Steinberg announces SpectraLayers 8 Audio Editing with Advanced AI Processing

Steinberg today announces the immediate availability of SpectraLayers Pro 8 and SpectraLayers Elements 8, the award-winning audio editing software with newly enhanced capabilities, from automatic AI-assisted processes to updated manual selection tools and logical workflow improvements.

SpectraLayers offers highly flexible audio empowerment by displaying sounds as visual objects, enabling deep editing in music production and post-production, sound design, audio restoration and many other applications.

SpectraLayers 8 comes with further advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allow for the implementation of new processes, as well as improvements to existing ones. The new AI-driven De-Bleed capability provides the ability to work across multiple layers, making it extremely easy to reduce the amount of spill from a drum kit and other isolated instrument tracks. Also now an AI-fueled process, Reverb Reduction automatically identifies and attenuates room resonances, making the process cleaner and more effective.

To achieve sonic conformity across different recordings, SpectraLayers 8 introduces EQ and Ambience Match. With EQ Match, users can make a selection on the spectral graph and apply the EQ profile across layers, ideal for the tracking and mastering stages in music. With Ambience Match, users can specify room tone or background textures on the spectrograph and apply the profile to another part of the project, so that the original ambience can be applied to any recording.

Alongside the Harmonics Selection tool, users can now select harmonics automatically, based on a single selected frequency, with full control over the designated fundamental frequency, as well as the number of harmonics to be selected.

The new Voice Denoiser is trained to recognize and isolate the human voice; perfect for cleaning up location interview recordings. Its two AI algorithms cover all cases, from spoken word to sung vocals.
Inter-channel copy/paste functionality is another new feature in Version 8 that comes in useful for both repair/restore and sound design scenarios; repair one channel with material selected from another, and copy/paste events in the stereo field to shape the soundstage.

Other powerful new features in SpectraLayers Pro 8 are a dynamic visual preview of selections while drawing, and allowing users to save multiple selections with the projects. SpectraLayers is now also 384 kHz-capable, extending program functionality to high-end audio interfaces such as Steinberg's AXR4.
Additional enhancements include further ARA 2 integration developments, allowing multiple independent SpectraLayers projects to run within the DAW. The Clip Repair, Eraser, Amplifier and pitch-shifting tools have also been improved for faster and more accurate editing of music content.

Marketing Manager Luis Dongo commented: “SpectraLayers is a very versatile audio editing tool, used in different areas of music and post-production, sound design, mastering and more. Its AI-powered tools and processes are extremely powerful, easily pushing the envelope of users’ expectations. Version 7 introduced processes based on artificial intelligence algorithms and, in Version 8, we have expanded on the algorithms that not only cover existing processes, but also offer new ones. Every user will benefit from these new capabilities in numerous ways.”

Availability and pricing
Full-license retail versions of SpectraLayers Pro 8 and SpectraLayers Elements 8 are available through the Steinberg Online Shop. The suggested retail price for SpectraLayers Pro 8 is 299 euros. The suggested retail price for SpectraLayers Elements 8 is 79.99 euros. All prices include German VAT.
From June 23, 2021, to July 14, 2021, both editions of SpectraLayers are available at an introductory offer with 20% off.

Various downloadable updates, upgrades and crossgrades are exclusively available through the Steinberg Online Shop. Customers who have activated SpectraLayers Pro 7 and SpectraLayers Elements 7 since May 26, 2021 are eligible for a free, downloadable grace period update to the latest respective version.

Key features

• Smarter AI delivers all-new processes, improved existing processes and superchargedlegacy tools, with fresh new AI implementations.
• De-Bleed process to de-bleed drum kit tracks and other isolated tracks with AI-driven accuracy.
• Reverb Reduction is now an AI-fueled process. Identifying and attenuating room resonances has never been cleaner, smarter, or more effective.
• EQ Matching to register a selection anywhere on the spectral graph as an EQ profile and apply it across layers to achieve sonic conformity.
• Ambience Matching to apply selected room tones and background textures anywhere in your project.
• Improved Voice Denoiser now features two AI algorithms to choose from, which together cover all the bases, from spoken word to sung vocals.
• Automatically select harmonics with control over the number of harmonics selected both above and below the fundamental tone.
• Improved Clip Repair now provides more audible results, in addition to user-controlled peak shaping capabilities.
• Inter-channel copy/paste functionality allows copying from one channel and pasting to another, useful in repair and sound design work.
• Save/Recall multiple selections sequentially, with flexible merge options.
• Improved ARA 2 integration streamlines the ARA 2 workflow even further by allowing multiple independent SpectraLayers projects to exist within a DAW project.
• Improved Pitch Shifting tool is now scalable by semitone percentages for faster and more accurate editing of music content.
• Improved Eraser and Amplifier tools can constrain the dynamic range to avoid unwanted gaps and volume spikes.
• Dynamic preview of selections while drawing provides real-time audio feedback as you refine your selections on the spectral graph.
• 384 kHz support extends program functionality to ultra-high-end audio interfaces such as Steinberg's own AXR4.

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