Best meter to level audio pre-hardware

[EPC]

I’ve been toying with sending vocals and software sub-basses to external guitar pedals.

To get even saturation I’m trying to clip-gaining everything before hitting the pedals. I don’t really trust my monitors enough to level low end by ear so wanted to lean on a meter for help.

What would be a better meter for averaging level, VU or RMS?

I feel like peak metering isn’t the most ideal metering method for this.
Also, is there an ideal dD or VU before hitting the hardware?

 

[knobtwiddler]

Every item of analogue audio hardware has a different clipping threshold. On top of that, standalone meters will have input attenuators, making the markings somewhat irrelevant unless they are specifically scaled to the device that you are using. For example: I have tested many analogue mixers. Some clip as low as 2.8V RMS (+11 dBu), whereas others can withstand as much as 8V RMS (+20dBu) without showing any sign of clipping. A pedal may be designed for high-Z instrument pick ups, in which case you could get brutal clipping unless you use a pad or a step-down transformer.

Every different item of hardware will have its own 'ideal dB level'. The only solution is to know what's coming in and adjust it accordingly.

VU meters are favoured by people who use analogue media, because clipping isn't abrupt. Even the best mechanical VUs will under-read peaks by as much as 9dB. A momentary spike may not be a problem if you're recording to analogue tape, but it could cause painful clipping to an A-D-C.

You could argue that because every item has its own clipping behaviour, each item will be best served with a particular meter that suits its characteristic!

TC Electronic make an affordable and very accurate metering unit. But it's digital only input, so you'll need some form of A-D feeding it. The A-D will then need scaling, so you know the analogue voltage that corresponds to 0dBFS. DK Audio and RTW units are excellent, but expensive.