VU meter - Proper plugin PLEASE?

[Ron Obvious]

Do you remember in the 70-80?s when car speedometers had ?digital? readouts for awhile. Some had numbers, others used a barograph display. How about digital watches, do you remember them displaying in __:__. Well they have all basically gone away, Yeah! The main reason is that they never had that eye/brain, anticipation/reflection - connection. I know it?s hard to explain, but I?m guessing you all know what I mean.

In the audio world even SSL or Neve consoles that used barograph meters for the individual tracks, still had/have VU meters for the final mix buss outputs. The reason, even in the modern digital world of recording and mixing, is that engineers - can ?see? what they are ?hearing?. That?s why they're called ?Volume Units?.

What I?m looking for is someone to make a proper VU meter plugin, PLEASE. One that can be calibrated for different -dBFS = 0 VU, settings.

Yes, I do know about the [Bomb Factory] - Good VU meters with four useless pre-sets for the modern world of mixing. The [Waves Dorrough] meters used only by some film/T.V. mixers. Unfortunately these are barograph style, also! [IK- Multimedia] new T-RackS-3 suite. Lots of metering options, but NO VU meter. [PSP Audio] have a great free VU meter that almost does/did everything. However it doesn?t work on new Intel Mac?s, and I?ve emailed them and they don?t really seem interested in updating it. These were the meters that I used :(.

I record and mix ITB now, so I don?t have easy access to a proper set of VU meters. Also to buy and build your own would cost at least a few hundred dollars.

I?m hoping that many of the mixing engineers of this forum, will back me up and express to any designers out there, how important having a good set of ?analog? VU meters on the output of the mix buss, helps you better understand the real ?perceived loudness? of the mix. Also how your mix looks against your ?ref? mix, etc.

I?m willing to pay for such a plug-in. Please someone?!

[DryCounty]

Have you checked out the meters in Spectre? I think this might be what you are looking for:

http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/spectre/

[electrofloss]

PSP's vintage meter is the closest thing to an actual VU meter I have ever seen. I could watch it side by side with my Coleman meters and they behaved virtually identically. http://www.pspaudioware.com/indexen.htm ... eter.html;

Unfortunately, it is RTAS only. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with Intel macs - PPC only. And it doesn't look like they are going to update it any time soon. Any time ever.

[chuckfurok]

Have you checked out the meters in Spectre? I think this might be what you are looking for:

http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/spectre/

This does not appear to be a plug-in or am I just not seeing correctly? Looks pretty damn cool.

[Gentleman Jim]

Ron Obvious wrote:

How about digital watches, do you remember them displaying in __:__. Well they have all basically gone away, Yeah!

I agree with you. In order to see the antiquated use of digital clock displays I have to hunt down my cell phone, or my wife's cell phone, or my oven, or my microwave, or the 3 clock radios in my house, or my DVR, or my VCR, or the display on my tv, or the time display on the channel listings guide on my cable provider, or one of the 4 computers in my home, or either of the cars my wife and I own, or maybe at the bank sign a mile from my house. Boy am I glad that we don't see that anymore.

Maybe you would have noticed them if they were more.... Obvious?

[T-rex]

PSP's vintage meter is the closest thing to an actual VU meter I have ever seen. I could watch it side by side with my Coleman meters and they behaved virtually identically. http://www.pspaudioware.com/indexen.htm ... eter.html;

Unfortunately, it is RTAS only. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with Intel macs - PPC only. And it doesn't look like they are going to update it any time soon. Any time ever.

Actually this is VST as well. I have been using it for years on Cubase and it's great! And as electrofloss said, free.

[Nick Sevilla]

How about this:

http://www.waves.com/Content.aspx?id=8713

Cheers

[Ron Obvious]

Hello everyone,

Just jumping back in with some responses.

1. The Audiofile Engineering Spectres- look good. Problem, it's a free standing application. Does not work within any DAW at this time. Emailed them , they are working on it.

2. PSP Vintage Meter - As I stated in my earlier email. Was the one I used. IT WAS THE BEST. Unfortunately it doesn't work on Intel Mac. I'm using PT's LE 7.4. Again emailed them, don't seem interested in updating at this time. Lets all email them to get this happening.

3. Waves Dorrough meters - Again as I had stated in my earlier post, is just a bunch of LED's that kind of look like a VU meter.

4. Gentleman Jim - Well I don't know what to say, please visit any major studio and watch how the engineer uses the stereo buss VU meters to create a better mix. Talk to them and ask them to tell you how important a tool this is in the balance process.

5. So at this point I still haven't found what I'm looking for :(
Should I try and talk to the Bomb Factory people??? Anybody know someone there?

[chris harris]

Gentleman Jim wasn't commenting on your quest for a VU meter, or on the usefulness of having one. He was commenting on your ridiculous assertion that digital clocks (or even watches) have gone away because some people just like to watch the second hand swing around.

The notion that digital speedometer readouts have "gone away" is equally ridiculous.

VU meters are very useful. I doubt that anyone would argue that. You just made some silly, uninformed statements to set up your post. That's all.

[Matthew Foust]

The Audiofile Engineering Spectres- look good. Problem, it's a free standing application. Does not work within any DAW at this time. Emailed them , they are working on it.

It works in conjunction with an DAW that uses Audio Units via AUNetSend/Receive. You can certainly use it in conjunction with hardware that has fold-back or onboard routing (RME is one example).

SoundFlower or JackOSX also can be used.

There are other solutions coming soon as well.

[audiogeek1]

Hello everyone,

Just jumping back in with some responses.

1. The Audiofile Engineering Spectres- look good. Problem, it's a free standing application. Does not work within any DAW at this time. Emailed them , they are working on it.

2. PSP Vintage Meter - As I stated in my earlier email. Was the one I used. IT WAS THE BEST. Unfortunately it doesn't work on Intel Mac. I'm using PT's LE 7.4. Again emailed them, don't seem interested in updating at this time. Lets all email them to get this happening.

3. Waves Dorrough meters - Again as I had stated in my earlier post, is just a bunch of LED's that kind of look like a VU meter.

4. Gentleman Jim - Well I don't know what to say, please visit any major studio and watch how the engineer uses the stereo buss VU meters to create a better mix. Talk to them and ask them to tell you how important a tool this is in the balance process.

5. So at this point I still haven't found what I'm looking for
Should I try and talk to the Bomb Factory people??? Anybody know someone there?

Have you used a Dorrough Meter? They are a bargraph meter but works like both a PPM and VU meter. I have used the 40c for years externally. I do Post, Broadcast and music. Have had excellent results. You should give it a try and see if you like it.

Also why can't you use and Outboard VU Meter. If it is calibrated properly it will yield the desired results I would think.

Mike