Steinberg WaveLab 7 Operation Manual

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in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. NTSC is a another analog system
used in North America and parts of South America.
In digital applications PAL video mode is usually referred to as "576i" (i.e. a vertical resolution
of 576 scan lines, interlaced), in analogue contexts it is often quoted as "625 lines". SECAM
Digital video uses its own colour space, so (in the digital domain) the minor colour space
differences that used to exist between PAL and SECAM are no longer present.
In digital video applications such as DVDs and digital broadcasting, PAL/SECAM video is
based on 576 frame lines with two interlaced video fields per frame (i.e. 50 fields per second,
yielding 25 frames per second). Audio is pulse-code modulated.
NTSC
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15.54 Pan
Pan is short for panoramic. Pan is perceptually "placing" a mono or stereo sound source
between two or more speakers. We sense stereo position from a difference in loudness
when the sound strikes each ear, taking into account the time delay, spectrum, reverberation
and other cues.
Steinberg Autopan
Pan Normalizer
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15.55 Peak level
Peak level is a measure of maximum sound level. Peak Level Meters should go as high as
possible without ever reaching 0dB! The Peak Level meters display the peak levels of each
channel, graphically and numerically.
By default, the meter segments and numerical peak values are displayed in green for low
levels, yellow for levels between –6dB and –2dB, and red for levels above –2dB.
If the level is set too low, noise levels will be high relative to the recorded sound; if peak level
exceeds 0dB by a significant amount, clipping effects can occur.
Peak Master
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15.56 Plug-ins
A vast number of specialist audio software Plug-insare available, ranging from freeware to
expensive high-end commercial products, and these can greatly extend the functionality of
WaveLab.
Steinberg created Virtual Studio Technology (VST) to allow effect plug-ins to be integrated
with audio editors (such as WaveLab). VST uses Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to emulate
in software the effects of familiar recording studio hardware.
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Audio Plug-ins
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15.57 Pre-roll and Post-roll
Pre-roll is the time elapsed before an event occurs; Post-rollis the time after an event.
Pre-roll can give a brief context if you are auditioning a Clip.
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15.58 Preset system
WaveLab provides a sophisticated Preset system, which allows you to store a range of
individual or bulk settings and recall them for later use.
Presets
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15.59 Processor cores
Processor cores Modern computers are often designed with a multi-core processor, with
two or more "cores" (i.e. independent processors) in a single physical package. A dual-core
processor contains two cores, and a quad-core processor contains four cores, with the aim
of improving computational performance.
The performance gains of multi-core processors depend on whether the software has been
implemented to take advantage of this architecture.In WaveLab, the multi-core approach
allows you to simultaneously encode as many files as there are CPU cores, for example,
leading to significant performance increases.
Batch Conversion
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15.60 Quantization
Quantization is the process by which measurements are rounded to discrete values. In
digital audio, the continuously varying voltages of an analog signal are quantized to discrete
digital values, represented in binary numbers. In 8-bit audio, sample values range from -128
to 127; in 24-bit audio, sample values range from -8288608 to 8288607.
In analog-to-digital conversion and compression, differences between the actual analog
value and the quantized digital value is called "quantization error". This error is due either
to rounding or truncation and can give rise to "quantization noise" which may be reduced by
using "dithering" techniques.
Dithering
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15.61 Raw PCM files
Raw PCM files is an Audio File format that includes no information about bit resolution
or sample rate. If you open a file in this format, WaveLab prompts you to specify the bit
resolution and sample rate. If this is not done correctly, the file will not play back as intended.
Note that the " $$$" file type is WaveLab’s own temporary file format. If you experience a
computer crash you can try opening any stray " $$$" files on your hard disk(s) to restore them.
Tyical file extensions are .raw, .bin, .pcm, . $$$
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15.62 Red Book CD-DA
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs (Compact Disc Digital Audio, or CD-DA). Other
"Rainbow Books" in the series, known by the color of their covers, define the formats of
CD-ROMs, VCD, SACD and other compact disc formats. DVD and Blu-ray formats are not
defined in a Rainbow Book.
