The Big meter Vu, PPM and Peak

[Jmax]

Curious what everyone is using as their Big meter choices. Vu, PPM and/or Peak.

I've seen a lot of tutorials on youtube using the Peak Meter.  Curious what you guys use or what combination.

[selig]

I always use Peak + VU so I can judge loudness quick and easy, but it's really Peak Mode I'm most interested in seeing 00% of the time. 

I wouldn't suggest using anything other than Peak unless and until you are well versed in what the other modes are there to tell you.

[forensickbeats]

I use the default meter, looking at the VU scale, drive it to about plus 6 dB and then use my ears to make the final volume adjustment. (speaking about the mastering stage).

The difference between peak and ppm is the speed of the release.

[Jmax]

Yes indeed the PPM has a slower release I'm not sure what the difference is other then that.

Wouldn't plus 6 on the Vu scale involve a lot of clipping?  unless your using a maximizer. 

As I understand it want your master around -4 as an optimal level or slightly louder but not over 0.

Vu and Peak sound like a good combination as well to see that peak all the time.

[forensickbeats]

Wouldn't plus 6 on the Vu scale involve a lot of clipping?  unless your using a maximizer.  

Yes, I use maximizer at the mastering stage.


I don`t know whether newer versions of reason can automatically detect the loudest peak in a given mix, but such feature would also come in handy.

[Jmax]

I thought the older versions did as well but 8 does for sure. The wholly concept of using a maximizer is still a little new to me as I just purchased the ozone recently. But when I use it I will have it completely bypassed until the very end I beoieve. We shall see. The beauty of making music is there is no one right answer. Anything goes and is possible.

[forensickbeats]

The L2 limiter has a very nice approach of maintaining the same volume of the song while limiting it in order to hear clearly where the sweet spot is - after that you can safely crank up the volume for a louder mix. It`s pretty easy process.

[selig]

Yes indeed the PPM has a slower release I'm not sure what the difference is other then that.

Wouldn't plus 6 on the Vu scale involve a lot of clipping?  unless your using a maximizer. 

As I understand it want your master around -4 as an optimal level or slightly louder but not over 0.

Vu and Peak sound like a good combination as well to see that peak all the time.

There's absolutely no way to tell what the peak levels are based on VU levels, so I'm not sure what he was talking about there…