Wavelab 7 for Mac Hurts the Eyes!

[HomeProducer]

Originally Posted by siddhu

Just installed Wavelab 7, and I had no idea it was a time machine!

I feel I've been transported to the days of Windows 95!

The feature set and functionality are fantastic, but it really feels dated. I'll post screenshots later.

sounds great!

Do you use it with leopard or snow leopard?

[siddhu]

Snow Leopard

[trmchenry]

The GUI of Wavelab hasn't changed much over the years. It's functionality has greatly improved. The same could be said about Pro Tools.

What it lacks in slick graphics it more than makes up for in functionality and ease of use.

[Jerry Tubb]

A producer/engineer I recently worked with bought WL7 hoping to use it for some quick CD burns, after a few hours of head scratching and eye strain, he gave up in frustration. I tried to explain that you have to find the mysterious hidden Montage & CD Wizard modes...

JT

[Dave Davis]

I'm a part time teacher, and have tried to use WL7 Mac for my class. Sorry, but "ease of use" would not be something I'd accuse WL7 of possessing. It's not easy for anyone to use... when I go to Steiny's forums it's obvious that even previous users agree that WL7 is a step back in the "ease of use" department from WL6. For instance to open a DDP you have to open a specific workspace (not mentioned in the docs), and then find the little widget to open a local menu from a subwindow of that workspace. Otherwise it's hidden entirely in the default view; the fact that a "file open" tool isn't in a main window isn't just a quirk but a violation of both Windows and Mac OS guidelines that confounds users with obscurity. This stuff seems like a holdover from DOS, out of place in a modern tool and hostile to users. Same can be said of many file operations and menu conventions.

Now, in terms of functionality I'm with you. It's a terrific, powerful tool. Even if it's not your main axe, it's worth having for some of it's well implemented features and tools. For instance file compare is unique and generally well designed (too bad the reports aren't saveable as text but just pop up graphical windows). The batch processor and quick disc burning tool are also quite cool and well done.

My main gripe is lack of manual. A text-dump of the help file saved as a PDF is NOT a manual. For newbies, I'd recommend finding the WL6 manual - it provides a better overview of the structure and paradigm of the app. Oh, btw - the web-enabled help on a mac can cause playback hiccups when there are task priority conflicts, so it's best to keep that close when doing critical work, like captures and real time outboard processing (which reminds me of another cool feature - you can batch-process with outboard).

-d-

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by Jerry Tubb

A producer/engineer I recently worked with bought WL7 hoping to use it for some quick CD burns, after a few hours of head scratching and eye strain, he gave up in frustration. I tried to explain that you have to find the mysterious hidden Montage & CD Wizard modes...

JT

I almost gave up on Wavelab 7 too....I had bought Wavelab 6 and did an immediate upgrade to Wavelab 7.
Without any instruction manual and only the basic "help" tab menu, I couldn't figure out the logic of how to do the most basic tasks.
I searched for wavelab 7 tutorials in google, and I ordered a tutorial DVD from a place called ASK Video.
I can't recommend the tutorial enough...awesome easy to understand teaching. The program does way more than I need it to do, but at least I know how to do whatever I want to do in it now.

[Table Of Tone]

Originally Posted by Dave Davis

I'm a part time teacher, and have tried to use WL7 Mac for my class. Sorry, but "ease of use" would not be something I'd accuse WL7 of possessing. It's not easy for anyone to use... when I go to Steiny's forums it's obvious that even previous users agree that WL7 is a step back in the "ease of use" department from WL6.

Now, in terms of functionality I'm with you. It's a terrific, powerful tool. Even if it's not your main axe, it's worth having for some of it's well implemented features and tools. For instance file compare is unique and generally well designed (too bad the reports aren't saveable as text but just pop up graphical windows). The batch processor and quick disc burning tool are also quite cool and well done.

My main gripe is lack of manual. A text-dump of the help file saved as a PDF is NOT a manual. For newbies, I'd recommend finding the WL6 manual - it provides a better overview of the structure and paradigm of the app. Oh, btw - the web-enabled help on a mac can cause playback hiccups when there are task priority conflicts, so it's best to keep that close when doing critical work, like captures and real time outboard processing (which reminds me of another cool feature - you can batch-process with outboard).

-d-

I'm with you on that!

I upgraded to WL7 but still use WL6.

[inlinenl]

aarrrghh .. musicians/teachers/mac-users .. complete M*****

how's the DDP export doing and the denoise/de-click tools .....

[rondr]

I upgraded to WL7 but still use WL6.

Same here too. Steinberg lists many new features, such as DDP, as a selling point to upgrade from 6 to 7. What they fail to mention are the many features that were removed in the upgrade process. WL6 is much more user friendly than WL7.

[inlinenl]

OK, I've never used WL 7 ..

But don't you think a complex software application needs some time to learn .. ??? these days of instant satisfaction people seem to expect to understand the whole package in a blink of an eye, or at least in 30min ..... expect a long learning curve on any complete software package if starting from zero ... even if you have been working with some other application, it's still difficult ... I'm using wavelab seriously for a long time, but still I learn new things, because clients push me there ...

[siddhu]

Talk about a time machine ....

If I had been able to demo it before buying, maybe I would have gone with something else! I have not made a purchase in ages that I'm not sure about as I always demo stuff to see if it works for ME. But with Wavelab 7 Mac, my winning streak may be over!

[ctms777]

I've bought Wavelab 7 for Mac. I still haven't heard it because it wont play sound through my Protools HD system, no matter what I tried.

