Some people seem to be asking for WL to become a full multichannel recorder and editor. I don’t really see the need. I agree with you that it would be nice for WL to be able to do a 2 track loopback but I can somewhat do that now. I take the output of the file I need to process and put it into my Z-Systems router. I route that to my external gear and then with the same router bring it back into WL for recording. Seems to work just fine but you do need an external router. This process creates a new file which may not be what you are looking for. But it does work and works well. FWIW
My workaround is playing out of 9.5 montage, thru console/outboard and capture in the WAVE window in WL 8.5. Been doing that for years and it works. But I’d love standard lane style recording so I could punch in on masters without all the extra editing.
This is pure speculation but I think Wavelab 10 is imminent. I’ve been checking for an update every week since last year lol. I’m always excited about new innovative ways to speed up my editing workflow in what I see is still the most powerful mastering and editing software there is out there. I still think a lot of deep features don’t get covered in public such as daisy-chaining up computers to utilise more processing.