ID Title Context Importance Version Text
3 Contextual help General High 200 To get help on any main or pop-up menu item, just select it, and with the menu still up, press [F1].

For selective help in dialogs, click on the [?] button at the top right corner of the dialog, then click on the desired control in the dialog.

For general help about the active window or dialog, press F1.

If you upgrade WaveLab from a previous version, you might want to skip "old tips of the day" from the Help menu.
4 Language UI High 160 You have the option to select what language WaveLab uses (English, German or French). This is set in the Preference dialog. For the change to take effect, you have to restart the program.
5 Virtual Memory System High 160 If you use Windows 95, it is important that your virtual memory settings are correct, especially if you are working with large audio files. In the Windows 95 Control Panel, open the System setup and click on the Virtual Memory button. Then click on the button "Let me specify my own memory settings". As a minimum, you should specify at least 20 Mbytes, or if possible, a value between 2 and 3 times the amount of your RAM memory in your computer.
6 Troubleshooting General Normal 160 If run into any problems using WaveLab, read the "Troubleshooting" section in the On-line Help.
7 Session-8 compatible files General Low 160 For Session-8 users, we recommend that you activate the option "Save session-8 compatible WAV files" in the Preference dialog. This will increase the size of each file by approximately 4000 bytes. However, the files are still compatible with other programs that read Wave files.
11 Multitasking General Normal 160 WaveLab utilizes true multitasking: you are able to select, cut, copy, paste, process, load, save, etc., while the program is playing, even in Loop mode.
13 Extended Stereo support Main Feature Normal 160 Besides supporting mono and stereo files, WaveLab has a third option, called "dual mono". The purpose of this is to support certain computer based recording systems which records stereo into two separate mono files. With WaveLab, you can open two mono files and edit them just as if they were a single stereo file.
14 Multi view concept UI Normal 160 You can edit the same data in more than one window. Amongst other things, this allows you to work on different sections of a wave file without scrolling back and forth, and with different zoom settings if desired. You can create a new view in two ways (assuming a wave window is already open):
-In an empty free area of the WaveLab application window, drag to make up a box (not too small) and release the mouse.
-Select Duplicate View from the View menu.
15 Folding/Unfolding windows UI High 200 In order to save screen space, you can "fold" and "unfold" windows (waveform windows, dialogs, plugins). To do this, just click on the button at the right side of the windows' title bar.

For dialogs and plugins, you can also double-click on the title bar to achieve the same effect.
16 Quick window switching UI Low 160 By pressing [F2] repeatedly you switch between the last two active windows (two wave windows, or a wave window and a non-modal dialog).
17 Toolbars UI Normal 160 A Toolbar can be used as a floating window (a palette) or you can dock it to any the application window's sides. Just drag the Toolbar to the side, or double click somewhere on it (except on a button).
18 Moving Toolbars UI Low 160 To prevent a Toolbar from being docked to the application window, when dragging it, hold down [Control].
19 Changing the appearance of a Toolbar UI Low 160 · To change the shape of a palette Toolbar, between different variations on horizontal, square and vertical, drag the right or bottom edge as when resizing a regular window.
· To change the size of the buttons in the Toolbars, open the Preferences dialog, click the "Toolbars/Control Bar" tab and adjust the "Button size" setting.
20 Speed menus UI Normal 160 When searching for a function, don't forget to check the speed menus in the different sections of the window you are working in. Right click with mouse to bring up the speed menu.

