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audio meter for NLE system
I would like to get an external, stereo audio meter for my editing room. I like the Dorroughs, but have been put off by two things: cost and confusion.
Addressing the cost — is there anything out there which you can recommend which is not so expensive?
My confusion is over analog vs. digital metering, and many of the other Dorrough options (incl. headroom). I’m currently using the analog meters on my Betacam 1800 deck, and my Mackie mixer. Analog has been fine for Beta SP mastering, but I recently have noticed some odd audio in a couple of DVD’s I’ve encoded, and I had to redo the audio at a lower level even though my analog meters said it was fine. (The audio doesn’t break up, but the peak sounds slightly untrue.) I assume that digital metering will be relevant in the future, and I’m reluctant to spend heaps of bucks on a great analog meter if it will be obsolete. If you had to pick one, digital or analog, which would you choose, keeping in mind that you are in both an analog and digital world?
Thanks.
— BC
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15 Replies
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Hey Bob,
I have never used these, but I saw these in Marketeks catalog.https://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=RU%2DSM16&off=81&sort=prod
You can select between peak metering and VU….you CAN have it both ways. Like I said, I have never even seen these things in real life, so i can’t recommend them, but thought you might be interested.
Peter -
There’s a little problem with the link…
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Really? It is working for me.
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Takes me to the Markertek site OK, but displays the product page for Mid Atlantic leveling feet (for a MA rack?)
Maybe it refers to a cookie on your computer?
How about a product name…
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What I am using is a little more than just meters, but the cost is not that dramatic.
Have a look at the Central Station by PreSonus. -
The unit I was refering to at Markertek is a Radio Design Labs RU-SM16.
Peter -
Looks not bad, esp. for $166! More info here. I like that it’s hi or lo impedance, peak or average. I’d probably set it for peak for use with a daw or nle.
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Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
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Is the Radiolabs meter any better than the meter on my Mackie 1402-VLZ?
— BC
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Hi Bob,
I am assuming that when you say analog meters, you mean VU meters; and when you say digital meters, that you mean peak meters. I hope that those are correct assumptions.[Bob Cole] ” I recently have noticed some odd audio in a couple of DVD’s I’ve encoded, and I had to redo the audio at a lower level even though my analog meters said it was fine.”
That may be because VU meters do not show you real peak info, which is what you need. Peak meters do. The Radio Design Lab meters give you the choice of metering in either VU mode or in peak mode at the flip of a switch. The Mackie meters do not.
[Bob Cole] “If you had to pick one, digital or analog, which would you choose, keeping in mind that you are in both an analog and digital world?”
This meter relieves you of having to make that choice, because it can do both. So given your two concerns, this meter is “better” than the one on your Mackie. If by “better”, you mean “more accurate”, I don’t know.
Peter
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