A u-he trim/VU-meter plugin

[paterpeter]

As we all know, the folks at u-he have nothing to do and are eagerly waiting for ideas for new plugins, here's a suggestion:

I'm looking for a trim/VU-meter plugin for setting recording levels and for gain staging. There are some nice once around (Klanghelm's VUMT, Sleepy-Time Mono/Stereochannel, PSP 2meters), but none of them shows VU and digital peak at the same time. Which is a bit annoying.

Here's a quick MoSCoW list of my personal priorities:

Must have:
- a combined VU meter and digital peak meter showing at the same time (no need to toggle between those). The Satin meter is pretty nice.
- an output trim knob (don't know, like +/- 20 dB) for gain staging
- configurable 0dBVU reference point
- super low CPU use
- a compact UI that doesn't cover the whole screen

Should have:
- switch meter display between input and output levels
- configurable meter ballistics and metering modes (RMS, VU, digital Peak, PPM, see Satin)

Could have:
- additional controls: flip left/right, flip polarity
- separate trim knobs for left/right, maybe even mid/side

Won't have:
- any kind of circuit modelling


Maybe you have an intern running around who's looking for a project

Otherwise, if anybody knows about an existing plugin that does this (and isn't too costly), let me know

[Phase47]

Otherwise, if anybody knows about an existing plugin that does this (and isn't too costly), let me know

The Sonimus Satson sounds quite good.

[Compyfox]

zplane's PPMulator... or click on VUMT's needle meter to show the digital peak.

[paterpeter]

zplane's PPMulator...

Doesn't seem to display peak and VU at the same time. At least I haven't found a respective setting.

or click on VUMT's needle meter to show the digital peak.

VUMT shows peaks as numbers only (or doesn't show VU if switched to PPM mode).

Otherwise, if anybody knows about an existing plugin that does this (and isn't too costly), let me know

The Sonimus Satson sounds quite good.

Does the needle show VU and digital peak visually the same time (that's the crucial point here)? There doesn't seem to be a demo, so I can't see for myself, sorry

[Compyfox]

zplane's PPMulator...

Doesn't seem to display peak and VU at the same time. At least I haven't found a respective setting.

I was aiming at the setup capabilities of PPMulator. But it looks like it's not your cup of tea.

or click on VUMT's needle meter to show the digital peak.

VUMT shows peaks as numbers only (or doesn't show VU if switched to PPM mode).

Then I guess your only route, is the Dorrough Stereo Meter.

But the Waves creation can't be setup in terms of ballistics, neither reference level. At least last time I checked. It's also very expensive. There was a freeware version once, Win only, 32bit. But this also has a fixed reference level for the color codes.


If somebody would port another Dorrough Meter type VU/Peak meter combo like this... why not. I think this is what you're actually looking for, with additional setup of the reference level, pre/post view, and output gain/trim knob.


If you can just live with the meter, some hosts have that built in (meter in meter, or meter beside meter). Like Cubase's Control Room Meter, but this is "post" fader/pan and therefore post Pan-Law. Reaper can be setup to show meters side by side as well.

Actually, the K-System meters are basically "Dorrough" type meters (though careful - patents!). And the next closest metering tool that I'd know of that goes that route, peak and "VU" (actually, RMS realtime) side by side, is the Brainworx bx_meter. Though no reference level setup and/or trim features.

[paterpeter]

Thanks for your input, Compyfox. I know you're the man when it comes to metering Apparently this isn't as easy as I thought.

So Urs, you see, there's a gap in the market for a simple plugin as described. Go grab that market share

Otherwise I'm going to write it myself. Can't be that hard, right?

[Compyfox]

The question is, would it sell enough to adjust the development and consecutive time?

[paterpeter]

The question is, would it sell enough to adjust the development and consecutive time?

Urs and "the gang" have released quite a bit of freeware that was certainly more complex than this, so why not?

Just to be sure: I'm not "demanding" such a plugin, and even the suggestion was only semi-serious. Who knows, maybe Urs would like a diversion in the weekends from all the serious Hive development...

Until then, I'll fire up Visual Studio and start brushing up my C++ skills (I'm a C# developer normally).

[Urs]

We'll see. Our internally used Analyser is now hopelessly outdated and stems from a time before we had an automated build system. We have a lot of demand for this kind of stuff.

[Howard]

Sound Designer's Toolkit

[rod_zero]

No0w I dream of U-he making a channel strip "tool kit" with VU meters and modeled preamps