Again, that doesn't make sense. Wouldn't the solution be..."instead of paying someone, just do it yourself" if all it involved was 5 minutes on a computer making things loud? You have done nothing but make all involved in your post seem to be guys who know nothing of what they speak. I'm gonna chuck that up to you being a bad listener 1 more time. I'm not going to believe for a second Los Angeles Recording School brought out speakers who said mastering was a waste of time and not 1 student or professor in the school challenged it. That makes that school worthless. I guess just as worthless as the school is if they tell you you're a mastering engineer after using wavelab and a brickwall limiter for 5 minutes. And not sure where they got the idea Wavelab was the most used anything to teach it to you. I was being humble before, but... EVERY PRO I KNOW USES SEQUOIA/SAMPLITUDE, CUBASE/NUENDO OR PRO TOOLS(and I've been in quite a few rooms with plaques on walls). NONE OF THEM ONLY USE A COMPUTER. MOST HAVE RACKS ON TOP OF RACKS OF OUTBOARD GEAR THAT CANNOT BE EMULATED WITH SOFTWARE. Little things like delays/reverbs they turn way down over the entire track while mastering to the point you can barely hear it that cost more than most people's entire setups. These guys are the reason I still call myself a novice engineer after mixing and mastering records for Chyna Whyte(BME), G. Dep(Bad Boy), Yukmouth(Rap A Lot), Mr. Serv-On(No Limit), J. hood(Ruff Ryders), Brotha Lynch, Big Fa$e Hunned, Gonzoe, B. Legit, and MANY OTHERS...TOO MANY OTHERS. Because i'm still no where close to the level they're at, and I know NO ONE who can do what they're doing in 5 minutes.
I'm in no way saying any program is always used...I'm saying I'VE NEVER SEEN THE MASTERING PROCESS DONE IN WAVELAB FOR A MAJOR RECORDING(not saying it hasn't been)IN MY DECADE SPENT IN L.A. WORKING OUT OF MULTIPLE STUDIOS AND SITTING IN SESSIONS. For it to be the "tool everyone uses" as your school makes it out to be, I'd think I'd at least see it as often as I do Pro Tools? No? Hmmm......
I've known studios to have it on deck if you chose to use it, and I take that back, I may have seen it used once or twice a decade ago...Nah, not for anything done by majors. Could be the genre you dwell in, but again, if it's "the most used", it should've picked up some wind with everyone. I know plenty of novices that use it or Soundforge/CD Architect, plenty of nice studios with no clients of importance, but we're talking "pros", right? I've seen it used as a tracklist arranger, but we're talking about applying effects and processing to a stereo audio file to give it it's polish. NEVER SEEN IT USED SOLEY FOR THAT BY ANYONE WORKING ON A PRO ALBUM(again, not saying it hasn't been done, just saying that makes it a bold statement to tell me it's the "most used").
And what school is teaching you the main thing any real M.E. will tell you to avoid...the silly idea that mastering is about LOUDNESS? NIN, Prince, and Madonna credits? And they don't have the ear to understand how important a good mastering job is? There's all types of rules I feel can be broken. Like...people say not to, but why not both mix and master yourself? Just walk away from the song for 2 weeks before you do(could be bad advice, but better to revisit with your own fresh ear than leaving everything with no finished polish whatsoever).
Any other M.E.'s on this site please chime in, I'm completely drained. This guy has all the answers.