Loudness Meter: a new RE for preview

[orthodox]

Check this out:

Comments, questions, suggestions are welcome.
If you want a beta license, PM me your RS account name.

[MrFigg]

Check this out:

Comments, questions, suggestions are welcome.
If you want a beta license, PM me your RS account name.

No sound in the video.
Sure. Put me in the beta. You know where I am

[orthodox]

No sound in the video.

To prevent copyright strikes

[MrFigg]

No sound in the video.

To prevent copyright strikes

Aha!!! Hahaha.

[chaosroyale]

Reason needs a loudness meter in the rack. The current gold standard for a UI is the free VST loudness meter from Youlean. I would recommend taking some design cues from that - not the moving graph, which would take up space and be a cpu hog, but particularly the big easy-to-read numerical display for short term, peak, etc.

These kind of meters need to be readable *at a glance*, not something you have to concentrate on for a few seconds to read. Can you make it a 4U display with big numbers for the important readings?

[chaosroyale]

Maybe not even 4U.. there seems to be a lot of dead gray space in that UI - maybe just use all of that space for the numerical readouts?

[orthodox]

Maybe not even 4U.. there seems to be a lot of dead gray space in that UI - maybe just use all of that space for the numerical readouts?

I would be nice if the numbers were in a column, so 3U/4U would be needed. I'm not going to change this RE to show large numbers, rather make a free one that would just show the measurements.
By the way, graphics indicators don't really hog the CPU, not more than numerical ones.

[DaveyG]

big easy-to-read numerical display for short term, peak, etc.

I agree. Numbers are everything with LUFS metering and they can't be too big.

[madwurmz]

Comments, questions, suggestions are welcome.

Looks very interesting!
The LUFS topic is still a bit complicated to me, but I think your moving indicators look really helpful.
Would be cool if this could be combined with a clipper / limiter and a compressor, Im mentioning all tools I can think of to help shape the output and control the volume...
I have Volume Analyzer VAC-6 RE on Master Out, and instantly see if it's too soft or too loud, great graph but the design has some ugly colors. I have trail version of RE 128 Loudness meter, I like the moving graphs, but this is not detailed enough. Flower Audio Loudness Meter, with it's cursive font, is mentioned here and there too but to me that looks too technical, not inspiring. There was a topic here saying how Omega Mastering Clipper is really handy for the detailed monitoring yet could need more contrasting colors.

[orthodox]

big easy-to-read numerical display for short term, peak, etc.

I agree. Numbers are everything with LUFS metering and they can't be too big.

They're not too small either. This device isn't meant for staring at those numbers all the time. It collects statistics and automatically adjusts the gain to meet the target requirements.

[DaveyG]

This device isn't meant for staring at those numbers all the time.

Exactly. That's why the numbers need to be large and always live. A glance now and again.

And, hey, you asked for feedback and suggestions!

[guitfnky]

would be useful to have a decent modern meter as an RE. as others have said, meters are all about how the information is presented. big, legible numbers, with higher contrast would help a lot, I think. I agree there's quite a bit of space that's not being used, and it feels like most of the stuff is pushed toward the right side of the device. I like the sequencer link--that seems like a pretty elegant way of doing some of the stuff in the Youlean meter, since by definition you're integrated directly with Reason. since the sequencer numbering and buttons aren't as important as the actual meter numbers, I feel like the sequencer info could be made smaller and the meter numbering made bigger.

the functionality seems like it could be pretty useful, although I admit I don't quite get what some of the options do (e.g. does AGC adjust the gain just when you click the button, based on what it's already analyzed, or is it trying to act like a compressor, and updating on the fly?). the histogram window is pretty cool.

[chaosroyale]

In that case - I would argue that you are not making a loudness meter, it's a loudness analyser tool.

I'm not trying to be a dick - but I use loudness meters in my work all the time, they are really essential for my job, and the gold standard is THIS - and there is a good reason it is one of the most popular and highly-rated plugins in the world, free or not;

Youlean-Loudness-Meter-2-output-3.png (10.7 KiB) Viewed 2570 times

I agree. Numbers are everything with LUFS metering and they can't be too big.

They're not too small either. This device isn't meant for staring at those numbers all the time. It collects statistics and automatically adjusts the gain to meet the target requirements.

[orthodox]

This device isn't meant for staring at those numbers all the time.

Exactly. That's why the numbers need to be large and always live. A glance now and again.

And, hey, you asked for feedback and suggestions!

That's OK, I'm just trying to argue. The measurements of this kind aren't live. You "record" a number of fragments and then take a time to deal with the results. The only thing live here is the graphical level meter, it's updated 10 times a second and it would be hard to present numerically.

In that case - I would argue that you are not making a loudness meter, it's a loudness analyser tool.

