When tracking, meters are used to ensure that input signals do not overload and maintain reasonable headroom.
Meters offer a quick visual indication of activity when working with a large number of tracks.
During mixing, meters provide a rough estimate of the loudness of each track.
At the mastering stage, meters are used to check compliance with upstream level and loudness standards, and to optimise the dynamic range for a given medium.
DPM (digital peak meter) displays the absolute maximum signal of the raw audio PCM signal. Focus on medium. ie. digital numbers, and Analog/Digital converters.
DPM (digital peak meter) displays the absolute maximum signal of the raw audio PCM signal. Focus on medium. ie. digital numbers, and Analog/Digital converters.
RMS (root mean square) type meters provide a general indication of loudness as perceived by humans. It emphasizes on the message as opposed to technical, medium related parameters.
DPM (digital peak meter) displays the absolute maximum signal of the raw audio PCM signal. Focus on medium. ie. digital numbers, and Analog/Digital converters.
RMS (root mean square) type meters provide a general indication of loudness as perceived by humans. It emphasizes on the message as opposed to technical, medium related parameters.
IEC type meters are a mix between DPM and RMS, created mainly for the purpose of interoperability. (broadcast instustries: BBC, EBU)
The IEC specs are designed such that all meters complying with the
specs, even when using completely different implementations, will
produce identical results.
“The reading shall be 0 VU when for an AC voltage equal to 1.228 Volts RMS across a 600 Ohm resistance”
“The rise time, defined as the time it takes for the needle to reach 99% of the distance to 0 VU when the VU-meter is submitted to a signal that steps from 0 to a level that reads 0 VU, is 300 ms.”
“The fall time is the same as the rise time”
“The overshoot must be within 1 to 1.5%.”
“The reading must not depart from the reading at 1kHz by more 0.5 dB between 25 Hz and 16 kHz.”
The oscilloscope is the jack of all trades of electronic instrumentation tools. It produces a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time.