. Here is the quick summary:
This is for Case 2 in the operations manual. With all other inserts/plugins de-activated between the two instances of MCompare, I expected from the manual that after I hit "Set", toggling Source 1 on and off would not change the volume (either subjectively, on the MCompare Output meter, or on Cubase's Integrated LUFS meter value). However, I'm seeing a 2-3 dB difference on both of those meters when I toggle, and I can hear changes of the same magnitude. The only way I can get it to level-match is to use "ALC" instead of "Set", and even after that I have to manually adjust the gain to compensate for Source 1 "On" vs. "Off". Is that the way it is supposed to work?
What follows below is just the tedious details of how I got to what I wrote above. I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong, because that is too much work to do for quick and easy level-matched comparisons (to have level matched comparisons when Source 1 was toggled on/off, I first had to turn off all the inserts between the source and the 2nd instance of MCompare, and then measure on the meters to find how much to manually adjust the gain, make that adjustment, then turn all those other inserts on).
All this is repeatable by the way.
Thanks for any help!
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Here are the tedious details, if some one wants to read them:
Project (Cubase 7.5.20):
----- Source 1 on audio track as first insert.
----- All sends are off from this track. All inserts are off in all the tracks, including some other source MCompare instances.
----- The 2nd MCompare insert (the controlling one) is at the end of the chain, several tracks down, just before the master out.
----- Not all faders are set to zero.
What I Do:
1. Hit Detect at source 1. It calculuates 77 msec, which surprises me as all inserts are powered off between the source and the 2nd MCompare instance, but it is repeatable and sounds fine. (It also gets much louder, I guess the sum total of the subsequent faders is a net negative, i.e., pulled down, no biggie).
2. Hit "Set" like it says in the manual (Source 1 is highlighted from the time I hit Detect). It gets much less loud sounding, the gain goes to about -14.5 from 0.0, and the Output meter peaks at -18.7.
3. OK, so now I want to hear the complete chain, so I un-highlight Source 1. Here is where I would expect to hear no change, as there are no plugins/inserts turned on between Source 1 and the 2nd instance of MCompare.
-- HOWEVER, it gets a bit softer sounding instead. And the Output peak drops to -21.7, and it does sound about 3 dB softer.
Why, I wonder?
The Second Thing I Tried:
1. Reset the gain to 0.0, then the same as Step 1 above. (Hit Detect at source 1. Gets much louder, I guess the sum total of the subsequent faders is a net negative, i.e., pulled down. 77 msec, which surprises me as all inserts are powered off between the source and the 2nd MCompare instance, but it is repeatable and sounds fine.)
2. Hit ALC instead of "Set" this time. It gets softer, as in the 1st thing I tried, above.
3. Then I drop the gain meter to -3 dB (the difference between (-18.7 and -21.7).
NOW IT'S IDENTICAL SOUNDING when I toggle source 1 on and off (and both meters read the same also).
So the only way I can level match when toggling Source 1 on and off is to hit ALC (not "Set" like it says in the manual), and even then it doesn't level match, I have to manually adjust the gain for the difference I hear (which seems to be about the difference that is shown in the output meter and Cubase's Integrated LUFS meter).
. So, to check it works I did this (which I want you to do as well to check if it works) :
. It's just to check how it works with the ultimately stable source - noise.