

VU meter will show you the actual picture of what’s going on with the track.

The bassline is entirely consistent, with low transients that peak close to the average volume levels.Īs a result, you’ll only be able to hear loud bass and maybe some quiet drums in the back, instead of having them equal. What escapes your sight is the fact that the waveforms of the two are different.ĭrums peak for short periods of time and the average loudness of the drum kit is a lot lower than its peaks. Therefore, peak meter will only show the moments of the track when the drums and bassline get over the peak volume into the “red” zone. If you look at the lower end of the frequencies range, you may notice your drums and bassline peaking at a similar volume of X dB. If you were only to use a peak meter, you could have noticed some differences between the two but wouldn’t be able to see the bigger picture. If mixing two tracks, the VU meter plugin can be really helpful to determine how loud they are relative to each other. VU meters (RMS) and VU meter plugins (RMS plugins) indicate how loud a sound feels in real life.Īs a result, you’ll be able to tell how much space a sound takes in the mix. The meters are easy to use because the concept is straightforward – once your meter is in the “red” zone, lower the volume until it gets back into the green area. You can get clicks here and there, but once the volume is above the hard limit, the distortion will become horrible. What will happen if I don’t use VU meter and PPM? Peak meters (PPM) and peak meter plugins (PPM plugins) will prevent any sorts of digital distortion which can ruin your track if you aren’t careful. However, both are significant when it comes to mastering, and you can’t do one without another. Of course, it would’ve been a lot nicer to focus on one of the two – either VU or PPM. RMS is the music power that the amplifier can deliver in a continuous manner, more generally known as “average level.” VU Meter or PPM for Mastering? In math, It’s the effective value of the complete waveform, also known as average from the square root of the signal voltage over time. RMS in music stands for Root-Mean-Square. And unlike a peak meter that monitors for top volume spikes, VU meter and VU meter plugins show you the so-called average volume. What they forget about is that humans are not computers and we hear loudness differently.įor instance, our ears only feel the average sound level, not the peaks. Why Use VU Meter and VU Meter Plugins?Ī lot of the time music producers will only monitor the audio peaks to prevent listeners from flinching.
#Best vu meter plugin tv#
You’ve probably seen it a million times in the movies and TV shows but didn’t know that was the hardware VU meter. It’s been with radio broadcast equipment since the early 1940s.
#Best vu meter plugin free#
If you can’t afford one, you can always use the free VU meter plugins below! What Does “VU” Mean In Audio?
