Steinberg has released WaveLab Pro 9.5 and WaveLab Elements 9.5, newly released iterations of the audio editing and mastering workstation that combine best audio quality and smooth operation with an endless number of advanced tools for audio restoration, editing and mastering.
Timo Wildenhain, senior marketing manager at Steinberg, commented:
“Over two decades WaveLab has been committed to helping users maximize the full potential of their audio recordings. Now with WaveLab 9.5, we’ve gone the extra mile to provide dedicated tools for that extra bit of audio refinement, and consequently WaveLab delivers the best possible sound quality.”
The new “point” updates of WaveLab focus on spectral editing, offering an overhauled Spectogram with many additional display settings that give a meticulous attention to frequency detail. Both Pro and Elements introduce RestoreRig, a new plug-in suite that boasts three modules: the DeNoiser, DeBuzzer and DeClicker. With its restoration toolset, RestoreRig detects and removes unwanted noise and audio artifacts in real time.
New spectral features exclusive to WaveLab Pro 9.5 include the brand-new Wavelet display that analyzes and displays musical content based on pitch scaling. The Spectrum Editor comes with many new selection tools, such as Lasso, Brush and Magic Wand, as well as additional processing capabilities the likes of spectral watermarking. Another highlight is the implementation of the Audio Inpainting technology into WaveLab, allowing users to remove unwanted noise from any audio material and then filling in the omission by analyzing the adjacent spectral information. The Error Correction toolset has been given some attention, making them overall easier accessible, while the included Live Spectrogram meter delivers real-time spectral information during playback and recording.
Alongside the many newly introduced spectral editing tools, WaveLab Pro 9.5 also offers an array of many more, very powerful plug-ins, either new or enhanced. WaveLab’s mastering plug-in suite, MasterRig, has been improved so as to include brand-new algorithms and other functionality, whereas the Tube Compressor, Vintage Compressor, Maximizer, AutoPan and several other plug-ins have been redesigned from the ground up. Two new Batch Processor plug-ins round out the extensive list of quality audio editing tools: the Audio Mixer inserts an audio file, e.g., a user’s individual audio watermark, into another audio file at defined intervals, ideal for creating demo versions of your audio publications; Delay Next Process Activation postpones processing when processes are triggered consecutively.
Both Pro and Elements versions have implemented support for the Apple Touch Bar, and also offer high DPI compatibility, making WaveLab look smooth on today’s high-resolution displays. User-requested enhancements and additions include the MP3 Gapless option, Bleep Censor Generator, iXML track name support and much more.
The new DDP Player complements the features introduced in WaveLab Pro 9.5 nicely. It is a standalone application with a separate installer that imports and plays back DDP images, allowing mastering studio clients to listen to the final version ready for publication.
Changes in WaveLab 9.5
- Modern Spectrogram offering a customizable view, color schemes with presets, display settings, psychoacoustic scales and more.
- Brand-new Wavelet display for a more accurate visual representation of the musical content of an audio file.
- State-of-the-art Spectrum Editor with a whole new set of tools and functionality to surgically edit in the Spectrogram.
- Patent-pending Audio Inpainting technology to recreate and/or replace corrupt audio material by logically using the spectral information of the surrounding area.
- Redesigned Error Correction tab for straightforward and easy detection and correction of clicks and errors.
- New RestoreRig plug-in suite including a DeClicker, DeCrackler, DePopper, DeNoiser and DeBuzzer.
- Live Spectrogram for real-time visualization of the spectral information of a signal during recording or playback.
- Revamped plug-in set including new batch processing modules, enhancements in MasterRig, a GUI redesign in most dynamic-effects as well as new processing algorithms.
- Apple Touch Bar support for easy and direct access to your favorite tasks and functions at your fingertips.
- Further improvements including high DPI support, bleep censor generator, gapless MP3 rendering, iXML track name support and much more.
Pricing and availability
Full retail versions of WaveLab Pro 9.5 and WaveLab Elements 9.5 are available for a MSRP of 579 EUR and 99.99 EUR, respectively. Prices including German VAT.
Various downloadable updates and upgrades are exclusively available through the Steinberg Online Shop. Customers who have activated WaveLab 7/8/8.5/Pro 9 and WaveLab Elements 7/8/9 since September 26th, 2017, are eligible for free, downloadable Grace Period updates to the latest versions, respectively.
