Steinberg’s Musikmesse revelations included a major update to Cubase, and the availability of Wavelab for Apple’s OS X operating system.
Cubase Version 5.5 is free to existing v5 users, and features numerous performance and workflow enhancements, both to the host itself and to some of the bundled plug-ins. The latest version apparently improves the DAW’s resource management when running on multi-core CPUs, which should yield greater efficiency and increased performance.
The sequencer’s included VST Bridge, which allows 32-bit plug-ins to run on 64-bit operating systems, has also been updated to improve compatibility, while Cubase’s handling of video files has been significantly enhanced. The video engine now offers full HD video support and scalable video performance, while users running the latest version of Cubase on a PC will be able to stream video files directly from Firewire devices.
Reverence, the package’s included convolution reverb plug-in, and LoopMash, a beat-slicing tool also bundled with the DAW, have both been tweaked for greater CPU efficiency, with LoopMash also gaining some extra features. It now includes track level meters and volume controls, as well as a global Similarity control, for determining the threshold at which the plug-in decides that two audio slices are interchangeable (for a more detailed explanation of LoopMash, read the SOS review of Cubase 5 at www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar09/articles/cubase5.htm).
But perhaps the most keenly anticipated announcement from Steinberg was the launch of Wavelab 7, which is the first version of their popular audio-editing suite to be compatible with OS X.
Version 7, the coding of which Steinberg say has been completely re-written, features a significantly revised user interface, several new plug-ins, and built-in CD and DVD-A burning facilities. In addition, the new GUI has apparently been streamlined, to allow “fast and fluid handling of audio material across multiple windows, montages and podcasts”, with windows inside the programme now scaling and docking intelligently.
A range of Sonnox restoration plug-ins graces this latest version of Wavelab, and these comprise the well-respected DeNoiser, DeBuzzer and DeClicker processors. Steinberg have also seen fit to include a selection of VST3 plug-ins previously only available in Nuendo, including the Post Filter, which is designed for filtering out problem frequencies in dialogue recordings and so should come in handy for editing podcasts.
Available from the second quarter of this year, Steinberg Wavelab 7 will set you back around £510.
