PG, since I last wrote about this, I’ve tried resequencing in two other major mastering programs, and they both can deal with CD “splice” markers (treating them as CD Track End and CD Track Start), and with crossfades when reordering CD tracks. Neither of them lock out move operations as Wavelab does, and they retain end-gaps, as online files do (as reorder in iTunes does).
When CD tracks can be moved in Wavelab, they always retain pre-gaps only (index 0 to index 1), which may be technically “CD correct” but it’s not how online files are made. Both of the mastering programs I tried retain end-gaps only when reordering.
I’d like to ask if this can be changed in Wavelab 9 to be usable in these contexts, with no locks from movement. As it is, I can’t use the CD track re-order function at all, because Splice tracks and crossfaded tracks can’t be moved, and so I have to resort to more time consuming manual methods every time I need to re-sequence an album. All of my markers are CD splice or crossfade, so I’m locked out from doing anything.
Many mastering studios have switched to CD splice markers exclusively because of the downsides of file creation from masters with Index 0, and the fact that end-gaps (not pre-gaps) must be retained for iTunes Complete My Album, if singles from an album are released before the album, and the album is then resequenced before release.
It would be great if the total album length after resequence could be exactly the same as it was before reorder (including crossfades), as an easy check of correct operation. That’s only possible if crossfades include the exact position of the track splice markers as overlaid on the clips, both outgoing and incoming, before and after the reorder. Crossfades would need to be adjusted afterward, but that’s what I’d like to see as a starting point for crossfades that have been moved.
To get around the way it is currently, I’ve tried converting the splice markers to CD Start, then adding CD End to each, then offseting each CD End to make it legal to move the tracks, but it’s so much unnecessary work that I’ve given up trying to use the CD track drag and drop reorder function at all.
Is there any way this can be modified in Wavelab 9 to work with Splice markers, and with markers that are overlaid on clips, and to retain end-gaps rather than pre-gaps regardless of whether CD track end marks are used or not? The other programs seem to have no problem doing that.