New VU meter VST's released by PSP

Do the PSP meters have a built-in trim control, as the Klanghelms do?  Do they offer any advantages over the Klanghelms?  Just wondering ... I like PSP stuff, so I'm sure these are good.  But I really like the K's.
 
Cheers,
Eddie
 

To Eddie TX I have found both the Klanghelm and the PSP meters are spot on with meter ballistics. It is simply a GUI thing. I think I like the warmer look of the PSP that is all. They are slightly bigger too. But no biggie. Pure a look thing for me. The PSP gives you a second type of meter too.

Overall they both compare well to the real VU. I must admit there is something very nice about the way the real VU moves for sure. I have got used to it. My real VU's are sitting on the output of my digital mixer showing my main stereo buss all the time. They also show tracks and busses as soon as you solo them though.

My (computer) monitor actually sits on top of my VU meter box so I can put the VST's low on the screen and they end up right above the real VU's visually. You need to be able to view all the meters moving at once. (from the right distance back) 

The first test I do is an overshoot test. Precise bursts of 300 ms tones will show you this. Both the real and the virtual needles need to take the same time to reach 0dB VU, they should both stop right on 0dB VU (and not overshoot) and they do and they should fall back at the same time to rest and they do.

Continuous pink noise shows some interesting behaviour between the two types. Then there is music of course. Once again 'Steely Dan comes to the rescue here for the perfect amount of movement within a meter ballistic for any given music segment. 

I am very happy to say you certainly don't have to go out now and build a real live stereo VU system. It is quite fiddly to do. You need expensive meters, circuitry to drive them properly and accurately and a nice box to put them in and get their lights working. The only real advantage of a real VU system is that you never have to insert the VST's anywhere because they are just permanently on which is cool. With VST's you have to insert them where they are needed.

But the VST's will certainly look after your VU metering needs if you want to work within the K system for tracking and mixing and also during mastering etc.. They are a great too anywhere in the production system. They can tell you so much, not just how loud things are and what your rms levels basically are but also in how they move over a mix etc. You can learn a lot from watching how the meters move over commercial mixes etc.

$300. My comparison would stop there.

I tried the PSP and the Sleepy-Time Stereo Channel now. Both seem great. The Sleepytime one seems fantastic for being free (unless theres a catch somewhere). The only thing I missed was the ability to set the uh... Not sure what you call it but the PSP calls it "integration".

/M

I felt kind of silling picking up the PSP VU meters. 

It kind of seemed like getting some rabbit ears for my widescreen TV.

If it was completely free I guess I'd be wondering about the quality / accuracy.

Since it was practically free (in my case $9) and it comes from PSP I figure it'll come in handy somehow.

I've downloaded it.  It works.  Looks good.  Not sure what I'll use it for, but it's nice to feel nostalgic anyway.

My hunch, following Jeff's enthusiasm about it, is that it will come in handy and I'll be glad I gave up a lunch for it.
 
Thanks for the endorsement Jeff.

I have just installed the Sleepy Time Records VU meters to compare against the others. In my case I have got three sets now with PSP and Klanghelm as the other two.

The Sleepy Time VU's are very good and are perfectly accurate. The rise time is very close to both the real VU's and the PSP meters. The only slight difference is that the way the real VU and the PSP comes to rest and here the fall back is a little more graceful with the real VU and PSP VU. Sleepy Time VU's tend to land back in the rest position in a slightly different way but it is very minor and as they are free that is excellent.

You don't seem to be able to adjust the integration time as per the PSP (and Klanghelm) meters but it is obviously set very close. There are quite a few other things you can do in the Sleepy Time Mono/Stereo channel though which is certainly a lot more useful than other VU meters alone.

All three VU meter VST's are just DLL's you install and scan into the appropriate folder. No Ilock or anything required. There seems to be 64 bit versions too.

Update I have done some further testing and I have discovered that while the PSP meters read the correct level with a continuous tone they read high by about 1 dB with music. ie they are tending to overshoot very slightly. Changing the integration time in a way can lower the overshoot but then the ballistics are slightly more sluggish as a result. A better way to get the PSP meters to match the real VU's with music is to set their ref to a level 1 dB higher. eg I have got my real VU's set to -14 dB FS so the PSP meters have to be set to -13 dB FS to make them not overshoot.

The Klanghelm meters do not overshoot at all and reach exactly the same level as the real VU's do with music and the continuous tone. I would say the Klanghelm meters are a little more accurate all round. The Sleepy Time Records VU's also do not overshoot either. They are spot on. They differ only in their last part of coming to rest ballistic.