There are plenty of such menus all over WaveLab!
21 Spin Controls UI Normal 160 Many WaveLab dialogs use spin controls. As an alternative to the regular ways of changing values (clicking on the two arrows pointing up/down), try the following:
· Holding down [Control] makes the value change in larger steps.
· Holding down [Control]+[Shift] changes the value to its minimum/ maximum.
· The last adjusted control can be adjusted using the up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard.
· Use Sliders and pop-ups. Many times, the most convenient way to change a value is using WaveLab's proprietary sliders and pop-ups: just click with the right mouse button on the spin control. A pop-up menu or one or more sliders appears.
· Use the roller of an Intellimouse device, if you have one (you can also use [Control] and [Shift], as described above.
22 Pop-up sliders UI Normal 160 When clicking with the right mouse button on a spin control, one or more sliders appear. You can of course use the mouse to adjust the sliders, but you can also use the keyboard:
· Up/Down arrow keys changes the value by one unit.
· Next/Prev page keys changes the value by several units.
· Home/End sets the slider to its minimum/maximum.
23 Non-modal dialogs UI Normal 160 To speed up your work, many of the dialog boxes in WaveLab are "non-modal". This means that the window behind the dialog can be operated even though the dialog box is up on screen.
24 Special keyboard shortcuts UI Normal 160 Several important key short-cuts are available even when a dialog is open:
· [F3] Undo
· [F4] Redo
· [F5] Flush audio buffer
· [F6] Play Selection
· [F7] Stop
· [F8] Play
25 Opening multiple files UI Normal 160 You can open a number of files at the same time. In the Open dialog, select as many files as you wish. This is done using [Shift] and/or [Control]. You can also use drag-and-drop from the Explorer onto the WaveLab program icon or the running WaveLab desktop window.
26 Opening Dual Mono files General Normal 160 If you have two mono files which are actually the left and right channels of a stereo recording (some systems handle stereo this way), you can open these as if they were a stereo file. Simply select the two mono files (and only those!) in the Open dialog. You can also use drag-and-drop the two files from the Explorer. The dual mono function can be deactivated in the Preferences dialog.
27 Finding the cursor UI Normal 160 If you click on the cursor position field on the Status Bar, the view is scrolled so that the wave cursor becomes visible.
28 Cursor position General Normal 160 If you want to move the Wave cursor position without deselecting (if you have a selection), just point and drag the mouse on the time ruler. This even works while playing.
29 Accurate positioning General Normal 160 To facilitate selecting and positioning the wave cursor and markers, activate Magnetize bounds on the Options menu. Now, the cursor, markers and the selection will snap to the following positions:
· The wave cursor
· Markers
· The selection edges
· The start and end of the audio file
· The timer ruler's origin, if set to anything else than 0.
30 Level selections General Normal 160 When you have a selection "in time", you can hold down [Shift] and point and drag to also change the height of the selection (this is called a level selection). The level value is displayed on the status bar. This feature is used in the Normalize and Dynamics dialogs.
32 Copying using drag-and-drop General Normal 160 You can copy audio from one window to another or to a different position in the same window, by dragging. First, select the audio to copy, then simply drag-and-drop it. If you hold down [Alt] or [Shift], the audio is moved rather than copied.
33 Mixing samples General Normal 160 To mix two recordings, copy one of them onto the clipboard and use the "Mix" command in the menu: Edit/Paste special.
34 WaveLab Clipboard General Normal 160 To see the contents of the WaveLab Clipboard (not the main Windows clipboard), select Clipboard from the Edit menu and Show from the sub-menu that appears. The Clipboard is a Wave window like any other (but it is always in stereo) and any type of editing can be applied to it except those involving Cut, Copy or Paste. You can even Undo and Redo operations on the Clipboard.
35 Dragging to create a new mono or stereo wave General Normal 160 · To turn a section of a wave into a new document, make a selection and drag it out of the window and onto an empty section of the WaveLab application window.
· To convert a mono selection to stereo and vice versa, hold down [Control] while dragging. A "Mono to Stereo" conversion is much faster than a "Stereo to Mono" conversion as no mixing is involved. When a "Stereo to Mono" conversion is performed, WaveLab takes care of avoiding any clipping that would result from mixing the two channels.
40 Window Layout UI Normal 160 If you want to prevent the window layout from being saved/restored, hold down [Control] when quitting/launching WaveLab. The same procedure applies to closing/opening Project files.
41 Window Styles UI Normal 160 You are able to define and save various Styles for how to display the wave files. Check style on the Options menu. In a style you can have different settings for the overview and main view. For stereo waves you can even make separate settings for each channel!
42 Copying layouts between windows UI Normal 160 You can copy layouts between windows. A layout includes cursor position, zoom factor, scroll settings and selection points. Proceed as follows:
1. Press [Alt]+[Control]-[C]. This copies the layout to an invisible "clipboard".
2. Make the window where you want to apply the layout, active.
3. Press [Alt]+[Control]-[V].
46 Quick Zooming UI Normal 160 To zoom out to quickly get an overview of a recording, simply press [J]. Other useful zooming shortcuts you can try out are [G], [H], [K], with or without [Shift], [Control] and [Shift]+[Control]. In addition, [K] zooms the selection so that it fits the window.
47 Selecting while playing General Normal 160 · While a wave is playing, press and hold [+] on the numeric keypad to set the start of the selection. Release the key to set the end of the selection.
· Alternatively you can press [Shift]-[1] (on the numeric key pad) to set the selection start and [Shift]-[2] to set the end.
48 Getting an optimized vertical zoom General Normal 160 You can automatically adjust the vertical zoom to the level of the peaks in the audio, by double clicking on the level ruler.
50 Creating a new empty wave General Normal 160 A quick way of creating a new empty wave is to hold down [Control] and drag to make up a box in some empty free area of the WaveLab application windows. This box must be of a certain minimum size or bigger. The new window "inherits" its attributes from the last active window or from the "New Wave" dialog if no Window was displayed.
52 Window List UI Normal 160 To get a list of all open windows, double click in a "free space" in the application window or press [Control] + [F2].
55 Switching playback between windows General Normal 160 To instantly switch playback between two windows, proceed as follows: Activate playback in one window (possibly in a loop), then click in the time ruler of the other window. Using this technique you can switch playback back and forth between the two windows, for example to compare them.
If you want to click in the other window's time ruler without playing it back, hold down [Control] while clicking.
56 Playback of an individual channel General Normal 160 With the Play tool, you have the possibility to play only the left or the right channel of a stereo file. Just click on the desired channel, and at the desired location.
58 Centering the Wave display vertically UI Low 160 If you have used the vertical scroll bars, you can quickly center the display vertically by double clicking on the level ruler while holding down [Control].
59 Absolute scrolling UI Normal 160 Given a Wave window with the overview displayed, you can scroll the main view to any desired point by just clicking at the desired offset in the overview.
60 Adjusting a short loop General Normal 160 When you edit the boundaries of a (short) loop with playback activated, any changes in the selection does not take effect in playback immediately, but after a short time, according to the playback latency. To get around this, you can empty the playback buffers by pressing [F5], which empties the buffers immediately. Please note that you might hear a small click in the audio when you press the key.
62 Pop-up sliders appearance UI Low 160 Pop-up sliders (displayed when you click with the right mouse button on a spin control in a dialog) can be horizontal or vertical (this is set in the Preference dialog, on the Editing tab).
66 Recording mixer General Normal 160 To be able to use the mixer in the Record dialog, you have to specify your audio card in the Preferences dialog. A mixer can't be created if "Microsoft Sound Mapper" is selected.
Not all audio card drivers provide access to a mixer.
67 Hiding/showing a wave overview UI Normal 160 You can drag the divider to hide/show the Overview pane in the Wave window. But, you can also double-click on the separator or press [O] on the computer keyboard, to accomplish the same thing.
68 Hiding/Showing Toolbars UI Low 160 An alternative way to show/hide toolbars is to right click on them.
70 Pasting beyond the end of a Wave General Normal 160 WaveLab allows you to paste data beyond the end of the Wave. You can use drag-and-drop or you can first position the cursor and then use the Paste command. Silence will automatically be added between the end of the file and the pasted data.
71 Positioning the Wave cursor General Low 160 When you move the cursor to the end of the Wave or at the end of the selection, using menu commands or key shortcuts, the cursor is positionned just after the last sample (that is, at the correct position to perform an insertion after selection or at the end of the Wave).
74 Toolbar commands and Drag-and-drop UI Normal 160 To perform a Cut/Copy/Delete/Silence/Play operation, you can click on the toolbar buttons, but you can also drag-and-drop the Wave selection over the corresponding toolbar buttons.
77 Selecting the Play tool momentarily UI Normal 160 To quickly select the Play tool, you can hold down the [Alt] key while the mouse cursor is over the Wave window.
78 Selecting the magnifying glass tool momentarily General Normal 160 To quickly select the magnifying glass tool, you can hold down [Control] while the mouse cursor is over the Wave window.
79 Selecting samples in the Wave overview UI Normal 160 The default tool for the Wave overview is the magnifying glass tool, but you can also make selections, just hold down [Control].
81 Changing the time ruler origin General Low 160 When you change the time ruler's origin (from the time ruler's speed menu), only the corresponding view (main view or overview) will be affected. However, if you hold down[Shift] whenyou perform the operation, the origin is changed in both the main view and the overview.
83 Stopping a process General Normal 160 You can stop Wave processing:
· by pressing [Escape]
· by clicking on the STOP button that appears on the Status Bar while the process occurs.
· by clicking anywhere with the right mouse button.

