" for disk replicators, who will upload the image file to
their network and burn a glass master directly from the image using specialist hardware/soft-
ware. CIRC error-correction will assure that the data matches the original, or it will stop the
process.
WaveLab can read DDP files by choosing File>Import >Audio DDP Image... .
Glossary
contents
15.25 Decibel (dB)
Decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit of measurement that expresses the size of a physical
quantity (usually sound pressure level, power or intensity) relative to a reference level.
Decibels are often used in matters of sound because the ear perceives loudness on a log-
arithmic scale. The equation dB = 20 x log(V1/V2) is often used by sound engineers com-
paring two values. Applying a gain of 3dB doubles the amplitude of a sound, and a gain of
-3dB halves the amplitude, and this is confirmed perceptually.
The decibel does not have a unit, since it expresses a ratio of two quantities with the same
unit of measurement.
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15.26 Dithering
Dithering is the technique of adding small quantities of noise to a signal to reduce the
audibility of low level distortion in a digital recording. A small amount of random noise is
added to the analog signal before the sampling stage, reducing the effect of "quantization
errors".
Note that dithering should always be applied after the output bus fader stage.
UV22HR Dithering
Quantization
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15.27 DVD-A
DVD-Audio (DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD.
Audio on a DVD-A disk can be stored in many different bit-depth, sampling rate and chan-
nel combinations - from 16-, 20- or 24-bit depth, at 44.1 to 96kHz sampling rates, in mono,
stereo and various surround channel combinations, including 5.1 channel surround. The sam-
pling rate may be as high as 192kHz for stereo channels, and different bit-depth/sampling
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							15.28 ECMAScript 401
rate and channel combinations can be used on a single disk.
DVD-Audio
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15.28 ECMAScript
WaveLab's scripting language is based on the ECMAScriptscripting language, as defined
in "Standard ECMA-262 - ECMAScript Language Specification".
Microsoft's JScript, Netscape's JavaScript and Adobe's Actionscript are also based on the
freely-available ECMAScript standard.
ECMAScript Reference
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15.29 Ensoniq Paris files
Ensoniq Paris is an Audio File format used by the old Ensoniq Paris™ system. It has 16-bit
and 24-bit resolution.
The file extension is .paf.
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15.30 Equalization
Equalization (EQ) is a process by which certain frequency bands in an Audio File are
increased or lowered in level to compensate for recording or playback inadequacies.
Steinberg GEQ-10/GEQ-30
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15.31 FFT
FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) analysis is a mathematical method to convert a waveform
from the Time Domain to the Frequency Domain.
FFT uses various mathematical shortcuts to carry out a spectral analysis, trading compu-
tational speed for limitations in the number of samples and frequency bands used in the
analysis.
Glossary contents
15.32 Focused Clip
There can be no more than one Focused Clip. See
Clip
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Glossary contents
15.33 Formant
Formants are the distinguishing frequency components of a sound.
Glossary contents
15.34 FTP Site
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a network protocol used to copy a file from one host to another
over a TCP/IP-based network such as the Internet. An FTP sitemay require user-based
password authentication or it may allow anonymous user access. Podcasts are published to
FTP sites.
Publish menu
FTP site
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15.35 Headroom
Headroom is the amount by which the signal-handling capabilities of an audio system ex-
ceeds a designated level - the Permitted Maximum Level (PML). Headroom can be thought
of as a safety zone allowing transient audio peaks to exceed the PML without exceeding the
signal capabilities of an audio system.
DC Remover
Glossary contents
15.36 ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file or "disk image" of an optical disk in a format defined by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
"ISO image" derives from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media. ISO image
files are supported by WaveLab and typically have a file extension of .iso.
Glossary contents
15.37 ISRC
ISRC - the "International Standard Recording Code" - is a code for identifying sound record-
ings (and music video recordings) on CDs intended for commercial distribution. WaveLab
allows you to specify an ISRC code for each audio track.
The code contains the following elements:
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							15.38 Loops 403
ˆ Country Code (2 ASCII characters)
ˆ Registrant Code (typically, a record label - 3 ASCII characters or digits)
ˆ Recording Year (2 digits or ASCII characters)
ˆ Serial Number (unique number identifying the recording - 5 digits or ASCII characters).
The groups of characters are often presented with hyphens to make them easier to read, but
hyphens are not part of the code.
Authoring CDs and DVDs
Burn Audio CD from DDP Image
UPC/EAN
Import Audio CD
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15.38 Loops
Loops are short audio Clips that create a repeating beat or pattern.
Loop Tone Uniformizer
Loop Tweaker
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15.39 Loudness
Loudness is a subjective measure, the perceptual correlate of amplitude of sound. There
are objective measures of sound strength, such as SPL (sound pressure level in dB), but
Loudness is affected by other factors, principally frequency (the sensitivity of the human ear
changes as a function of frequency) and duration.
The perception of Loudness varies from one person to another, so it cannot be measured
with a single metric.
