Screen top piano. The PSP VintageMeter is a professional volume unit (VU) and a Peak Program Meter (PPM). Volume unit meter and the Peak Program Meter used to measure the sound peak levels is what this plug-in PSP VintageMeter does. It is compatible with any sound application. It provides accurate volume levels for you to adjust to your requirements. The meters have an adjustable integration time (300ms), but you can change it by click on 'PSP VintageMeter' label. Does epic games have a phone number. You can also change 0VU Refernce level, PPM integration time, PPM return time, Meter delay and Overload counter.
1 Beatles REDD.44 and RS.128
Agustín Saraviaagusaravia@hotmail.com
When using recording software we may find that track level meters don't make sense for mixing. Slow attack or sustaining instruments, e.g., pads, organs, vocals, etc., end sounding very loud in the mix while fast attack and percussive instruments, e.g., snare drum, bass drum, etc., end sounding faint and low in the mix. Often the advice we get is to avoid monitoring levels with the meters at all and just rely on our ears. While reasonable it's also true that meters are tools that help make some tasks easier provided we know how to use them. Besides, level meters allow our ears to focus on other sound parametres, like frequency content, microtuning, etc. In EMI Studios in the early 1960s, these advantages of level meters were of concern and that's why in late 1962 the REDD.37 mixers were modified by changing the REDD.44 Peak Level Indicators with RS.128 VU Meters, as it can be read in the following quote from the REDD.37 mixing desk manual.
Psp Vintage Meter
'VU Meters.Slower reading VU Meters are due to be fitted on the REDD.37 in place of the Peak Level Indicators. The latter had a scale range of 55dB, whereas that of the VU Meter proper is only 23dB.' (REDD.M37, 1964, p.21). [3]
But what is the difference between a peak meter and a VU meter? Mainly their integration time and, therefore, their different sensitivity. A Type I peak programme meter, or DIN PPM, features an integración time of 5 ms, measuring short loudness fluctuations and peaks. Therefore, it is useful at the recording stage since it helps to avoid even the fastest peak going over 0 dBFS (i.e. 0 dB of the full digital scale) and create digital distortion. That's the reason that recording software developers include them as default meters.
In the early half of the 20th century, in the analogue domain, a PPM was useful in situations when going over a certain loudness threshold was not desirable, like in disc cutting, recording directly to disc, or radio broadcasting modulation. That is, when the focus was on the sensitivity of the transfer medium.
Human ears aren't sensitive to such short peaks and, therefore, a PPM does no conform with human loudness perception. That's the reason that snare drums end sounding faint while sustaining instruments, like pads, end sounding louder.
However, the integration time of a VU meter is nearly 300 ms which is closer to human loudness perception. It follows that a complete recording software suite should include a VU meter in the mixer view or in plug-in form. This is not always the case, and only in recent years has this begun to change.
A VU meter scale measures volume units or VU, each VU equal to 1 dB. However, the 0 VU level is not aligned to 0 dB in the digital full scale but often to the old EBU standard of -18 dBFS. This is because the slow integration time of the VU meter will let fast peaks pass unnoticed, which in turn could lead to digital distortion. Therefore, the actual 0 dBFS is put way higher so as to have some headroom.
If the recording software doesn't include a slow meter setting or a VU meter one can always use a plug-in. There even are plugins dedicated exclusively to metering, like the freeware PSP Audioware Vintage Meter.
Fig. 1a. 0 VU aligned to -18 dBFS. Meter by Robin Gareus.
Fig. 1b. Metering configuration menu in Ardour. 0 VU is aligned with 0 dBu.
Fig. 1c. From left to right and top to bottom: BBC, DIN, EBU, Nordic, stereo correlation, and VU meters reading a -18 dBFS test tone. Meters by Robin Gareus.
Fig. 1d. Mixer view in Ardour showing a -18 dBFS test tone read by three VU meters, from Track 1 to Main Bus 1 to the Master Bus.
1.1 REDD.44 Peak Level Indicator
This PPM was built around a Siemens und Halske B-J47b DIN PPM. The REDD.17 and REDD.37 mixers had this PPM built in the centre top panel until December 1962. The REDD.37 in EMI Control Room Two had the REDD.44 removed because its red light wouldn't turn off after a peak overload. EMI balance technicians in Abbey Road, London, couldn't find its usefulness whereas EMI balance technicians in Pathé-Marconi, Paris, kept using them even well into the 1970s, with the solid state TG12345 mixers.Fig. 1.1a. Siemens und Halske B-J47b DIN PPM.
Fig. 1.1b. 1963-09-12, EMI Control Room Two, recording session for 'Little Child' and 'Don't Bother Me'. The REDD.37 mixer with the central REDD.44 removed.
1.2 REDD.48 Level Indicator
This PPM was built around an Ernest Turner type 703 Nordic PPM. The REDD.43 portable mixer had two built in REDD.48.Fig. 1.2a. Ernest Turner type 703 dBm Nordic PPM.
Fig. 1.2b. 1969, EMI Odeon Studios Control Room, Buenos Aires, session for 'El violín de Becho' and 'Amanecer' by Uruguayan singer Alfredo Zitarrosa. A REDD.43 mixer in the foreground.
1.3 RS.128 VU Meter
This VU meter was built around an Ernest Turner type 702 VU meter. In December 1962 the REDD.37 mixers were retro-fitted with four RS.128 in place of the REDD.44. The new REDD.51 mixer had built in RS.128 from the start.Fig.1.3a. Ernest Turner type 702 VU meter.
Fig. 1.3b. 1964-02-27, EMI Control Room Two, recording session for 'And I Love Her'. The REDD.51 mixer with four RS.128.
References
[1] Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan. Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums, 2nd ed., Houston, US: Curvebender Publishing, 2010.[2] Alec Nisbett. The Sound Studio: Audio Techniques for Radio, Television, Film and Recording, 7th ed., Waltham, US: Focal Press, 2003.
[3] Len Page. 'Stereosonic'/4-Track Mixer Assembly REDD.37, London: EMI, 1964.
[4] Len Page. 'Stereosonic' Mixer 4/8 Way, Table Model, Types REDD.43 & REDD.43X, London: EMI, 1960.
Psp Vintage Meter