The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony and ratified as
IEC 60908. The standard is not freely circulated - from 2009 the IEC 60908 document
has been available as a PDF download for US $260. The Red Book specifies a compliant
CD-DA in great detail, including the physical properties of the CD, the digital audio encoding
(2-channel, signed 16-bit Linear Pulse Code Modulation, sampled at 44.1kHz), the modu-
lation system, the CIRC error-correction scheme and subcode channels. Data are stored in
sectors of 2352 bytes ("frames"), read at 75 frames/s. The bit rate is 1411.2kbits/s. Other
considerations are that the maximum number of tracks is 99, the minimum duration of a track
is 4 seconds (including a 2-second pause), the maximum playing time is 79.8 minutes, and
the ISRC should be included.
WaveLab provides Red Book-compliant CD mastering.
CD Frame
ISRC
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15.63 Regular Expressions
A Regular Expression (regex for short) is a formula composed of characters that have a
special meaning (called "operators"). A simple example is in using " .doc" to search for all
text documents in a file manager. In this case, the asterisk (star) character is an operator that
matches any string before the ".doc" in a filename. In addition to WaveLab, many software
applications, text editors (like EditPad Pro) and programming languages support regular ex-
pressions.
The characters ". [ ] ( ) f g?+ - j! / ^
$" are operators in WaveLab's regular expression
engine. You can submit regular expressions in a WaveLab text box wherever you see the
icon. Clicking on the light bulb icon gives a fly-out menu listing special characters and
short cuts, to help you build a precise and well-formed expression.
There are many helpful web-based tutorials that explore the topic of regex.
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About Regular Expressions
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15.64 RF64 files
RF64 is an audio file format. You have an option (set in Options>Audio File editing
preferences >Files tab) to support the RF64 file format. If this is activated, the standard
Wave file format switches automatically to the RF64 file format as soon as the file size ex-
ceeds 2GB, without any performance loss or interruption. This is especially useful when
recording very long sessions as there is no need to worry about file size limit (apart from disk
space availability).
An RF64 file uses the ".wav" extension but it can only be opened with an application that
supports the RF64 standard.
WAV files
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15.65 RMS
RMS (Root Mean Square) can be used as a measurement of intensity of sound (or AC
voltage, etc.) over a period of time. The RMS measurement calculates a practical average
value of all the points on a waveform as a single number over a variable period that could be
1 ms, 20 ms, or 1 hour.
RMS is often a good basis for determining an "equal level" when equalizing Clip volumes,
producing more natural results than using Peak levels, since RMS offers a more realistic
measure of the perceived "loudness" of a sound.
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15.66 Sample rate
The Sample Rate , or sampling frequency, is the number of samples per second used to
store a sound. High sample rates are better able to approximate the original continuous
waveform, but require more storage space.
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15.67 SMPTE timecode
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers devised a code to synchro-
nize time between devices, the SMPTE time code. The time code is composed of
hours:minutes:seconds:frames.
Frames are fractions of a second based on the frame rate (which can take the values 24, 25,
29.97 and 30 frames per second).
Timecode
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Time Format dialog
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15.68 Sound Designer II files
Sound Designer II is an audio file format used by Digidesign applications (such as Pro
Tools). 8-, 16- or 24-bit resolutions are supported.
The filename extension is .sd2
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15.69 Spectrogram
A Spectrogram is an image that shows how the spectral density of a signal varies over time.
The Spectrum display
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15.70 Sun/Java files
Sun/Java is an Audio File format used on Sun and NeXT computers. Files in this format can
often be found on the Internet. 8-, 16- or 24-bit resolutions are supported.
Typical file extensions are .snd, .au
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15.71 Tempo
Tempo is the rhythmic rate of a musical piece, usually given in BPM (beats per minute).