Loudness distribution
Loudness normalizer
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15.40 Markers
Markers are symbols identifying a reference points in an Audio File, like tab markers in
word processing. There are several marker types in WaveLab, which may be used for quick
navigation or more specialist uses. Some markers must be used in pairs.
Markers
Marker types
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15.41 Media Catalog Number
The MCN (Media Catalog Number) is a 13-digit code for an optical disk intended for
commercial distribution - there is one such code per disk. See
UPC/EAN .
You can read the Media Catalog Number (EAN) from a CD by choosing Utilities>Import
Audio CD tracks... >Functions >CD Info... .
Import Audio CD Glossary contents
15.42 MIDI
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is an industry standard that allows devices
such as synthesizers and computers to communicate with each other through a system of
channels and triggers.
Glossary contents
15.43 MIDI Channels
MIDI provides 16 channels for sending data. When processing MIDI triggers, WaveLab
needs to know which MIDI channelto monitor to receive a trigger.
Glossary contents
15.44 Mixing
Mixing is the process of blending multiple sound files into a single file, with control over the
relative levels of each incoming file,
Glossary contents
15.45 Mobile phone Audio Files
3GP and 3G2 file formats are multimedia container formats designed to minimize storage
and bandwidth requirements for use with mobile phones.
ˆ 3GP(3GPP file format) is defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
for GSM-based (UMTS) mobile phones.
ˆ 3G2(3GPP2 file format) is a multimedia container format defined by the 3GPP2 for
CDMA2000-based mobile phones.
Tyoical file extensions are .3gp, .3g2
Glossary contents
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15.46 MP2 files
MP2 (MPEG-1, audio layer 2) is an audio encoding format defined by ISO/IEC 11172-3,
alongside MPEG-1 and MPEG-3, using lossy audio compression. The three audio "layers"
(MP1, MP2 and MP3) are different perceptual encoding techniques.
MP2 remains an important format for broadcast audio and is part of DAB digital radio and
DVB digital television standards. It is also the audio format used in HDV camcorders. MP2
files are sometimes referred to "Musicam files".
Typical filename extensions are .mp2, .mpa, .mpg, .mus, .m32, .m44 and .m48.
MP3 files
MP2 encoding
Glossary contents
15.47 MP3 files
MP3 (MPEG-1, audio layer 3) is a patented digital audio encoding format using lossy
audio compression, designed by the Moving Picture Experts Group as part of its MPEG-1
standard, and derived from MP2. MP3 is popular for PC and internet applications - data
compression ratios of 10:1 are typical.
Note that when you open an MPEG compressed file in WaveLab, the file is converted to a
temporary wave file that is much larger than the original compressed file, so make sure that
you have enough free space on your hard disk when opening MPEG compressed files. On
saving, the temporary wave file is converted back to MP3, so from a user perspective the file
handling is transparent apart from the size difference mentioned above.
The filename extension is .mp3
MP2 files
Audio File Format Dialog
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15.48 Non-destructive editing
Non-destructive editing When you delete or change a part of an Audio File in a non-
destructive system, the audio is not deleted or permanently changed - instead a set of point-
ers keeps track of all the edits, so these can be readily reversed. WaveLab provides com-
prehensive facilities for Non-destructive editing .
Glossary contents
15.49 Normalize
To Normalize is to raise the volume so that the sample with the highest level is set to the
maximum user-defined level. This ensures that you are using all of the dynamic range available
to you.
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Steinberg Limiter
Steinberg Maximizer
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15.50 NTSC
NTSC (from the US "National Television System Committee") is the analog television system
used in North America, parts of South America, Japan and some Pacific territories.
NTSC has 29.97 interlaced frames of video per second - a field refresh frequency of 59.94Hz
(actually 60Hz/1.001). Each frame consists of a total of 525 scanlines, 486 of which are
visible.
The digital terrestrial television (DTT) replacement for NTSC is ATSC ("Advanced Television
Standards Committee").
PAL/SECAM
Glossary contents
15.51 Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is a lossy compressed audio format and codec that produces files about the
same size as MP3 files but with objectively higher fidelity and no patent restrictions.
Vorbis is intended for sample rates from 8kHz telephony to 192kHz digital masters and a
range of channel representations that includes monaural, stereo, surround 5.1, ambisonic,
or up to 255 discrete channels. Vorbis is open source (free) software maintained by the
Xiph.Org Foundation.
The file extension is .ogg.
Audio File Format Dialog
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15.52 OSQ files
Original Sound Quality (OSQ) is WaveLab's proprietary lossless compressed audio for-
mat. By saving files in this format, you can save considerable disk space without compro-
mising audio quality.
The filename extension is .osq
Glossary contents
15.53 PAL/SECAM
PAL is short for "Phase Alternate Line"; SECAMis short for Séquentiel couleur à mémoire
("Sequential Color with Memory"). They are related analog television encoding systems used
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