Old 01-10-2017, 05:29 AM   #1
ulfpulf
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Default external VU meter?

Hi Ive started looking for an external VU meter to plug into the laptop's usb. Since my laptop has a fan I don't want it too close to the mics while recording, but I still would like to have control over levels. So I guess an external hardware for display and a small software to choose what source you want to display would be a nice combo. But I'm open for other solutions. Does it exist at all?

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Old 01-10-2017, 06:25 AM   #2
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Better and more cost-effective solution IMHO is getting rid of that fan noise (by turning off the fan). As long as your laptop isn't decade old Pentium III, it should handle VU metering on passive cooling.

Care to elaborate what's the make of your laptop?
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Old 01-10-2017, 09:00 AM   #3
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Thanks - its a pc, a Dell 7240. Time to get a new one, I guess, and the next one will probably be a fanless laptop. But still, I like the idea of a very visible external VU-meter. Especially since I have like two rooms for recording.

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Old 01-10-2017, 09:23 AM   #4
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http://www.tomsguide.com/faq/id-1865...questions.html
This might be beneficial.
I don't see why a 2014 ultrabook should need replacing. I'm running PCs and laptops much older than that.
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Old 01-11-2017, 03:11 AM   #5
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Thanks Andrew.
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Old 01-11-2017, 04:02 AM   #6
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An external meter bridge via USB isn't possible in my mind. The latency would be a problem and I don't think DAW's have the right setup to send signals to a meter.

You could of course ignore the 15 msec or so latency, but it would still pose a problem to Windows, as that doesn't know how to do multi interface setups.

You could include the metering in an interface. But since none exist, I think there are some problems with the idea.

If someone finds such a thing, I'm interested. I like to have meters and leds

You can find external, professional metering with all kinds of options, but these all are directly connected and not USB. And they're not cheap either.
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Old 01-11-2017, 09:24 AM   #7
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Google found a few, including this one. ...I got better results when I searched for "LED audio level meter".

...Latency isn't really an issue with metering. By the time you see the levels on the meter they've already happened anyway, and then it takes time to for you to react. And, a true VU (which nobody uses anymore) meter has 300mS response time.
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Old 01-11-2017, 11:54 AM   #8
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I like VU meters.
Interesting to think about a USB version.
Hmm... could something like this be made?
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Old 01-11-2017, 12:52 PM   #9
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Take a second monitor.
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:51 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by siehorst View Post
Take a second monitor.
I'd go with this approach.

There is this cool freeware VU meter that can be resized to even 4K screens:
http://www.tb-software.com/TBProAudio/mvmeter.html

Then you can put this screen to a highly visible spot, make a dedicated metering track in your reaper project and send anything to it that you want to check.
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Old 01-12-2017, 05:37 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DVDdoug View Post
Google found a few, including this one. ...I got better results when I searched for "LED audio level meter".
That one isn't USB connected, but has RCA inputs. Also, it's a toy.

Quote:
...Latency isn't really an issue with metering. By the time you see the levels on the meter they've already happened anyway, and then it takes time to for you to react. And, a true VU (which nobody uses anymore) meter has 300mS response time.
I don't know what meters you are used to, but even a VU meter doesn't have 15 or more msec delay. It does have the kind of ballistics that make it go down much slower than up. And even today, VU meters have their use. And peak meters surely have no delay.
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Old 01-12-2017, 05:39 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by siehorst View Post
Take a second monitor.
That's what I do. I have a small 10" monitor for TotalMix. But that's limited to RME interfaces.

I'm sure you can find a VST meter that you can put up constantly on the second monitor though. And with some clever routing (and perhaps dedicated metering channels?) you could DIY something.
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