Douk Audio VU360 Review

[amirm]

Since we are not attempting to record anything, I don't see much value in a VU meter that measures anything. It is something to look at so needs to be active. I like the idea of auto-scaling that @DVDdoug mentions.

 

[amarsicola]

I'm counting minutes to see measurements of Wiim Amp Ultra and I swear i'll then complement it with the Douk VU meter (using the microphone). Happy new year!

 

[xanalog]

I am guessing this is @amirm's Christmas2025 present from DoukAudio.

 

[dualazmak]

BTW, I have already proposed my dream (high-end?) VU/PK meter here.

Spoiler

 

[amirm]

I am guessing this is @amirm's Christmas2025 present from DoukAudio.

Indeed. It came with a beautiful card in a gorgeous wooden case with best wishes for the holiday. And how much ASR has done for them in connecting them to customers.

 

[PristineSound]

Good Lord, what do you even do with this. It looks hideous, it's useless, it's cheap, gosh, I feel dirty just being around this thing.

 

[amirm]

Good Lord, what do you even do with this. It looks hideous, it's useless, it's cheap, gosh, I feel dirty just being around this thing.

Remind me to never go fishing with you!!!

 

[dualazmak]

I can agree at least DoukAudio has good (or bad?) sense of humor and joke...

 

[PristineSound]

Remind me to never go fishing with you!!!

Of course I am saying this in jest, better than complaining.

It's a cute little device for what it is.

 

[gvl]

If we had an annual useless device competition this would be a contender.

 

[Endibol]

This is a review and measurements of the Douk Audio VU360 stereo VU meter. It was sent to me by the company (along with a nice holiday card) and costs US $100.
View attachment 500282
The retro, steampunk design not only looks nice but feels nice! You have full control of the brightness and shades of color -- the best implementation I have seen. The top controls manage these:
View attachment 500284
No, you don't get the special ASR signature on yours.

You can feed it audio using either Aux input (with loop to Aux Out) or the in-built microphone for no wire connection:
View attachment 500283
Power as you see is provided through any USB adapter.

VU360 Measurements
I connected the analyzer through Aux In and Out. Alas, the input overloads easily, causing distortion:
View attachment 500286

Suggest either using the microphone input or dedicating a cheap headphone amplifier as a buffer. I briefly used the analog output of my DAC+HP Amp combo as I was listening to it with headphones and didn't notice any distortion.

The meters don't have any acceleration unfortunately so move slowly. And even max sensitivity was not enough to have it show low level signals.

Conclusions
What a magnificent design, matching and exceeding of the casework and VU meters on super expensive audio gear! Alas, the drive circuit needs some work. The VU360 is so good that i would dedicate a buffer to it as mentioned above. Or replacing the insides with a circuit with acceleration.

I am going to recommend the VU360. Go ahead and complain. I don't care!

As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Are there any VU-meters on the market with decent non-distorting inputs for a reasonable price (few hundred euros max)?

 

[dualazmak]

Just for your possible reference and interest, as I have just shared here, today I eventually found by-chance COSMIC VU2 PREMIUM (VU Multimeter, 2U, 4.3"LCDx2, Made in Japan), rather expensive though.

Spoiler: physical dimension, circuit (block diagram) and display examples

 

[Endibol]

Just for your possible reference and interest, as I have just shared here, today I eventually found COSMIC VU2 PREMIUM (VU Multimeter, 2U, 4.3"LCDx2, Made in Japan), rather expensive though.
View attachment 500512

Spoiler: circuit and example displays

View attachment 500513

View attachment 500514

Haha, that’s a bit too much, 2 meters will do..

 

[dualazmak]

Haha, that’s a bit too much, 2 meters will do..

Yes, usually so!
At least in my multichannel audio rig, however, I need 12 (twelve) meters (ref. here).

 

[Ismapics]

@Douk Audio now lets do one with a spectrum analyzer please.

 

[pma]

Voted poor.

 

[beagleman]

Just from the comments, I can tell who would be fun to be around at a party, and who would be in the corner scowling and unhappy.......

 

[Karmacoma]

Just for your possible reference and interest, as I have just shared here, today I eventually found by-chance COSMIC VU2 PREMIUM (VU Multimeter, 2U, 4.3"LCDx2, Made in Japan), rather expensive though.
View attachment 500512

Spoiler: physical dimension, circuit (block diagram) and display examples

View attachment 500519

View attachment 500515

View attachment 500514

OMG Cosmic VU2 is glorious, I need this in my life. 2500€ though.

 

[Cbdb2]

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

Thats wierd, no buffer at all?

Shame about the acceleration

VU meters are supposed to be slower than peak meters, they were design to approximate percieved loudness not actual signal level. Back in the day with tape your peaks didnt matter as much because tape would soft limit so all you needed was a VU meter. With digital you need to see the peaks to avoid the hard clipping.
The big boys use meters that show both, these are very common. Comparing the peak and average also gives you a visual of the amount of compression/limiting that is going on.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/341545-REG/Dorrough_12_AES_Digital_Loudness_Meter_39dB.html

Thers also plugin versions. For $30.

 

[gvl]

who would be in the corner scowling and unhappy

I’m sorry, but you have no idea what makes an introvert happy