Note that you can safely do the same with Save operations! Even if you overwrite a file, stopping the Save operation will perfectly restore the overwritten file.
84 Optimizing display speed System Normal 160 Unless you have specific needs, we recommend you set Windows to 256 colors. As a matter of fact, many graphic drivers are optimized for this mode and the difference in speed can be important.
94 Resolution of temporary audio files General Normal 200 Intermediate (temporary) audio files, that are created as a result of some process, can have a resolution of 16, 20, 24 or 32bits. The resolution is determined by this setting. Using 24 bit files is only slightly slower and it will use up 50% more disk space. However it will result in a better sound quality if you apply additional processing to the audio material. You can also use 32 bit float files, but this has little interest unless you need to create intermediary files with a level beyond +6 dB. This will also take more space. The following table lists the possible cases:
Source file -> Output file:
8 bit -> 16, 24 or 32 bit (according to the Preference setting)
16 bit -> 16, 24 or 32 bit (according to the Preference setting)
20 bit -> 20, 24 or 32 bit (according to the Preference setting)
24 bit -> 24 or 32 bit (according to the Preference setting)
32 bit -> 24 or 32 bit (according to the Preference setting)
120 File selector dialog UI Normal 160 WaveLab has a custom file open/save dialog box. It allows you to :
· Automatically listen to the selected WAV, AIFF, AU or PAF file before opening it.
· Check the selected file's attributes (format, number of channels, bit resolution and sample rate).
· Instantly acces any of the 15 last used paths. A great time saver!
· Expand the size of the dialog. If you have a large screen and always thought that the Microsoft standard file dialog was too small, then this option is for you!
130 Finding the last selection again UI Normal 160 If the waveform selection was lost, you can find it again by selecting "Toggle" from the Select menu, in the View menu, or you can simply press [Esc].
167 Mouse zooming Main Feature Normal 200 WaveLab provides a very convenient way to zoom quickly to any point and zoom factor:
1. Position the mouse pointer over the ruler in the main view.
2. Press the mouse button and drag up or down.
The zoom factor changes continuously.

