I installed the PSP analog VU meter freeby a few moments ago......and she is a beuty. We are talking about RMS and it does PPM? Im using Tracktion which displays peak.



Mother's milk was never as good as a PSP VU Meter.

I also installed Sonalksis's free master channel thing and very nice too.



All this stuff has to be calibrated cause zereo in either PSP, Sonalsk and Tracktion are not the same.....mmmmm,,,

[mod edit: caption edited to call attention to compyfox's K-System tip.]

RMS measures the overall loudness of the track, while peak measures the maximum volume peaks. So you can't set them up to show the same, especially since Free-G is basically a channel strip that offers you gain/panning/phase inversion and a bigger peak meter.


The positive sideeffect on PSP Vintage Meter is, it does not only eat almost no CPU, but you can also set it up to the K-System by Bob Katz.

Just setup the VU intgr. time to 600ms and the 0VU reverence level setting to either -20dB, -14dB or -12dB. If you click on the dials on the front now (and the switch in the middle points to VU), you either have a VU that goes to +3dB or to +6dB (more detail, less detail). As long as the needle hovers around 0dB VU, it's in the related K-System setup on the backside. The +4dB after the zero-point is the amber zone (which is reserved for mezzoforte material) and everything from +4dB onward is the so called "red zone", meaning "if it goes in there, track is not in the standard anymore".

This also works with most pop tracks btw, though that's not the K-System anymore, just a cheap-ass guide:
-8dBFS resembles most radio stuff
-6dBFS resembles an absolute maximum that you can go to without "moderate" distortion (that's also the upper limit of MP3s btw)

In these settings, there don't exist any "amber" or "red" zones. If the stuff goes over 0dB on the meter, you're screwed.

Nice explanation, compyfox!

In Tracktion you can click on the master vol and meter to bring it up and then right click on the meter scale at the bottom. A panel will pop up where you can select RMS mode if you want it.

If you leave the default (Standard) PSP VU setting: VU integr time=300 ms; 0VU refer level= -14.5 dBFS (or simply Ctrl+lmouse over the knobs); then go to the Sonalksis FreeG Rear panel and set the Ballistics to VU (don't forget to confirm by the 'Apply' button ), now on front panel put the main fader (or the Trim knob) at + 14.5 db; Well now the peak meter is the exact copy of the PSP needles (same values), plus the FreeG's peak box gives kinda 'highest VU's peak value' that's very useful if you're one of those keen minds... aren't you?

Of course the RMS values are unsettled this way and you've to switch FreeG in Pre-mode to read RMS properly.

If you give it a try don't forget that you're using FreeG as an Analysis tool: don't link any audio out to it or... +14db=BUM!!!






...didn't find anything about changing the VU standard in order to meet Bob Katz's K-system. Compyfox care to explain how did you get it?

All the best
Antonio

To get to the backside of this plugin to setup the VU, click on the "PSP Vintage Meter" logo at the bottom of the VST plugin. To get back to the front pannel, click on the metal plate in the middle of the backside.

Wonderful freebie, agreed.


In the words of Bender from Futurama (almost), "Click its shiny metal backside!"

Bender case mod:

Compyfox - you're a genius. I used your tip and compared K-14 readings of the $1,000 PLParEQ from Refined Audiometrics Labratory to the PSP Vintage Meter. The PSP Vintage Meter was spot on. PSP Vintage Meter even retained the settings you outlined above.

Thanks so much for the slick tip. I think you should get the "Tip of The Year" award! Thanks again.

Now I'm wondering how to take it to the next step and reformulate for monitoring using Sony MDR-V700 headphones?

Bill

little pimping for our wave candy in meter mode:

Imageline is making windoze widgets now?

gol: does it show peak&RMS at the same time?

no (not yet), but I'm not convinced by RMS, I will first check if a real loudness metering exists (RMS can be so far from that)

Sorry, can't read your text.

Awesome! I completely agree. RMS is not the solution for loudness measurement as it can truly be off quite a bit.

I'm sure there are also some more psychoacousticly appropriate metering solutions that take into account the fletcher-munson curve or some similar measurements of the behavior of the ear at varying volume levels. Especially when combined with calibrated monitoring like the K-system, it could be interesting to have a REAL loudness metering solution.

Cheers!
bManic

jeeez Compyfox!

u kept me awake till late to find out and learn what you stated here...
thx, ill bookmark this thread...
i even found out this link if someone want to read sth more about K System
http://www.pas-products.com/K-System.html
Peace out