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adding VU-meters in the audio chain?

digitalfrost

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I have not tried them recently but the software VU meters tend to have latency that makes them out of sync with music. They can't anticipate how long it takes audio samples from the player to get to the output of the device. For this reason, while they are pretty to look at, I don't find them as satisfying as real VU meters.

These Sony meters are nearly 17cm wide each:

View attachment 24046

I own this Sony amp, there's even correct pictures for the foobar2000 VU meter plugin. I could never get them in sync, no matter what I tried.
 

Apesbrain

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This one just showed up in my Amazon feed:
51ZgYJQ1IhL.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/ADJ-Products-mountable-Display-MKII/dp/B01NAVT59W/
 

Sgt. Ear Ache

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I would love to add a nice VU meter box of some sort to my system just for the visual fun. I have the foobar ones on my PC and it's sorta cool to be able to select from a variety of different ones but it isn't the same as the real deal. The only dedicated box that seems to exist is the Realistic one but it isn't cheap. I'm at the point where I think I'll just try and hit the local thrift shops for a cool looking old cassette deck with meters. I don't care if the tape mechanism even works as long as I can put it in record, hit the pause button and just watch the meters dance, lol...
 

Sal1950

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Power meters of a Krell multichannel/home theater rig. :p

krell.jpg
 

Xulonn

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If you put a finger from your right and left hand on the speaker terminals, this might work...


71evQApczEL._AC_UL320_.jpg
 

ajawamnet

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Radio Shack once offered one:

dhenAsC.jpg


I owned this one for a few years:

XgDIdaY.jpg


Oh my god... I had that same Audio Tech years ago. I loved that thing...


As to plugins - here's some fun with a remix I did using the one VU Meter plugin from TB Audio...
Link to the vid:
http://www.ajawamnet.com/ajawam2/lz-wll-vu1.mp4

vumeters.jpg



There's more info here:
http://www.ajawamnet.com/ajawamnet/remixoflz.html

I had to edit the vid a bit to get it in sync with the music. I like the way that TB did the red peak hold needle - I recall having some broadcast gear that had that for real...

BTW - listen to the end - no fade out... this was a pain to remix. The VU meters made it fun again...

I love VU meters too...
 
Last edited:

STUDIO51

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The vu meter on the LYNX HILO is amazingly accurate and fast. No latency can be found.
But since it is a simple 'vu' meter, I use more RTA meters. VU meter is basically for monitoring 'voltage'.
If you don't mind small vu meters, , consider adding LYNX HILO to your system chain as a DDC or DAC.

I want a Watt meter in a Macintosh amplifier. Watt meters need to monitor both voltage and current simultaneously. I'm not sure how accurate this is and how it affects sound quality, but it provides more information than a VU meter.
 

soundwave76

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This is one of the reasons why I love RME ADI-2 -> it has an awesome spectrum visualizer and also horizontal power meters. Maybe RME could release a software mod that replaces the spectrum analyzer with an analog-like VU meter? :) ping @MC_RME
 
OP
M

Mimizone

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This is one of the reasons why I love RME ADI-2 -> it has an awesome spectrum visualizer and also horizontal power meters. Maybe RME could release a software mod that replaces the spectrum analyzer with an analog-like VU meter? :) ping @MC_RME
I think one day I’ll cave in, spend the money and get the RME. It seems to be a nice piece of equipment from many angles.
 

k3nb5t

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ajawamnet

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Not a vu meter, but I've been eyeballing the TC Electronic Clarity M Stereo to feed my information hunger...
https://www.tcelectronic.com/Categories/Tcelectronic/Signal-Processors/Meters/CLARITY-M-STEREO

Basically, it looks like a hardware version of MusicScope. It will accept AES3 input, so I can use the AES3 pass-through on my JBL 708p's and put it on my desk :cool: It has a USB in, but this appears to be for DAW integration.


Too bad it doesn't do 3D waterfall... been looking for something like that. I currently use a really expensive suite that was designed for rotating machinery... at the top left. With 3D waterfall you can see spectral shapes (things like attack, sustain, decay,etc) over time. Really nice for looking at things like kick drums ...

And my one VU Meter in the middle...

It does one of the best spectragrams I've ever seen. The red thing next to the right speaker is the Winkie Blinkie - basically a Lissajous (what TC calls "... a cloud") . The Tek on the far right is also in Lissajous/XY mode.

ajawamsmst1.jpg


Lissajous displays were critical in vinyl mastering... The "Cloud" TC mentions is actually a vectorscope using the horizontal and vertical for measuring phase - Old TV broadcast/production studios and dowstream had them; they were used for setting the color since the chroma is phase modulated on the baseband video. If you've ever seen colorbars and wondered what they were for:
SMPTE_Color_Bars.svg.png


... once you see an NTSC Vectorscope it'll make sense, since the targets on it represent the colors:

409353_1.jpg

you'd use a timebase corrector to get the chroma correct. It was a joke with engineers that NTSC actually stood for:
Never
The
Same
Color
since the demoding of the chroma phase was done using the color burst on the front porch of the vid signal. All due to the 1960's desire to make it compatible with old black and white TV's...

