Douk Audio VU360 Review

[Saponetto]

Anyway, copper balls there below are mesmerizing!

 

[Karmacoma]

Nice one. I really Hope their next design will be more like this. This I'd buy instantly.

SCH-REMOTE Digital VU/Spectrum Meter Review

This is a review and measurements of the Sch-remote EVOR04-slim LCD based audio VU/Spectrum/Visualization module. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $78 ($72 in volume). This is a two-board sandwich with the display in the front as you see. On the right there is a USB jack for power...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Sernyl]

Waiting for a switch (amp & LS) in this style....

Season's greetings,

 

[xanalog]

Oh Dear,
Even Douk Audio has realized that @amirm has a severe case of a VU-fetish!

Thank you for the review.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

I’d be more impressed if I could have audiosciencereview badged on the top!

 

[DSJR]

I'm sorry for being a miserable old sod, but no.........................

 

[Cbdb2]

Its a real VU meter (is 0VU +4dbu?) First one Ive seen with an output tho. Your not supposed to run your audio thru a meter just to it. Vu meters are slow, there not peak meters. VU meters are for full line level so any signal after an attenuator (what comes out of a pre amp/ goes into an amp) will show as low on the meter and change as you change the volume.
The more amplifier power you have the lower the meter reading. The proper place for this is in the middle of your preamp circuit, so good luck with that. The mic input might be a better option but the level will change with your volume setting.
If your only using one source, like a streamer, than you could split that output and send it to the meter (I would not go thru it, look at the distortion) and the pre amp. This would work properly.

 

[Bleib]

Cool design, but I guess I'd go for Fosi's LC30 instead if I wanted VU

 

[dualazmak]

I bought some Sifam VU meters, not their expensive broadcast-standard-ballistics ones, but very nice anyway.,
I just need a box to put them in, along with the VU drive amplifier, and cheap DAC so I can monitor digital audio levels, power supply, selector switch, and all the other things to make it useful.

I did similar DIY on my 12-VU-Meter-Array using Nishizawa R-65 large glass-face VU meters (ref. #535 on my project thread); all the 12 VU meters are compatible with AEC 60268-17 ballistic specification. (For the details of my latest multichannel audio rig, please refer to #931 and #1,009.)

I am very much looking forward to seeing your DIY efforts with Sifam VU meters, hopefully on the thread entitled "VU Meters: Let's See 'Em!!".

 

[CuteStudio]

I connected the analyzer through Aux In and Out. Alas, the input overloads easily, causing distortion:

Hmmm - buffering the output - what's the point of that!!
Best to just take a feed into a follower so the signal just goes around without any interference.

Shame about the acceleration - there's more detail to a good VU meter than appears at first glance, fast acceleration and tunable sink rate. Some vintage amplifiers actually had a dedicated chip to drive them! Even in software there's a an art to getting them to react well !

 

[GPx86]

Useless garbage.

 

[Karmacoma]

Useless garbage.

You forgot to say '' and happy christmas! "

 

[EERecordist]

In my opinion, we are getting to the end of audio system design performance. So industrial design is evolving as the differentiator for the consumer. You even see that in professional rack gear from some makers, especially bright colors.

To me this looks a bit steam punk.

I'm too used to VU meters where the needle moves left and right to engage in this orientation. I am happy though that analog needle meters are still manufactured.

We shall see what CES 2026 brings. I haven't been in years, but there used to be large numbers of me-too and ODM speaker makers. It seems like there are enough Bluetooth speakers already out there.

 

[dualazmak]

BTW, as I have already shared here...

The pro-use VU Meters/Monitors manufactured by YAMAKI Electric Co., Ltd. would be of your nice reference, I believe.
https://www.yamaki-ec.co.jp/
https://www.yamaki-ec.co.jp/product/group_sub.php?id=2
https://www.yamaki-ec.co.jp/product/group_sub.php?id=1
They also accept "Entrusted Design and Manufacturing" (maybe including OEM manufacturing too?) as well as "Technical Supports in Design and Manufacturing" as we can find here;
https://www.yamaki-ec.co.jp/ems/index.php

I actually saw several times some broadcasting studios and recording studios are using Yamaki's VU monitors, like the TV screen capture (sorry for the low quality image) I shared here.

 

[Corvuscorone]

Just like a terrible-looking old alarm clock. Works just as accurately.

 

[amirm]

Its a real VU meter (is 0VU +4dbu?)

It has a sensitivity adjustment so you can make it be anything you want.

 

[amirm]

Your not supposed to run your audio thru a meter just to it.

It distorts the source just as well with the input connection. It seems to have very low input impedance or something.

 

[amirm]

So industrial design is evolving as the differentiator for the consumer.

This is a significant point in this case. Clearly an industrial designer was hired to create the ID for this product. It bodes well for future products form the Douk having real design aesthetics rather that yet another black box. Folks are charging tens of thousands of dollars with such efforts in high-end audio:

 

[dualazmak]

Some vintage amplifiers actually had a dedicated chip to drive them!

Yes, and even modern recent models of Accuphase and Yamaha amplifiers, including my Accuphase E-460 and Yamaha A-S3000, have very nice Log-Compression Peak Level Meters and Pure VU Meters (ref. #535 on my project thread). Yamaha A-S3000 has nice selection switch for meter mode, i.e. Log-Compression Peak Level Meters or Pure VU Meters.
The latest (present) Yamaha high grade amplifiers line-up (power amplifier, integrated amplifier), M-5000, A-S3200, A-S2200, A-S1200, still have same PP-VU switchable meters.

 

[DVDdoug]

A peak power meter would be more useful, but it should have multiple ranges (maybe auto-ranging) so you can always get lots of fun meter action!

I like this kind of thing but I already built a "giant VU meter effect" with LEDs. It self-adjusts to the signal level so it's just a visual effect and and doesn't actually measure anything. Occasionally, I "think about" building a peak power meter...