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15.72 Text/Excel files
Text/Excel is a text representation of a waveform. By saving an Audio File as a text file and
then opening it in a spreadsheet application such as Excel, you can view it in textual, decimal
form and edit the sample values. When a text file representing a waveform is opened in
WaveLab it is decoded and opened as an Audio File.
Note that these files are not compressed in any way, so they can get very large! Therefore,
avoid creating and opening extremely large .txt files. Also note that when using 32 bit float
files, the .txt format is not entirely lossless because it is not possible to express a binary
floating point value in textual decimal form without some loss of precision.
The file extension is .txt
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Audio File Format Dialog
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15.73 ULAW files
ULAW is an audio encoding and compression technique supported by Windows and Web
phones, using 8-bit resolution. The U.S. telephone system uses U-law encoding for digitiza-
tion.
Typical file extensions are .ulaw, .vox
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15.74 UPC/EAN
UPC/EAN code - the "Universal Product Code/European Article Number", a catalog num-
ber for an item (such as a CD) intended for commercial distribution. On a CD, the code is
also called the "Media Catalog Number" - there is one such code per disk.
UPC is a 12-digit barcode widely used in the United States and Canada; EAN-13 is a
13-digit barcoding standard (12 + a checksum digit) defined by the GS1 standards orga-
nization. "EAN" is now renamed as "International Article Number", but the abbreviation has
been retained.
You can read the Media Catalog Number (EAN) from a CD by choosing Utilities>Import
Audio CD tracks... >Functions >CD Info... .
Authoring CDs and DVDs
Import Audio CD
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15.75 WAV files
WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) is an audio file format. Although a WAV file can
hold compressed audio, the most common WAV format contains uncompressed audio in
the linear pulse code modulation (LPCM) format.
Developed by Microsoft and IBM, WAV is closely related to AIFF and is compatible with
Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. Uncompressed WAV files are quite bulky,
but they have a simple file structure which can be processed efficiently in audio editing and
produce archive files of high quality. 8-, 16-, 20-, 24-bit and 32-bit (float) resolutions are
supported.
The file extension is .wav
WAV64 files
Audio File Format Dialog
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15.76 WAV64 files
Wave 64 is an audio file format developed by Sony that is very similar to the standard Wave
format, but with an important difference. Standard Wave files are limited in size to 2GB
(stereo), but Wave 64 allows virtually any length (actually the limit is 512GB).
The file extension is .w64.
WAV files
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15.77 Waveform
A Waveform is the visual representation of wave-like phenomena (such as sound or light).
The amplitude or sound pressure over time usually results in a smooth waveform.
In WaveLab, a waveform is generally represented with time on the horizontal (x-)axis, with
the start of the waveform being the leftmost point. The vertical (y-)axis is the amplitude of
the wave.
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15.78 Wet/Dry
Wet/Dry is a term that describes the balance between the effect sound (wet) and the orig-
inal, unprocessed audio signal (dry). in a "dry" mix, the original signal is more pronounced;
with a "wet" mix, the effect sound is more dominant.
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15.79 WMA files
WMA (Windows Media Audio) is a proprietary audio data compression technology devel-
oped by Microsoft. WMA can refer to an Audio File format or a range of audio codecs. Like
AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and Ogg Vorbis, WMA is intended to address perceived
deficiencies in the MP3 standard.
It is also possible to import/export audio in WMA surround format, provided that you have
Windows Media Player 9 (or later) installed on your system.
Typical file extensions are .wma, .asf
Audio File Format Dialog
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15.80 Zero crossing
A Zero crossing is a point where the wave crosses the zero level axis, the point where the
wave is considered to have "zero level".
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If you cut out a portion of a wave and paste it in somewhere else, chances are there will be
a discontinuity where the two waves are joined. This discontinuity will result in a transient in
the wave when it is played back, which is perceived as a "click" or "bump" in the sound. To
avoid this you need to make any editing splices at a zero crossing point.
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WaveLab 7