For those of you who love VU meters and it really should be all of you out there.  PSP has released some new VU meter plugins here:

http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/tools_and_meters/psp_2meters/

They are on special for $10 which is also pretty cool.

I have mentioned the Klanghelm meters and they are also very nice too. But I quite like the GUI on these and they are a little warmer and closer realistically to look at compared to a real VU.

I have a pair of high quality VU's across my stereo buss permanently. I ran these PSP meters in conjunction with the real ones to compare ballistics. I have developed some special tests that allow real and VST meters to be compared. These are excellent and also very close like the Klanghelm meters to the real thing.

These are perfect for K system operation. Many parameters including the ref level can be set and fine tuned for a new perfect VU meter experience.

PSP also offers a second meter type as well. 

Here is some info:

PSP 2Meters bundle consists two audio level measurement plug-ins: PSP VU2 and PSP PPM2. PSP VU2 offers professional VU metering with accurate overload indicators. PSP PPM2 provides professional European and BBC PPM metering with accurate overload indicators. All of their parameters, such as integration times and reference levels, are widely adjustable to ensure that these plug-ins are suitable for any application in which accurate metering is necessary.

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
 

I just came here to post the same news Jeff.
I know you use a hardware version of VU meters and was going to ask if you could compare these to your calibrated meters and let us know if they're spot on. 

But ya beat me to it. 

Thanks
Mike

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.

Stupid question perhaps. But do these compare to these: http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=8713
Quite steep price difference between the ones.

/M

$300. My comparison would stop there.

:-D

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

Integration time is the speed with which the meter responds to changes. 


Real VU meters, being electromechanical devices, have physical and inductive inertia that prevent them from reacting to short-duration events. That's actually a good thing because we're usually more interested in seeing slow-moving averages anyway. The meter is "integrating" everything that's happened over the past N milliseconds into a single number. Hence the term.

Real VUs are calibrated to have an integration time of 300 ms so most digital emulations do, too. Some, however, let you to specify other integration times. For example 600 ms is considered by many to be better-suited for mastering. 

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.