Adding external VU meters to SONAR Platinum

Hi all,
I want to add a stereo pair of good quality, external hardware VU meters to my 2-bus line levels in Sonar Platinum, but don't want them to be affected by the master fader.  So, I'm pretty sure I need to use an external insert on a new stereo bus (or Master Bus), and somehow have it be pre-master fader.  I've tried adding audio and stereo bus tracks and using "Insert Send Assistant" to set the various tracks to "pre-fader" but the VU still operates along with the master fader. The VU's are not an effect per se, since they do not provide a "Return" signal.  This seems simple, but so far I've not been able to accomplish it. The insert thing works fine, the VU meters see 0VU when the master fader is sending 0VU.
 
Any advice appreciated.
Wade
 
PS I did a search on this forum to no avail, and even searched the internet, where a Cakewalk document led me to "insert send assistant" that I wasn't previously aware of.  But, sorry to waste bandwidth if this has been resolved before.

A  really good place to pick up the stereo mix is the headphone output either on your interface or mixer etc.  And if there is more than one then that is even better.
 
All you have to do is calibrate levels. e.g. playback the ref level that is going to show 0 dB VU in Sonar.  Make sure everything is at unity then turn up the headphone level so the VU reads 0 dB VU.
 
Make sure you get high quality movements and also the electronics that drives them is also important. I use an ART Clean box to do this.
 
http://artproaudio.com/isolators/product/cleanbox_pro/
 
I have a digital mixer that has two RCA outs(-10 dBV) that represent the stereo mix. I run it into the Clean box which steps it up to +4 dBu and also a 600 ohm balanced output too that the VU's will love.  The clean box also has adjustable input level controls which is handy if the headphone out is not variable.  You may also want to vary your ref levels like I do for example.  I use all three K System ref levels. K-12, K-14, K-20.  Each time you change you have to re adjust the Clean Box that feeds the VU's.
 
I would keep any extra outs on your interface for other purposes.  The headphone jack works perfectly.
 
Don't forget to download this article too as to why VU meters are so good and very important.
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_2Jb7O_b5BkeVB3dFVsUm8zelE/view?usp=sharing
 
The virtual meters these days are excellent but the ballistics of a real VU is simple very hard to beat and to me still stands as the best. (I spent over $100 each on the movements which is cheap. New ones go as high as $200 each!) Check eBay as well. Very good quality ones pop up there all the time. Built them into a nice box and make sure you get all the lights working too.  You can buy them fully mounted and ready to go as well if you look around.
 
 

You're not returning the signal to SONAR so there's no need to use External Insert. As Mike suggested, just add a pre-fader send direct from the Master bus to the second hardware output pair, and that should do it.

Hi brundlefly,
Of course, I think you're probably correct!  I'll give that a try, and I appreciate the suggestion.
Regards,
Wade
 
 

I've had good experience with The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection, on sale now for $99 http://www.waves.com/plug...kuoyq5sxAUEaAkmV8P8HAQ

I'm struggling with a similar issue: I want to add a meter plugin post master fader (otherwise it only shows the level before the fader - moving the fader will change the level of the exported mix regardless of what the meter says). How do you add a post fader effect on the master channel?