Do software VU meters react the same as hardware versions?

[EPC]

I wondered if software VU meters work the same as hardware, or if one is more accurate over the other?

 

[Doodski]

I imagine with the genius of some software programmers they can adjust the ballistics of the software VU meter to make it respond like a hardware type.

 

[tomtoo]

Accurate? If you mean that old electromecanical devices with some pointers on them?

Than software is much better.

 

[EPC]

Accurate? If you mean that old electromecanical devices with some pointers on them?

Than software is much better.

I currently use software VU meters to level the energy go bass notes and vocals. I wasn't sure if a hardware VU would react better given it would detect the actual voltage...

 

[tomtoo]

I currently use software VU meters to level the energy go bass notes and vocals. I wasn't sure if a hardware VU would react better given it would detect the actual voltage...

They are slow. No need to use stoneage tools.

 

[DVDdoug]

Usually not the same but anything can be done in software. Some digital & LED meters can accurately emulate a real VU meter (which had very strict specifications.)

The "VU meters" built-into old tape recorders usually weren't true VU meters.

It was a compromise when it was standardized but the important thing was that it was standardized.

With digital audio we are mostly concerned with peaks because with digital we are usually hard-limited to 0dBFS and you'll clip if you "try" to go over. And, with modern electronics and/or software it's easy to make a peak meter. It's not unusual for an audio engineer to use a peak meter and an RMS meter or EBU R128/LUFS loudness meter.

Or with a bar-graph style meter you can show the peak as a dot and the RMS or LUFS as a bar-graph at the same time and they can be different colors.

 

[tomtoo]

I currently use software VU meters to level the energy go bass notes and vocals. I wasn't sure if a hardware VU would react better given it would detect the actual voltage...

You not detect the actual voltage that would be much to fast to be usefull. You create a average. For that you can use some electronic and slow pointer instruments. Or some algorythms.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Standard VU meters are highly and tightly specified and can be both accurate and stable, with standardized ballistics. These tend to be very expensive so it is unlikely that any consumers have ever encountered an actual VU meter which meets the specification. Certainly those in most all consumer gear and a shockingly high amount of 'pro' gear meters do not meet the specification.

Software based meters can be as accurate or more accurate depending on how the software driving them is written, and the quality of the A/D stages before the meter.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

In the UK, PPMs were often preferred over VU meters, because understanding peaks is generally the most useful thing when recording. These days, an EBU R128 meter is the most useful type.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

In the UK, PPMs were often preferred over VU meters, because understanding peaks is generally the most useful thing when recording. These days, an EBU R128 meter is the most useful type.

The large Neve console in studio A at Sound City had PPMs, while the Neve console in studio B had traditional VU meters. I always preferred the PPMs on the studio A console because they gave a precise indication how close to tape saturation we were recording. The fact that the peak indication was held for long enough to see the peak clearly was very beneficial.

Unfortunately, all the tape machines (Ampex and Studer) in both studios used the same NAB equalization used in most all machines in the US. This equalization introduced an approximately 5dB bass boost at 50Hz and below which was transparent to the console meters and could easily lead to recording deeper into tape saturation than wanted.

 

[dualazmak]

Standard VU meters are highly and tightly specified and can be both accurate and stable, with standardized ballistics.

Yes, and we have currently nice discussion on the thread entitled "VU Meters: Let's See 'Em!!".
You would please refer to my post #432 on that thread where I too wrote;
should be careful about "genuine/authentic" VU meter standard/specification;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VU_meter
Especially transient behaviors of rise time, overshoot and fall time :
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 overshoot must be within 1 to 1.5%. The fall time is the same as the rise time, 300 ms.
The Nishizawa R-65 VU meter and the amp board ATV205EXT which I use for the 12-VU-Meter Array shared in my posts here and here is essentially compatible with the above specifications.

 

[restorer-john]

Can't see why little low level meters in the line/digital stages can't be reasonably accurate, but move to the power amplification stage, with serious voltages and things tend to go out the window in terms of peak detection.

 

[dualazmak]

Just for your reference....

My recent post on my project thread;
My nostalgia and preference for large glass-face VU meters: DIY of 12-VU-Meter Array in multichannel multi-driver multi-way multi-amplifier stereo audio system

 

[restorer-john]

Just for your reference....

My recent post on my project thread;

It's a pretty light/meter display- nothing wrong with that, but it says nothing useful does it?

It's not actual VU (voltage unit) is it? 1.228V@600R for 0VU. What is the FR of the meters and the ballistics?

 

[sergeauckland]

The VU meters on the screen-saver of the Squeezebox Touch conform to the VU standard as far as dynamics are concerned. Rise and fall times are spot-on as far as I can tell .

Consequently, software meters are as good as hardware meters. As VU is a standard, there can't be a VU meter better than standard,as then it won't be a VU meter.

I prefer a PPM, and have one on my rack to be indicate the digital (dBFS) level or analogue dBu level depending on the source.

S.

 

[Sokel]

I'll take the chance to ask:
1200as2 has speaker voltage monitor with a gain of 0.12 V.It also has speaker current monitor with a -12 to 12 voltage range built in.
Is there any type of a VU-meter like indicator other than the classic voltometers?It would be nice to add two vintage like ones.

 

[dualazmak]

It's a pretty light/meter display- nothing wrong with that, but it says nothing useful does it?

Sorry, but what is your point?

The DIY physical 12-VU-Meter Array consists of 12 Nishizawa R-65 large glass-face genuine VU meter; together with the VU amp board ATV205EX, these VU meters are essentially compatible with IEC VU meter specification/standard as I wrote here and here...

Yes, R-65 plus ATV205EX is actual VU (voltage volume unit); 1.228V@600R for 0VU according to the spec and test-method descriptions for Nishizawa R-series VU meters (their CATALOG Vol.2).

And it is compatible with "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 overshoot must be within 1 to 1.5%. The fall time is the same as the rise time, 300 ms."

 

[dualazmak]

For monitoring speaker high level signals with standard line level VU meters, we can use high-to-low converters as I shared in my post here on my project thread...

 

[Sokel]

For monitoring speaker high level signals with standard line level VU meters, we can use high-to-low converters as I shared in my post here on my project thread...

Yours are beautiful but I prefer the old style round ones.The thing is that they must (in the voltage monitoring) meter close to 12 volts (specified voltage abbility is 100 volts),so with a gain of 0.12 I need about a 12 volt range.The circuit is already built in.

Edit:That's the specs.

 

[dualazmak]

Yours are beautiful but I prefer the old style round ones.

I understand your point, but how about the transient movement behavior of your "voltage" meter? Is it compatible with the IEC VU (volume unit) meter standard/specification?

I mean "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 overshoot must be within 1 to 1.5%. The fall time is the same as the rise time, 300 ms."