Douk VU2 Review (VU Meter/Input Selector)

[Katji]

ADDED TO MY CART

Count da money!

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

I know that's a Raspberry Display but what software are you running on it that shows the VU meter? I have a Raspberry Display running RoPieeeXL and use it as remote with Roon.

piCorePlayer

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

UGH....I remember the days when 'VU' meters were used all over the place, and the only apparent qualification was that they wiggled. Apparently we're well into the same kind of trendy nonsense.

For the three people here who are interested, this is a paper which describes the technical specifications which qualify a meter to be as real VU meter.

 

[carlosmante]

$750 is quite a step up in price though.

Regarding the VU2, am I to understand that even if not in-line, these might have a negative impact? For example, on the back of my DAC there are both balanced and single ended outputs, which can be used in parallel.

Also, just for fun, I came across these on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Meters-C...d78ec8&pd_rd_wg=5kg11&pd_rd_i=B085LK65N7&th=1

View attachment 153074

Surely the most pointless VU meters ever, unless you have eyes on stalks, like a snail perhaps.

Snails? headphones?
http://pernicova.com/headphones

 

[Tks]

Haha, I love VU meters anyway )) I made one on LCD+STM32F03+radio button "Calibration"(any input voltage from .5 to 50V will be set as a 0db) only add 3.3V power. I agree it is stupid to love old-style UV meters but I do ))

It's not stupid. Though I'm sure you see why digital VU like the one in the video fail - the displays used are simply inadequate. You need something with far higher refresh rates, and motion blur/ghosting mitigated.

EDIT: Btw any electrical people in the house want to explain to me, why the hell is it so hard to get VU meteres on products that don't cost an arm and a leg? Is it really that hard to do this?

I hate when I look back in the past, when manufacturing, and just life in general was far more laborious per ounce of energy expended, we were able to do all those things. But now in the present/future when the costs of things have fallen, and we can do more with less resources.. NOW for some DAMN reason no one can do anything that should be easy to do because it's relatively old and simple after all these advancements.

What is up with that?

 

[SDX-LV]

If this thing would have worked... I would seriously consider buying it.

Hayakumo variant is cool with XLR in-out. But even assuming it is transparent, it is still waay overpriced for so small VU meters and quite utilitarian style. I like this Douk form factor, but would like even more a huge sized ones like on Technics SE-R1.

Unfortunately I can not properly use this stuff because I do not have pure DAC - my DAC signal is already after volume control

 

[sarumbear]

I had relied on Dorrough most of my professional life.

https://www.dorrough.com/40.html

Those were the days…

 

[dfuller]

I had relied on Dorrough most of my professional life.

https://www.dorrough.com/40.html

Those were the days…

Dorrough are still the gold standard for metering.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I had relied on Dorrough most of my professional life.

https://www.dorrough.com/40.html

Those were the days…

I followed Google maps to the address on their website - it appears those are made by someone at their house! I used them too in my film mixing days.

 

[sarumbear]

I followed Google maps to the address on their website - it appears those are made by someone at their house! I used them too in my film mixing days.

Mike must be around 80. His operation was never large. Possibly that address is his home address and what is available for sale are stock items.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Mike must be around 80. His operation was never large. Possibly that address is his home address and what is available for sale are stock items.

I was just expecting a 'larger factory' considering how many studios use them. Of course these days its a simple matter to do virtual manufacturing and not leave your bedroom.

 

[sarumbear]

I was just expecting a 'larger factory' considering how many studios use them. Of course these days its a simple matter to do virtual manufacturing and not leave your bedroom.

I don’t expect his meters to sell anymore. Since LUFS became the international standard for loudness his meters became unacceptable as they don’t measure in time domain. It’s a shame but that’s progress for you.

 

[restorer-john]

UGH....I remember the days when 'VU' meters were used all over the place, and the only apparent qualification was that they wiggled. Apparently we're well into the same kind of trendy nonsense.

For the three people here who are interested, this is a paper which describes the technical specifications which qualify a meter to be as real VU meter.

Yes, it's remarkable that "VU" meters are making a comeback isn't it?

This thing is just a toy. There are no calibrated ballistics, no reference levels and it indicates absolutely nothing of value. But people are frothing at the mouth for it.

 

[beagleman]

Not sure if this is worth the time, but would we be able to wring more performance from this, with an audiophile Power Cord??

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Not sure if this is worth the time, but would we be able to wring more performance from this, with an audiophile Power Cord??

Absolutely!

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks Amir, and whoever sent it in. I seriously considered this and similar ones at one point. Glad to have the information before purchasing.

 

[enricoclaudio]

As a visual aid, VU meters are very useful for mixing. I have them up on every session while bouncing the final mix before sending it for mastering.

 

[amirm]

Might be working without distortion only from low-impedance sources like output of the power amplifier. Don't you have one somewhere to try it?

Unless you know it can handle the much higher output voltage, I would not pump the much higher voltages from an amplifier into it. Should you blow it as you know, it could then short out the output of the amp as well.

 

[charleski]

The nvMeter plug-in looks nice in JRiver: https://www.tbproaudio.de/products/mvmeter2

You can get something similar in foobar, though the tbPro meters look a bit nicer.

 

[restorer-john]

Unless you know it can handle the much higher output voltage, I would not pump the much higher voltages from an amplifier into it. Should you blow it as you know, it could then short out the output of the amp as well.

The way you've tested it is perfectly representative of the use case. It's not a speaker level switcher like their other product.