VU Meters: Let's See 'Em!!

[knobtwiddler]

Thank you, Dualazamak - this is exactly the information that I am interested to know.

If I may respectfully say, I have checked out the meters on the current Technics and Yamaha ranges and I do not think they are of the same grade as the ones used in the bigger Accuphase amps such as A48. The Technics meters look very similar to the ones manufactured in Taiwan, which do not have the thickness of the needle or size of armature / magnet. If you try the amp, you will see that even though the P48 are a peak type, they are smooth (like your Nishizawa VU). The Technics meters (and Yamaha) are a little 'jittery' in comparison. The P48 meters react smoothly, more like a real VU such as Simpson, or a real PPM such as Sifam.

As you say, if Accuphase are moving to LED ladders, then that could suggest that they have stores of these meters from years ago...maybe the stores are getting low? I have a friend who makes phono carts with a rare material. He bought the material in the 1980s! I think some old-school companies such as Accuphase might have done this. It seems to me that we have 3 horses in the race now: Yamaki, Simpson and Hoyt... You can make a convincing meter with the movements from Taiwan, but the needle will be thinner (see Technics) and a little more 'jittery'.

 

[dualazmak]

Hello @knobtwiddler,
Thank you for your quick and kind response.

I essentially agree with you since I have my Accuphase E-460 and Yamaha A-S3000, and I have looked at "working" Accuphase, Technics (as well as Luxman) amps so many times.

I do hope Accuphase and Yamaha continue keeping backup VU/PP units for E-460 and A-S3000 at least until the end of my lifetime.

And furthermore, I hope and believe all the beloved Nishizawa R-16 (IEC-60268-17 ballistic compatible) in my 12-VU-Meter Array would keep working fine also until that time! (I assume another 40 years would be enough at least for me...)

 

[Elgrosso]

Have you guys tried any software solution? The decibel app I'm actually playing with is promising: https://process.audio/en/products/decibel
All other soft solutions I tried before were plugins and I never really understood how to run them in a DAW in parallel of my simple music player (apple music).
But this one can run as standalone too, and can be displayed on external screens!
Apple music is routed to this app and then this app to the minidsp flex8, so far all the numbers seem to match.

I always wanted to find a way to re-use all my old devices and I'm trying them all right now, ipad pro/normal/mini, old phones etc.
30 days to make up my mind should be enough, if I like it I may try to integrate the screens in either my rack or a box.
I'll take pics if you want, I used mostly the meters as they are readable enough few meters away, it’s fully customisable, fast and seems accurate.

But I'm also playing a lot with the other features on the main computer screen: spectrum, histogram, rms meters, space scope and stereo cloud.
I understand 1% of their values but it's still fun to discover a bit of the production choices in correlation with the tracks I love.

I've had a few amps with meters before, nothing really fancy and it was fun for only few weeks, after a while they were just disturbing.
The minidsp device console is enough for my "tuning" needs, meaning to optimise the gain structure and power needs/use, but external displays can be useful to get a grasp of the tracks themselves, as it's only the input that is displayed.
Don't know how it's named in the pro world, I mean it's only the track itself, nothing related to the output and thus independent of the volume set.
I'll see, I'll still look out for a nice amp with meters or maybe a diy hardware solution. But since I use very little power it’s less interesting, as less lively and less useful.
But the cambridge evo 75 sure looks good, enough power for my woofers and not crazy expensive on the used market.

 

[dualazmak]

Have you guys tried any software solution?

Absolutely, Yes!

In addition to my physical large-glass-face IEC60268-17 ballistic compatible 12-VU-Mter Array which monitor SP-high-level output gains of my multiple amplifiers (ref. #535 on my project thread), I always have all the on-PC-screen digital-domain PP (log-compression peak power/level) ladder meters of DSP "EKIO", VB Audio Matrix (as system wide ASIO/VASIO/VAIO routing center), and JRiver MC (and/or other music player software); please refer to my post #931 on my project thread for details of my latest system setup.

If you would be interested, you can find dancing video clips of my 12-VU-Meter Array together with the dancing on-screen PP meters:
- Dancing video of my IEC 60268-17 compatible large glass-face DIY 12-VU-Meter Array
Part-1: with "High Frequency Linearity Check Track" of Sony Super Audio Check CD: #750
Part-2: with typical "Full Orchestra Music"-1: #751
Part-3: with typical "Full Orchestra Music"-2: #752
Part-4: with typical "Jazz Piano Trio Music": #753

- New video clips of dancing 12-VU-Meter Array (IEC60268-17 compatible) together with all the on-screen Peak Meters of audio software tools while playing reference/sampler music tracks by JRiver MC, ADOBE Audition 3.0.1 and MusicScope 2.1.0:
Part-1: using a typical reference/sampler music track suitable for high-Fq (treble) transient music sound: #974
Part-2: using a typical reference/sampler music track suitable for mainly checking and tuning of low Fq (bass) transient music sound as well as total tonality Fq-SPL balance all over 15 Hz to 22 kHz: #975

 

[Snoopy]

Digital VU meters or these cheap toy boxes from fosi etc are of no interest to me. I want real VU meters in a amp :-/ one that actually works accurately and is just not a gimmick .

Definitely a big reason why I want a Yamaha A-S2200

 

[dualazmak]

Digital VU meters or these cheap toy boxes from fosi etc are of no interest to me. I want real VU meters in a amp :-/ one that actually works accurately and is just not a gimmick .

Me too, exactly!

I DIY-built, therefore, my IEC60268-17 ballistic compatible large-glass-face 12-VU-Meter Array (ref. #535 on my project thread), even though I have Accuphase E-460 and Yamaha A-S3000, both have really nice PP/VU meters, in my multichannel multi-SP-driver multi-amplifier fully active audio setup.

 

[kifeep]