I agree, maybe it's not too late to rename it, I'll look into that.

I'm not trying to be a dick - but I use loudness meters in my work all the time, they are really essential for my job, and the gold standard is THIS - and there is a good reason it is one of the most popular and highly-rated plugins in the world, free or not;

This thing does its job well, let it be that way. I've had other tasks in mind, which I have to do often - adjust the levels to meet the various target requirements.

the functionality seems like it could be pretty useful, although I admit I don't quite get what some of the options do (e.g. does AGC adjust the gain just when you click the button, based on what it's already analyzed, or is it trying to act like a compressor, and updating on the fly?). the histogram window is pretty cool.

It can adjust the gain on the fly indeed, but it's not the intended purpose, I would not like if the volume was automatically controlled. The gain adjustments are based on the statistics collected to the moment.

[Billy+]

I would like to see something more like perception ab as a RE that can measure gain between stages to make level adjustment simpler. Obviously due to RE SDK restrictions IPC isn't an option but if someone could figure a method for automatic detection that would be a really helpful tool.

AB is interesting but for £110 it's not an option for me personally, I would rather continue using RE128 and manual adjustment.

IMG_2710.PNG (29.84 KiB) Viewed 2541 times

[orthodox]

I would like to see something more like perception ab as a RE that can measure gain between stages to make level adjustment simpler. Obviously due to RE SDK restrictions IPC isn't an option but if someone could figure a method for automatic detection that would be a really helpful tool.

AB is interesting but for £110 it's not an option for me personally, I would rather continue using RE128 and manual adjustment.

IMG_2710.PNG

Yeah, but that's a different task. I am going to make a mixer with similar functionality. There are many devices that would be better off from adding loudness metering to them, compressors limiters etc.

[Billy+]

Yeah I get that it's a different device, but it's still one I would like to have.

[orthodox]

I just wanted to clarify how this thing was meant to be used.

You run the whole track or selected fragments and record statistics. When the music is over and everything is silent, you can enable/change target limits, alter gain, and the statistics plots and values will change retrospectively to reflect the new settings, i.e. what the measurement results would be if the gain was this or that and such.

[madwurmz]

alright thanks for letting me test it!

[orthodox]

Alright, I get it, there is definitely some confusion with the device name. People expect it to be what it is not.
Could anybody help me rename it? I have difficulties with English.

What do you think it should be called instead?

• Loudness Controller/Control
• Loudness Analyzer
• Loudness Normalizer
• Something Else

[guitfnky]

Alright, I get it, there is definitely some confusion with the device name. People expect it to be what it is not.
Could anybody help me rename it? I have difficulties with English.

What do you think it should be called instead?

• Loudness Controller/Control
• Loudness Analyzer
• Loudness Normalizer
• Something Else

Loudness Normalizer seems like a good fit. Controller sounds like it could be a compressor or limiter, so I wouldn’t use that. and Analyzer sells the device short, because it does more than just analysis.

or if you want something new, maybe something along these lines; LTA-19*—Loudness Target Assistant, or just Loudness Target Assistant?


* replace with your favorite number

[marcuswitt]

Alright, I get it, there is definitely some confusion with the device name. People expect it to be what it is not.
Could anybody help me rename it? I have difficulties with English.

What do you think it should be called instead?

• Loudness Controller/Control
• Loudness Analyzer
• Loudness Normalizer
• Something Else

Loudness Normalizer seems like a good fit. Controller sounds like it could be a compressor or limiter, so I wouldn’t use that. and Analyzer sells the device short, because it does more than just analysis.

or if you want something new, maybe something along these lines; LTA-19*—Loudness Target Assistant, or just Loudness Target Assistant?


* replace with your favorite number

How about ‘Loudness Toolbox’ or simply ‘Loudness Buddy’?

[orthodox]

OK, thank you, I'd go with Normalizer. It seems to be the closest to the main purpose of the device, like checking "Normalize" on a track bounce.
I'm planning to make a stripped-down version of it, half the height (1U), to be used in mix channels, where there is no need in measuring true peak and integrated loudness and presenting statistics plots. True peak is fine, but it eats CPU the most. So, that one will probably be "mini normalizer".

There is still an open question on whether to add presets/patches or not to. It seems not really necessary, as there is only 4 values to preset. Compressors have more, yet they do fine without it.

Thank you all who responded.

[integerpoet]

I like "normalizer", but one other thing that occurred to me was a less literal approach.

• Loudness Minder
• Loudness Manager
• Loudness Marksman
• (why have I fixated on M?)

These might not be the best specific proposals. I'm just starting a brainstorm.

[orthodox]

I'm just starting a brainstorm.

The storm is over, calm came down on me.