Steinberg has announced the immediate availability of SpectraLayers Pro 7 and SpectraLayers Elements 7, the audio editing software for music production, post-production, sound design, mastering and restoration.
New in Version 7 is the implementation of Artificial Intelligence designed to foster the introduction of new features that include automatic pattern detection, clip repair, unmixing tracks to stems as well as unmixing stems to component parts. Other new automated processes include click repair, hum removal and precision spectral de-essing. These new aspects are joined by several enhancements, such as improved ARA 2 integration with Cubase and Nuendo, VST 3 plugin support and more.
The new Artificial Intelligence in SpectraLayers Pro recognizes distinct events and isolates them by moving them to independent layers that are highlighted for further processing. The AI-assisted unmixing capability in SpectraLayers Pro scans a mixed song and extracts the different instruments within the song to separate layers, adding default settings for vocals, piano, bass, drums and more, while SpectraLayers Elements extracts vocals only. Unmix can also be used on stems, separating these into tone, noise and transient component layers.
With its AI technology, SpectraLayers has now also made advances in pattern recognition: users can select a target sound and then trigger a search to automatically locate and select every other similar sound in the spectrum. Vocal processing tools available in Pro include the Voice Denoiser that recognizes and isolates the human voice for emphasizing the voice, and new automatic de-essing for shaping sibilants.
The AI-driven repair processes consist of Clip Repair for detecting and fixing clipped peaks (available in Pro only), Hum Reduction for eliminating unwanted hum and Click Repair for repairing clicks, crackles and pops.
The enhanced Transform tool is designed to preserve formants for more natural-sounding pitch transpositions, and the new Transform Selection tool, another new tool, adds corner and midpoint handles that can be dragged to fine-tune selection boundaries, such as adjusting the bandwidth selections made with the Frequency Selection tool.
Further, the upgraded Healing tool is now also assisted by AI, resulting in better interpolation and faster performance. The Playback tool now lets users select a specific frequency bandwidth that can then be auditioned anywhere on the spectral graph.
SpectraLayers 7 also includes improved ARA 2 layer management by configuring the layer view as well as VST 3 plugin processing support for added plugin power. UI luminosity is now configurable to provide the brightness that best suits the workplace environment. Many other small uadditions include a playback VU meter, new cut/copy/paste options and more.
“SpectraLayers is opening a new, significant chapter with this version,” says marketing manager Luis Dongo. “With its AI-powered tools and processes, such as its unmix capabilities that you really have to see for yourself to believe it, both the Pro and the Elements editions of SpectraLayers 7 take audio editing to a completely new level.”
Full-license retail versions of SpectraLayers Pro 7 and SpectraLayers Elements 7 are available from resellers and through the Steinberg Online Shop. The suggested retail price for SpectraLayers Pro 7 is US $299.99, and the suggested retail price for SpectraLayers Elements 7 is US $79.99. Various downloadable updates and upgrades are exclusively available through the Online Shop.
Users who have activated SpectraLayers Pro 6 and SpectraLayers Elements 6 since July 6, 2020, are eligible for a free, downloadable Grace Period update to the latest respective version. Go here for more specifics.
