Youlean Loudness Meter in SAWStudio: Field Report

[Dave Labrecque]

Well, the Waves WLM meter is now on sale today only for $29.
But, since Dave already found the free non-pro version, he won't be interested.

I don't enjoy being a cheapskate, I assure you. Well, maybe a little.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll take a look.

[jmh]

Cost is not a measure of quality. I'm a full time linux user. That OS is more stable and would be even better if not for monopolistic practices by companies like microsoft. Consider that hardware manufacturers have to jump through all kinds of hurtles to be 'microsoft certified', like DRM. A manufacturer has no choice but support MS - if they want to sell any number of devices. It makes it impossible for a little project like reactOS (for example) to have effective audio drivers for a wide range of devices, and it delays big projects like linux until some motivated individuals piece together all of the details to build a driver. Audio drivers need to do what they did 25 years ago - nothing has changed in the real-world requirements as far as a stream between your daw and a sound card.

We each spend a lot of time and energy fighting off all of the crap that microsoft forces on to our machines. In my case, the sole reason I use a windows machine is to use SawStudio.

Going back to free plugins, I just bought the Nova "gentleman's edition" because the free Nova plugin was so good - and of course there are a few other bells. I'm probably still using the free one more frequently, as it has the right balance between functionality and control.

[studio-c]

I***8217;m using the WAVES loudness meters. However I do my final mastering in Sound Forge Pro, once my program is mixed in SS.

During editing and mixing sessions, I have the Sonoris meter open, and watch the RMS scale for vocal levels.

[Dave Labrecque]

I***8217;m using the WAVES loudness meters. However I do my final mastering in Sound Forge Pro, once my program is mixed in SS.

During editing and mixing sessions, I have the Sonoris meter open, and watch the RMS scale for vocal levels.

Scott***8212;I'm curious, why do you move to SF for mastering? (And how can you get anything done with that little preview window?) Is it the Waves/SS VST challenges? And does the Sonoris meter simply get you in the LUFS ballpark? Or are you looking at something else?

After 70 years, I recently upgraded my SF 10 to 14 (cuz they had a discount going). Now, they've come out with SF 15 (of course). Ah, the life of a cheapskate.

[studio-c]

I'm curious, why do you move to SF for mastering? (And how can you get anything done with that little preview window?) Is it the Waves/SS VST challenges? And does the Sonoris meter simply get you in the LUFS ballpark? Or are you looking at something else?

I go to Sound Forge because I like to be able to look at the mixed wave file and eyeball where I want to give it a haircut for limiting and compressing. I also really like the WaveHammer feature. And I do tons of batch processing on entire audiobooks at a time. Love the batching...

Also, I***8217;ve just found trying to use VST anything with SS has been frustrating. Even down to having to copy ini files. Other apps ***8220;just work***8221;. But I***8217;m fast AF with multitrack assembly and editing, so 95 percent of my workflow is great in SS.

I think I***8217;m getting to the point where I***8217;m no longer interested in tinkering, over locking, MOBOing, building, or overthinking. I just want stuff to work. I just want to do my creative and billable work. I think I***8217;m starting to become an Apple person.

Sonoris meter, yes. I keep an eye on it when mixing several channels of vo on a podcast for example. I have them boosted to the yellow (very scientific term- basically -15 or so). So yes, it keeps things in the ballpark. Especially helpful when riding gain on Zoom call recordings, where people***8217;s levels are all over the road. I like that it***8217;s native, and has the RMS so it gets you close.

[Dave Labrecque]

Thanks for sharing. Speaking of podcasts and inconsistent voice levels, have you checked out MBProcess (a free broadcast-type "mastering" VST processor)? I've found it to be invaluable. Are you using anything for AGC? (That's mainly what I use MBProcess for.)

[studio-c]

have you checked out MBProcess (a free broadcast-type "mastering" VST processor)? I've found it to be invaluable. Are you using anything for AGC? (That's mainly what I use MBProcess for.)

That sounds fantastic. Thanks Dave! I hate doing it with compressors, and end up doing a lot of it by sight/ear.
I got the Waves Vocal Rider, but it doesn’t seem to do exactly what we need. I’ll check out MBProcess!

[Dave Labrecque]

That sounds fantastic. Thanks Dave! I hate doing it with compressors, and end up doing a lot of it by sight/ear.
I got the Waves Vocal Rider, but it doesn’t seem to do exactly what we need. I’ll check out MBProcess!

It's 32-bit only so far as I know, but seems to wrap to 64 just fine with Jbridge if you need that. Let me know how you like it.

[studio-c]

Thanks! Verrrrrry cool!
This automates my least favorite task in the world.

[Dave Labrecque]

Thanks! Verrrrrry cool!
This automates my least favorite task in the world.

Glad you have me in your life.

I had the same experience. I hate the tedium of long-form fader riding, especially with a mouse! (Note to self: it's been 25 years, buy yourself a freaking control surface for godsake!) MBProcess was kind of a post-production game changer for my podcast production. Now the challenge is balancing the various speakers' (on discrete tracks) overall volumes pre-AGC, so MBProcess doesn't have to work too hard. I say challenge only because MBProcess does such a good job of doing that on its own that if I forget to bypass it and do that tweaking first, I may never do it.

That may be fine, but when there are quick interjections and such in the dialogue, it may reveal a speaker volume disparity before MBProcess has had a chance to change the gain. But even then, it might be my OCD worrying about it, rather than actually hearing a problem.