The reference track thing works really great with a dedicated reference track, and using the master section for effects… I do use this also… BUT:
I also like to jump around between all of the various songs in a montage and use them as references too… this is where I struggle a little, because I need somewhere to load effects I can monitor through in realtime. Isn’t the master section in the only place to do that?
My workflow is this: I monitor in Wavelab in real-time using the meters, and real-time effects via master section live input (love this feature). When I’m happy with the track, I record it into into Wavelab, and then I copy all of the master section effects I was using in real-time into the newly recorded clip… then I repeat the process for the next song. While doing this, if I want to compare levels with other tracks in my montage, I turn off master section input monitoring, bypass all of the effects in the Mastering section, and move the cursor to whatever song I want to hear and hit play. it works great for A/B and overall level, etc. it’s just a little slow, hence the reason for this thread…
I think it would be awesome, if playback could continue in the background even while live input is active, so I could instantly switch back-and-forth with zero delay… but I don’t mind hitting play when I need to for now.