User Manual

65
Playback and recording
6. Select an appropriate Input mode, depending on
whether you want to record the audio card input or the
Playback output:
Ö In “Audio input (hardware)” mode, WaveLab Studio
will record the signals from the activated inputs on your
audio hardware.
This is the standard mode. Use this for recording any external audio sig-
nal sources connected to the inputs on your audio card.
Ö In “Playback output” mode, the program will record
only what is being played back in WaveLab Studio itself.
This mode does not utilize your audio card or any Windows audio proto-
cols. Instead, the audio from WaveLab Studio is sent straight back into
WaveLab Studio and this input is then recorded. The typical use for this
is:
Record what you are playing back, capturing any real-time volume or pa-
rameter changes you make during playback.
7. If needed, activate the desired recording options in the
dialog.
There are also additional settings in a separate dialog, opened by click-
ing the Settings button. For details, click the question mark icon in the di-
alog.
At this point, you can start recording (see “Start record-
ing!” on page 66) if you like. For details on the available re-
cording options, click the question mark icon in the
respective dialog.
Recording settings presets
You can create and save different recording options and
settings as presets for quick access by using the Preset
menu in the Record dialog.
This way, you can set up options and settings for different
specific recording purposes and then quickly load the set-
tings when the need arises.
See “Presets” on page 28 for information about creating,
saving and loading presets in WaveLab Studio.
Setting up the mixer (MME/WDM drivers)
At this point you may want to click the Mixer button to ad-
just the relative volume of your card’s inputs.
Ö For the mixer to appear, you must have specifically se-
lected the card on the Preferences–Audio device tab.
If the Input and Output are set to “Microsoft Sound Mapper” a mixer can-
not be created.
Exactly what controls will appear in the mixer depends on
the card, but here are some possibilities:
• Master Gain (output-fader)
• Synth In (input-fader plus on/off check box)
• CD (input-fader plus on/off check box)
• Line (input-fader plus on/off check box)
• Mic (input-fader plus on/off check box)
In addition to the above, the card might have custom con-
trols for monitoring, etc., which cannot be accessed from
the WaveLab Studio mixer. Again, please use the applica-
tion(s) included with the card.
Using the meters
In the lower part of the Record dialog, you will find a meter
display. This is useful for checking the input level, as well
as the frequency spectrum of the input signal.
Ö The meters in the Record dialog are “miniature” ver-
sions of the Level, Spectrum and Phase Meters in the
Meter windows.
For detailed descriptions of the functionality and features, see “Level/pan
meter” on page 69.
For the meters to register the signal, you need to activate
the Monitor checkbox. This can be done automatically, if
the option “Activate meters when opening record win-
dow” is activated in the Record Settings dialog. The pop-
up menu in the lower left corner allows you to select be-
tween Level or Spectrum metering.
• When the Level Meter is selected, horizontal bars show
the peak level (outer bars) and average loudness (VU, in-
ner bars) of each channel.
Values are also shown numerically. If the Phase Scope option is acti-
vated on the pop-up menu next to the Reset button, a Phase Meter is
displayed to the right of the Level Meter (see “Phase Scope” on page
71).
!
Not all audio cards have a mixer application and can
therefore not access the WaveLab Studio mixer. This
is especially true with digital I/O cards.