Okay, you guys got me curious. I bought the Klanghelm VUMT. Can't wait to try it!

smallstonefan
 
Not sure if this is a known technique or doesn't even work and I'm experiencing a placebo effect, but man I have a better mix! :)

Once you get used to using meters you won't need to insert both pro+post.
Your mixes could be sounding better due to the fact that you're now using proper or better gain staging.

I'd just be careful using any type of auto gain, sometimes it does more harm than good.

Whatever works, James! The best thing about metering is it's insurance against self-delusion, e.g. thinking a plugin is helping when in reality it's just making it louder. 
 
I've been using MMultiAnalyzer for balancing vocal harmonies, using its scrolling loudness graph. It lets me see where one part is jumping up or sagging. It's also allowed me to compare different compressors and compressor settings for leveling. Last night I brought up an old project that had many vocal harmony tracks, which had been using the free Klanghelm DC1A on each track. I substituted FabFilter Pro-C and was able to achieve a much better vocal blend. I should write a post about that experiment, as it was very illuminating.

smallstonefan
Just wanted to post a follow-up since this topic really spurred some interest and activity from me.
 
1. I bought the Klanghelm meters. Based on a post here, I changed the default settings on rise and fall (200/400 I believe).
2. I used the Hornet Gain meter to auto-set the gain on all of my recorded tracks so that the faders at 0 support the -18RMS that the meters are set to.
3. For each plugin I inserted on the track, I put a Klanghelm in front and behind, and made sure the adjust the plugin so that the gain stayed fairly consistent coming out of the plugin. This gave me different results that matching peek metering in and out and matching by ear. (still using my ears, of course).
4. I used the same approach when routing multiple tracks to busses. Although, I have to admit I found that the busses were almost pre-mixed in levels when feeding them tracks that were metered like this.
 
I did this on a project that has been killing me - just haven't been able to get it mixed well. The results were FAR AND ABOVE what I would have expected - a much much better mix. Adding and moving all these meters around as I mix is a pain, but the results are great.
 
Not sure if this is a known technique or doesn't even work and I'm experiencing a placebo effect, but man I have a better mix! :)

I was doing a bit of premastering of a CD project that I am working on for a client and I can definitely tell which tracks that I have watched my levels and which ones where I didn't.

carl - I see your point. Once I know that the signal is right going in a plug, I only need to watch it coming out. With Hornet, if you let the entire project run once you get the proper auto-gain set so it's not adjusting during playback. I was confused by this at first and didn't buy into it - I do now. I wish Sonar could do this for you so I didn't need a plugin in the chain.
 
Bit, I always try to use my ears and meters but I believe now that the peak meter doesn't help like the peak meter. Still got to use the ears, but the needles tell a truer story. They are also ****in' cool too. :)
 
I <thought> I watched my levels well but I was wrong. This is fun - ready to try on another project this weekend.