Audacity vs Wavelab - Does Wavelab bring any goods when you got a DAW already?

[cryophonik]

OP - have you looked at Wavelab Elements? It's actually a very powerful audio editor/mastering suite for the money. I think I bought into Wavelab at v6 and have just continued to upgrade to the current version ever since, but I've considered many times just buying Elements instead of upgrading, since I basically only use the core features (i.e., about 10%) of Wavelab's capabilities.

I am with pekbro wait for Humble Bundle and get Soundforge for next to nothing..... ✔

...unless the OP is on a Mac. But, if he's on a Windows machine, then yes, Soundforge is a great bargain.

[Shabdahbriah]

I am with pekbro wait for Humble Bundle and get Soundforge for next to nothing..... ✔

+1

[woodsdenis]

DSP Quattro, not free but relatively cheap is a great Mac option.

[aMUSEd]

I've stopped using Audacity since they made it impossible to stop it scanning plugins on startup

[Trensharo]

Comparing freebie Audacity to Wavelab, is like comparing tree house to mansion.
There is the reason why you have to pay $748 for Wavelab and nothing for Audacity
https://www.steinberg.net/wavelab/

People will pay big money for a brand name without thinking?

WaveLab is a $499 application - $379 on Crossgrade.

Beyond that, the functional disparity between WaveLab Pro and Audacity is as wide as the Pacific. The two applications don't even really play in the same market segment. Audacity is most comparable to WaveLab Cast, which is the lowest functional SKU of the WaveLab product line. WaveLab Cast is targeted at the market segment where Audacity sees most popularity.

I don't see a point in using Audacity when you can just use your DAW to do what you need to do.

There isn't a question regarding WaveLab delivering goods when you already have a DAW. This issue is mostly with Audacity. If you have Cubase, Studio One, Digital Performer, Samplitude Pro X, Logic Pro, etc. then there is very little reason to even install Audacity on your machine. The DAW will do 90% of what Audacity does without round tripping.

Audacity is for people who only need a digital tape machine. It's highly used by podcasters and voiceover artists.

You're just saying you think wavelab is good without actually providing any reasons. What can wavelab that a DAW can't? This is what the OP wanted to know.

I didn't say "WaveLab was good," I said that the functional disparity between the two is so vast that they aren't even really the same class of applications. Comparing Audacity to WaveLab Pro is like comparing GarageBand to WaveLab Pro. I can do 90% of what I'd do in Audacity in GarageBand - and have done so in the past (in a pinch).

What WaveLab offers over a DAW is surgical audio editing a an extreme level. The vast majority of DAWs do not go nearly as far as software like WaveLab, Sound Forge, Acoustica, etc. when it comes to that. Those that do attempt this (Samplitude Pro X/Sequoia, Pyramix, Adobe Audition, etc.) generally aren't popular among music producers, as software tends to focus on one or the other. Some of these don't do MIDI Sequencing at all.

What WaveLab offers is a dedicated high end Destructive and Non-Destructive, Multi-Channel and Multi-Track Audio/Spectral Recording, Editing, Mixing and Mastering Workstation for professionals who need this additional functionality ... or work in postproduction market segments (Engineers who only do Audio Mastering or Recording and Editing (Podcast, Voiceover, etc.)). It's a DAW for people who only do Audio.

WaveLab is as deep for Audio as Cubase is for MIDI. The two are complimentary.

If one doesn't want to pay WaveLab's higher price tag, they can buy Acon Acoustica and get most of the way there. You can also get Samplitude Pro X Suite (which also bundles Sound Forge Pro and SpectraLayers Pro) when MAGIX has a super sale and get most of the way to WaveLab Pro at a relatively low cost. Samplitude isn't just a music production workstation. It also functions as a Destructive and Non-Destructive Audio Editor (historically, that what it originally was). You just ignore the MIDI bits in there. Unfortunately, that one is Windows-only.

On macOS, I would go straight to Acon Acoustica Premium if I weren't going to invest in WaveLab. macOS has less choice in this market segment than Windows does.

Ironically, a number of high end Audio-focused workstations used for Mastering and Postproduction are Windows-only.

[Trensharo]

I am with pekbro wait for Humble Bundle and get Soundforge for next to nothing..... ✔

+1

The only issue with Sound Forge is that it isn't multi-track. However, if you just need an audio editor to round trip with a DAW or NLE for surgical destructive editing, it's fine. It will work with multi-channel audio, which is all that is needed there.

Honestly, MAGIX could have made a killing if they had moved Sound Forge Pro to ARA2, like Acoustica. It's the perfect kind of Audio Editor to make that transition.