So for audio this is what the patterns will mean - from Larry Boden's bible on disc mastering:
liftout-annot.jpg

lissajous.jpg


One thing I don't like about TC is them just killing off the Powercore platform. Had one of the nicest multibands I've ever used. Spent $1,700 on the thing plus thousands more for the plugins, and now it sits as paperweight.
 

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sergeauckland

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Too bad it doesn't do 3D waterfall... been looking for something like that. I currently use a really expensive suite that was designed for rotating machinery... at the top left. With 3D waterfall you can see spectral shapes (things like attack, sustain, decay,etc) over time. Really nice for looking at things like kick drums ...

And my one VU Meter in the middle...

It does one of the best spectragrams I've ever seen. The red thing next to the right speaker is the Winkie Blinkie - basically a Lissajous (what TC calls "... a cloud") . The Tek on the far right is also in Lissajous/XY mode.

View attachment 32197

Lissajous displays were critical in vinyl mastering... The "Cloud" TC mentions is actually a vectorscope using the horizontal and vertical for measuring phase - Old TV broadcast/production studios and dowstream had them; they were used for setting the color since the chroma is phase modulated on the baseband video. If you've ever seen colorbars and wondered what they were for:
View attachment 32200

... once you see an NTSC Vectorscope it'll make sense, since the targets on it represent the colors:

View attachment 32201
you'd use a timebase corrector to get the chroma correct. It was a joke with engineers that NTSC actually stood for:
Never
The
Same
Color
since the demoding of the chroma phase was done using the color burst on the front porch of the vid signal. All due to the 1960's desire to make it compatible with old black and white TV's...

So for audio this is what the patterns will mean - from Larry Boden's bible on disc mastering:
View attachment 32199
View attachment 32202

One thing I don't like about TC is them just killing off the Powercore platform. Had one of the nicest multibands I've ever used. Spent $1,700 on the thing plus thousands more for the plugins, and now it sits as paperweight.
Assomeone who's spent perhaps more time than he'd liked in TV, we used to say NTSC was
Never Twice The Same Colour,

Secam was

Something Essentially Contrary to the American Method
(or in French)
Supreme Effort Contre les AMericains
whilst PAL was
Peace At Last.

I spent a long time staring into Vectorscopes and Waveform Monitors. Diff Gain and Diff Phase were words I learnt to hate.

Still, it gave me an understanding of transmission theory (50 ohms is the Devil's work) and later in TV transmission (75 ohms is the Devil's work). There's something impressive about a 50kW klystron.

S.
 

ajawamnet

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Assomeone who's spent perhaps more time than he'd liked in TV, we used to say NTSC was
Never Twice The Same Colour,

Secam was

Something Essentially Contrary to the American Method
(or in French)
Supreme Effort Contre les AMericains
whilst PAL was
Peace At Last.

I spent a long time staring into Vectorscopes and Waveform Monitors. Diff Gain and Diff Phase were words I learnt to hate.

Still, it gave me an understanding of transmission theory (50 ohms is the Devil's work) and later in TV transmission (75 ohms is the Devil's work). There's something impressive about a 50kW klystron.

S.


Yea - worked with large stuff as broadcast engineer years ago...
Here's some 50 ohm hell ... from my marketturd's audio voodoo rant- the copper pipe in the background is rigid line; what he's holding looks like Andrew 3-1/8 or some variant - good for around 30-40kW @100MHz:

04.jpg


Connector here -this is about 4" in diameter; heavy as hell:
h8fb-302_1.jpg


This is where cable BS ends and real science takes over. I've seen 10's of feet of that stuff melt due to a bad load or screwed up connector... we had to gas that with dehydrated air or anhydrous nitrogen from a gas supplier ; 6-7 psi if I recall. The purge valves on the antenna bays opened a bit higher.

Tube that drives it - 4CX15000A 15kW tetrode
06.jpg
 

Sal1950

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Yea - worked with large stuff as broadcast engineer years ago...
Here's some 50 ohm hell ... from my marketturd's audio voodoo rant- the copper pipe in the background is rigid line what he's holding looks like Andrew 3-1/8 or some variant - good for around 30-40kW @100MHz:
Looks like a worm for a good moonshine still to me. :)
 
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