This technique works very well in combination with the fact that you can move the song position by dragging horizontally in the ruler. By dragging in both directions, you can quickly find a certain position in the file and display it at the desired magnification factor.

Additional options:
· To freeze the cursor position, hold down [Shift].
· To make vertical zoom adjust automatically to the peaks in the waveform, hold down [Control].
· To switch to scrolling, hold down [Alt].
168 Playback browser Main Feature Normal 200 The Playback browser feature helps you to quickly find certain positions in an audio file, by restarting playback repeatedly when you click or drag to move the wave cursor.
This is how it is done:

1. Start Playback or select the Play Tool.
2. Click or/and drag in the time ruler.

If you click, playback jumps immediately to the position you clicked at. If you drag continuously, playback is automatically restarted several times a second, from the cursor position.
173 Status bar UI Normal 200 You can click on the Status bar field to access a certain number of functions. Click:

· with the left mouse button on the cursor field to scroll the wave display up to the cursor (useful if the cursor is out of sight).

· with the right mouse on the cursor field to be able to set accuratly a desired cursor position.

· on the selected level field to see the level at the exact cursor position.

· on the zoom field, to access the zoom menu.

· on the file attribute field in order to adjust these attributes.
174 Intellimouse support UI Normal 200 If you have a Microsoft Intellimouse or compatible pointing
device, you can take advantage of the wheel for various operations in WaveLab :

Scrolling
· If you point at a waveform, the wheel scrolls the view horizontally.

Zooming
· If you hold down [Ctrl] and point at a waveform, the wheel zooms the
view horizontally.
· If you hold down [Ctrl] and [Shift] and point at a waveform, the wheel zooms the view vertically.

Changing Values
· If you point at an edit field in a dialog, the wheel can be used to adjust the value.
· If you also hold down [Ctrl], the value changes in bigger steps and if you hold down [Ctrl] and [Shift] it jumps to the bottom/top values.

Master Section
· When working in the Master Section window, the wheel can be used to adjust the master volume. If you hold down [Shift] the value changes in steps of 6dB (rather than 1dB).
· If you hold down [Alt] you can change the Master Section volume, regardless of which window is active. This can be combined with [Shift] as described above.
175 Snap cursor General Normal 200 When both the option "Snap to time" and "Snap to zero-crossing" are enabled, then "Snap to time" is executed first.
176 Cubase keyboard compatibility General Normal 200 If you are accustomed to Steinberg's Cubase sequencer key commands, there is an option in the general preferences which enables WaveLab to use the same key commands as Cubase for moving the cursor and for zooming.
180 Playing mono files General Normal 200 Certain audio card drivers won't allow mono files to playback directly, for example, because of the bit resolution (20 or 24 bit) used. Some other audio cards will play the audio only through the left loudspeaker.
If you have such an audio card, then you can activate the option "Convert mono to stereo" in the playback page of the general preferences. When doing so, WaveLab converts the mono file to a stereo file on the fly, just before sending it to the audio card.