we have a meter next to each track in reaper

why would someone also add a vu meter? what does it do more than the meter thats already available on each track

thanks

 

VU meters are slower, so instead of a bar jumping all over the place you see a needle that indicates a bit more of an "average" so to speak, and sometimes you can even modify the speed to get information that's more useful to you. It's like when you set a compressor with a longer attack so it doesn't react to every damn transient, only VU meters don't really do anything to the signal.

Also come on, they look cool af.

 

Many people seem to find it easier to set levels and gain stage using VU meters. As for me, I'm just way too comfortable with them and too lazy to change. Been looking at VU needles for too long.

 

If you do not find them to be useful or relevant to your workflow, you have already answered this question.
And...regardless of DAW or real audio gear. Or, am I missing something here.

 

i was just wondering why not just use the daw meters but as already said above its just what you're used with or more convenient i guess

i removed daw from title i just am not familiar if some other daws include VU meter as part of the tracks

 

Yes, there is no technical advantage of vu meters over dbfs metering.

 

I ran this past ChatGPT to see what it would output. Just to see what this thing is cranking out. Logic does not have a stock VU meter, but I rarely use them anyway.


You Why should I use a third-party VU Meter in my DAW?

ChatGPT
Using a third-party VU (Volume Unit) Meter plugin in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) can offer several advantages:

1. Improved Accuracy and Customization: Third-party VU meters often provide more precise metering options compared to built-in DAW meters. They might offer various metering standards (such as VU, RMS, or peak), customizable ballistics (response speed), and calibration options, allowing you to tailor the metering to your specific needs and preferences.
   
   
2. Visual Clarity and Aesthetics: Many third-party VU meters have visually appealing designs that make it easier to monitor audio levels at a glance. They might use clearer color schemes, larger meter bars, or additional indicators that can help you quickly assess audio levels in your mix.
   
   
3. Additional Features: Some third-party VU meters come with extra features that enhance functionality beyond basic metering. This could include peak hold functions, correlation meters (to check stereo phase relationships), or integration with other metering tools for a comprehensive view of your audio.
   
   
4. Compatibility Across Different DAWs: Third-party plugins are often designed to work across multiple DAW platforms, whereas built-in metering tools are specific to the DAW they are included with. This flexibility allows you to maintain consistent metering practices if you work with multiple DAWs or studios.
   
   
5. Educational and Reference Purposes: Third-party VU meters can also serve educational purposes. They might display additional information such as LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) or provide insights into loudness trends in your mix, helping you to learn more about proper gain staging and mastering practices.
   
   
6. Workflow Efficiency: Depending on the plugin, third-party VU meters can streamline your workflow by offering easier calibration, better visibility in complex mix sessions, and integration with automation and monitoring tools within your DAW.
   

In summary, while DAWs often come with built-in metering tools, using a third-party VU meter can enhance your monitoring capabilities with improved accuracy, customization, additional features, and better visual representation of audio levels, ultimately aiding in producing better mixes and masters.

 

VU meters - in regards of in and out times and marks - are designed they way they are, because that correlates better with how we hear sound events over time.

the arc form otoh is simply a leftover of how the physical components were implemented, but you could as well diplay those values on a vertical led meter.

 

Last edited: Jun 22, 2024

They have about 300ms "sluggish" inertia and was mostly aimed for voice and program content in TV/radio back in the days. Today they are pretty much useless (unless you are an "old dog" and used to them), as there are other (more accurate) meters. It's not a loudness meter per se, put more like an average RMS meter with a lowpass filter before it (that's how it reacts to the signal).

Edit: "Useless" is maybe a rough word. "Not neccessarily needed" is more suitable. Do you have to have crappy Yamaha NS10 speakers to make a good mix these days? Definitely not neccessarily.

I haven't used VU meters since the mid 90's and I'm making a living in audio.

 

Last edited: Jun 23, 2024

@stav, you don't really need a VU meter. Also keep in mind, in the digital domain VU simply doesn't exist - but they can look fancy.

 

I love it when they're just about troubling the red zone, then I know I have enough
CPU to add another VU meter of choice.

 

These are your answers, least they'd be mine. They're not "useless", they're a matter of what works for you.
I'm accustomed to them, so I use them for gain staging because It's easier to pinpoint the average with a slower meter.

Shit. What's next? You gonna try and tell me that aiming my pickups at Neural Amp Modeler isn't going to produce feedback?

 

That is exact the question that came to mind when 2 weeks ago someone tried to explain to me how VU meters help him to get the "analog gain staging" right.

OK. I was confused ...

After some discussions he admitted, that the real reason was that these weaseling thingies in his opinion "were cool" and give a "feeling" of a real music studio.

I am still confused.

Seriously: The trick with VU meters is that they DO NOT show peaks. They show the average of the last 300/400 ms. And that you can set up in REAPER - at least one the 2bus - and then you have without any fiddling with Youlean Meter or another fancy metering system a meter that shows you exactly how loud the track is. You can set where it gets "red", so that you have the correct loudness out of the gate when mixing. After a while you get a feel of what is going on. No bothering with rendering normalising, spotify loudness rules and similar BS. THAT is a real VU meter. Not these toys with the red needles flickering around ...

So, an old school VU meter is for kindergarten.

 

Well, at least he somehow admits being fake.

 

Is the Search button broken? I was hoping the AI answer would output something more than that I do not use a VU meter (only) plugin. There isn't one in Logic, and I really doubt Apple "just forgot" to include one. "Make sure you use a VU meter" is very frequently advised by some Youtuber having an Epiphany about basic gain staging and then making a video about it 10 minutes later to let everyone know that we are "doing it wrong."

 

Last edited: Jun 23, 2024

The video's thumbnail:

 

Damn, we've been found out!! That *one asshat totally blew it for the rest of us. And we had such a good thing going too.

It's wild that you fully disregarded the case made for RMS but then, you also don't seem to understand that not everything has to be accurate to the third-decimal place while mixing. And the fact that you had to go low-brow with the end of your comment is telling, like you got it in for old methods, despite the fact that people get absolutely solid results with them, which is obviously all that actually matters.
It's just odd, when people come at audio techniques this hard, techniques that work for people, like it's a personal affront.

 

I always thought it was an approximate calibration to match analog levels and n digital domain, or for analog emulated plugins starting to saturate at -18dB or so. Never used VU.

 

By the way:

average != lagging.

If you want to display the average level of your audio signal, this metering is more appropriate:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LUFS

Because that's what it literally does.

 

My very first experience of a VU metre was when I was a kid. I use to watch them, and could never understand how they went in time with music. When I was old enough, I went to the children's Library and took a book out on audio because I wanted to find out exactly how useful they were.. In this book there was an explanation that read something like.:-

Vu Metres divide opinion. Some say they should never stay for more than a fraction in the red, where as others say you should +2 at RMS.


Whilst the digital realm is far different to that of analogue. I find it funny that they STILL manage to divide opinion, even more than BREXIT did here in the UK.