I'm not very knowledgeable in the area of metering so I'm finding it difficult to interpret what is actually being shown by the various meters available in scope.
Looking on the Vinco VU it seems to indicate that the level is at around 7db
According to the manual this is an analog style VU using an RMS calculation.
So what's the difference between this and an RMS peak?
Wolfs VU meter tells me something different again with two meter readings this time.
I have included Shroomz' K meter but I'm still reading up on this type of metering convention.
Anyway it's open for discussion. Maybe I'm the only one that doesn't really understand metering levels? It seems as though it should be fairly straight forward but what my ears tell me and what the meters are actually reading may be way off!?
Meter questions
Re: Meter questions
Hi irrelevance,
I'm not using Vinco, so I can't inform you on that plug. Regarding Wolf's meter, I'm not using that either, but I'm quite sure that you're getting the same peak hold readings from that as you are with my meter according to you're screenshot. Any other differences in visual levels would be down to the notify change &/or fallback coeficient parameter settings. Wolf's meter has the additional 'inner meter' showing an RMS level which I'd presume to be using the same Creamware RMS atom that I've used in HighTimes, although I'm not 100% certain, so only Wolf could clear that up. I'd think you'll also find some info on his meters in Wolf's manual/s as well.
Regarding HighTimes, You can read up on the K-scale concept in detail elsewhere, so I won't go into specifics about that unless you really need me to, but put simply, it's a method of looking at digital levels in a different way. On the HighTimes meter in your screenshot in K-12 mode, you're looking at a linear meter which displays Full scale digital 0dB as being +12dB, based on the K-scale concept. The margin readouts could be scaled to reflect this, but I left them displaying the normal digital level, so that you can see both. The rms mode on HighTimes no matter whch meter mode you're in, will basically display an RMS average level based on a certain number of buffer samples, defined by the RMS iteration time parameter.
K-scale metering is basically for mastering at levels which aren't turning your recordings into square waves.
I hope that makes sense.
I'm not using Vinco, so I can't inform you on that plug. Regarding Wolf's meter, I'm not using that either, but I'm quite sure that you're getting the same peak hold readings from that as you are with my meter according to you're screenshot. Any other differences in visual levels would be down to the notify change &/or fallback coeficient parameter settings. Wolf's meter has the additional 'inner meter' showing an RMS level which I'd presume to be using the same Creamware RMS atom that I've used in HighTimes, although I'm not 100% certain, so only Wolf could clear that up. I'd think you'll also find some info on his meters in Wolf's manual/s as well.
Regarding HighTimes, You can read up on the K-scale concept in detail elsewhere, so I won't go into specifics about that unless you really need me to, but put simply, it's a method of looking at digital levels in a different way. On the HighTimes meter in your screenshot in K-12 mode, you're looking at a linear meter which displays Full scale digital 0dB as being +12dB, based on the K-scale concept. The margin readouts could be scaled to reflect this, but I left them displaying the normal digital level, so that you can see both. The rms mode on HighTimes no matter whch meter mode you're in, will basically display an RMS average level based on a certain number of buffer samples, defined by the RMS iteration time parameter.
K-scale metering is basically for mastering at levels which aren't turning your recordings into square waves.
I hope that makes sense.
Re: Meter questions
Hi irrelevance
as Shroomz pointed out, the different readings are simply a result of different views at metering philosophies.
Both the Vinco VU and the K-System are inspired by the behaviour of analog VUs and therefor "interpret" the digital signal (thus they go over zero dB).
I prefer to have the real digital signal level shown, where you exactly see how much there is left until the whole dynamic range is used & especially how much of it is used.
cheers,
Wolfgang
as Shroomz pointed out, the different readings are simply a result of different views at metering philosophies.
Both the Vinco VU and the K-System are inspired by the behaviour of analog VUs and therefor "interpret" the digital signal (thus they go over zero dB).
I prefer to have the real digital signal level shown, where you exactly see how much there is left until the whole dynamic range is used & especially how much of it is used.
cheers,
Wolfgang
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irrelevance
I was actually measuring the difference between two recordings of popular psytrance tracks. Both were played from laptop audio out into mixer and then out to scope via A/D converter. Mixer levels were same for both recordings but recordings were different formats, one mp3 the other apple lossless.
I found that the mp3 track was far more dynamic and peaked at 0db while the apple lossless track sat close to 0db for most of the time and was more ear fatiguing over headphones. Nothing to do with the formats but the artist names will remain nameless.
Thanks for clearing up the differences there guys. These are definitely tools that I have overlooked for too long!
I found that the mp3 track was far more dynamic and peaked at 0db while the apple lossless track sat close to 0db for most of the time and was more ear fatiguing over headphones. Nothing to do with the formats but the artist names will remain nameless.
Thanks for clearing up the differences there guys. These are definitely tools that I have overlooked for too long!