AdamGrossmanLG
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Track Analyzers?
Hello Everyone,
Just wondering what people are using for per-track or per-bus analyzers? I want to see the frequency spectrum, not sure Sonar comes with one, was wondering if there is a 3rd party one that is any good.
Thank You,
Adam
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mettelus
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/25 20:51:29
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☄ Helpfulby alewgro 2015/04/26 05:40:12
Voxengo SPAN is free and very useful.
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AdamGrossmanLG
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/25 21:06:32
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Thanks! it seems really useful, but one question. I put it on my master bus which RMS is about -12db, peaks at -0.2db but the spectrum shows much lower! am i using it wrong? 
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ShellstaX
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/25 21:21:34
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Sonar does come with an older one and the prochannel EQ Quadcurve flyout (at Platinum).
+1 for Voxengo/SPAN.
Melda Productions and Blue Cat Audio also do good ones in their free packs (+ extend to paid versions).
I'm also gonna try Vengeance-Sound Scope from the May 2015 Computer Music magazine (print, Zinio, Google and Apple newsstands). It looks killer with full 3D sonogram type stuff + more (from my initial glance).
Also ... Good cheap meters at Klanghelm and Hornet Plugins (if inbuilt don't suffice - e.g. too small)
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ShellstaX
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/25 21:31:48
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alewgro
... I put it on my master bus which RMS is about -12db, peaks at -0.2db but the spectrum shows much lower! am i using it wrong?
Not a lot to do wrong. Your peak is as you expected. I trust you have run the same sample for the same period (too include all the quiet bits)?
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DonM
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/25 21:32:11
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AdamGrossmanLG
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/25 21:38:40
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yea - it just looks like the chart itself doesnt reach as high as the RMS for the project. If you look at my screenshot, the highest peak in the spectrum seems to be at -36db but on the right my project is RMS'ing about -12db, so im confused :)
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ShellstaX
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 00:36:48
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OK ... now I'm no expert ... but ... It's got something to do with using dBFS ('full scale') vs dBu. VU and PPM are different measurements again. ... and the standards are different according to country/region ... and seemingly different broadcasters/institutions!. It's all relative, and probably configurable, but e.g SPANs default I presume is Russian, which I assume refers to European Standards: −18 dBFS = 0 VU = 0 dBU = 4 PPM (?) (Melda MAnalyzer is Czech - but defaults to 0 dB, as we are used to) Start some research at the Wiki dBFS page. I've seen some easy to understand charts when I had a quick look in relation to VU Meters. I'll try and find them ... and learn it a bit better ( for my own benefit, as well as yours :) ). I'll report back if/when I have something worth contributing. Meanwhile, if somebody has a 'ready made' explanation / links - please divulge.
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ShellstaX
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 00:51:52
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Kalle Rantaaho
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 05:35:08
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☄ Helpfulby alewgro 2015/04/26 05:39:54
The main thing is that the peak and RMS reported by SPANs output meter are exactly as you want, as your screen capture shows.
Think of it overly simplified: each fraction of the graphic gets summed to get the levels shown by the output meter, just like mixing down tracks their volume gets summed.
If the bass section/lower-mid-upper-mid/high section of the graph were all showing something like -12 dB the combination of them all would be too loud. The graph is not like an audio waveform, because an audio waveform
is also a timeline. There you can see a peak, summed of all frequencies, at a certain point. The frequency graph does not have that, the whole view, left to right, is just this split second, and the output meter shows the sum of that all.
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AdamGrossmanLG
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 05:36:22
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mettelus
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 07:36:28
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Just FYI - the VST 3 version of SPAN only accepts one stereo pair in, but the VST 2 version accepts 4. If you want to look at multiple tracks at once, it is easier with the VST2 version. You can create sends from your audio tracks to a new buss, and the second send will have a SPAN-Input 2/3/4-Buss X option. The VST3 version can be used on 2 mono tracks by panning the sends L/R and routing in SPAN, but SPAN only allows 4 groups, so the VST2 version still "maxes" out at 4. Here is a nice webpage to get started with it (SPAN can do a lot more than you initially "see"). http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-use-voxengos-span-part-1--cms-20778
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AdamGrossmanLG
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 13:10:12
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mettelus
Just FYI - the VST 3 version of SPAN only accepts one stereo pair in, but the VST 2 version accepts 4. If you want to look at multiple tracks at once, it is easier with the VST2 version. You can create sends from your audio tracks to a new buss, and the second send will have a SPAN-Input 2/3/4-Buss X option. The VST3 version can be used on 2 mono tracks by panning the sends L/R and routing in SPAN, but SPAN only allows 4 groups, so the VST2 version still "maxes" out at 4.
Here is a nice webpage to get started with it (SPAN can do a lot more than you initially "see"). http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-use-voxengos-span-part-1--cms-20778
Or i can throw it on my master bus and just solo the tracks I want to monitor through SPAN, right?
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bitflipper
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/26 22:31:28
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alewgro
Or i can throw it on my master bus and just solo the tracks I want to monitor through SPAN, right?
Yes, you can do that. However, it's not very helpful because usually you're interested in seeing how one track fits with another. The next step up in sophistication would be a multi-track analyzer that can superimpose more than one track in a single display for easy comparison. SPAN Plus ($40), for example, is the multi-track version of SPAN. Best of the bunch is MMultiAnalyzer ($64, frequently on sale for half price) from Meldaproduction.
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mettelus
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/27 00:50:16
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Bit has a good point. The free version of SPAN (VST2) will superimpose up to 4 "scenes" but will only allow you to see two inputs at a time (can color code each group (input set via routing assignments), and show one other group as an "underlay").
Sorry if I confused you with that earlier post.
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THambrecht
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Re: Track Analyzers?
2015/04/27 11:11:29
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