I've used it for MP3 conversion, but it generates WAV-files instead, renaming it to .mp3 won't cure it because it's still a wav container with mp3 data.

It's help system and lack of manual is very frustrating for a new user like me. And it feels like working in windows 95.

I've made a DDP-file by ear, at least that worked.

[HomeProducer]

Originally Posted by siddhu

Talk about a time machine ....

If I had been able to demo it before buying, maybe I would have gone with something else! I have not made a purchase in ages that I'm not sure about as I always demo stuff to see if it works for ME. But with Wavelab 7 Mac, my winning streak may be over!

it looks much uglier than wavelab 6 on a PC

[HomeProducer]

Originally Posted by ctms777

I've bought Wavelab 7 for Mac. I still haven't heard it because it wont play sound through my Protools HD system, no matter what I tried.

I've used it for MP3 conversion, but it generates WAV-files instead, renaming it to .mp3 won't cure it because it's still a wav container with mp3 data.

It's help system and lack of manual is very frustrating for a new user like me. And it feels like working in windows 95.

I've made a DDP-file by ear, at least that worked.

It does generate mp3 with the right extension, if you select mp3 and not "wav" in the "save" dialog box, its a bit confusing for the start. I know there is a way to do it wrong. Check it out.

[kosmokrator]

DDP export is fine. So far no plants called me..

Playing back fine through my PTHD-system via CoreAudio.

Wavelab is a great program, but the GUI is one of the worst ever.
PG should really have a talk with the guys at Fabfilter..

[siddhu]

Originally Posted by kosmokrator

DDP export is fine. So far no plants called me..

Playing back fine through my PTHD-system via CoreAudio.

Wavelab is a great program, but the GUI is one of the worst ever.
PG should really have a talk with the guys at Fabfilter..

Great Idea!

[jdg]

its not hard to use.
but im not sure its ready for prime time (on mac)

and it sure is weird looking.
it is a strange GUI

[kosmokrator]

DDP export is fine. So far no plants called me..

Playing back fine through my PTHD-system via CoreAudio.

Wavelab is a great program, but the GUI is one of the worst ever.
PG should really have a talk with the guys at Fabfilter..

[greggybud]

Originally Posted by rondr

Same here too. Steinberg lists many new features, such as DDP, as a selling point to upgrade from 6 to 7. What they fail to mention are the many features that were removed in the upgrade process. WL6 is much more user friendly than WL7.

Other than no CD print, what are the "many features that were removed.?"

[da goose]

Originally Posted by inlinenl

aarrrghh .. musicians/teachers/mac-users .. complete M*****

how's the DDP export doing and the denoise/de-click tools .....

DDP is export is OK but... no md5 checksum so my standard procedure is make the montage including isrc/cd text etc in WL7 > export as DDP (you actually use the CD burner option and choose DDP instead of CD) and import that in sonoris DDP creator and export that as the final DDP. I trust sonoris more then DDP the WL7 DDP option since it's proven to be working good. Since you don't really see and hear what is going on when using DDP i just gor for my most trusted software, sonoris.
Maybe in the future when more people are working with the DDP option in WL7 and MD5 implemented i will make the switch to WL7 for DDP, just not now.

The denoise/declicking is ok but to be honoust i only used it once and it didn't really work at that time so i can't give you a meaningfull answer when it comes to that. I think it's nice that it's in there and might be usefull some day.

For the rest i really had a love/hate relationship with WL7 but since the 7.01 update i really start to love it and i only went back to WL6 once to check an old montage.

[TanTan]

I've been using WL for years on PC and have always loved it for its great features and great interface. Once I've started using WL7 on Mac it became a PITA. I can't find anything and it feels like you have to be a WL developer in order to use it.. I don't have a PC @ the studio anymore so i'm looking for a WL replacement for Mac after using it for 9 years..

[ed littman]

I'm a dedictaed WL user for many years. I have no interest in upgrading from WL6 as it does what I want & I know it well.
Why fix what aint broke?

Ed

[laboso]

Originally Posted by ed littman

I'm a dedictaed WL user for many years. I have no interest in upgrading from WL6 as it does what I want & I know it well.
Why fix what aint broke?

Cause there's people waiting a long time for mac support...

[Bonati]

Originally Posted by ed littman

I'm a dedictaed WL user for many years. I have no interest in upgrading from WL6 as it does what I want & I know it well. Why fix what aint broke?

Ed - because the "broke" part is that it's PC only. Having a party soon to dump my PCs in the Gowanus canal. You're invited.

[lematrix]

I was so happy when wavelab came out for Mac, but now after months ... I don't use it. Its ugly and hard to understand the Workflow. What a PITA!!!
dfegad

[kosmasepsilon]

so, what can you use instead, that works the same and better, even, way? i had a go with the demo for the last few days and it seems quite easy. i'd love it to be easier, but noone can have it all :p

[ed littman]

Originally Posted by Bonati

Ed - because the "broke" part is that it's PC only. Having a party soon to dump my PCs in the Gowanus canal. You're invited.

Ha Ha...just coming from a happy pc prospective.
Ed

[illynoise]

I agree about the new display, but as a mac user now I can use wavelab on mac natively and I have no reason to use a PC anymore.

I recently used the DDP option, which I found very easy to use. CD's came back sounding great with no issues.

PG is great, it must have been a very difficult process to rewrite a program from to make it work on both platforms. Something they have fought for many years.

It's definitely the best thing on the Mac to master with IMHO. Very Very Very powerful stuff.

Jason

[GoldMember]

Originally Posted by ctms777

I've used it for MP3 conversion, but it generates WAV-files instead,.

LOL.