Internal Volume meter for balancing levels

doctormcfarland · July 25, 2024 at 10:02 PM

Its funny there isn't a rig volume meter anywhere that gives you a standard of measurement to adjust rig volumes. Some of my profiles are low in volume and others are high but who is to know what level to make them without a meter. Yes we can use an external meter but most modelers today have some sort of meter to adjust volumes with. Fractal, Headrush, Helix, QC and TMP all have output meters. I hope this can be considered.

Steve5478 · July 26, 2024 at 11:37 AM

It seems to be a good idea and it's cool to see a little baregraph indicating in real time the level but it won't deserve what you want.

It only indicates what you send to the mixing table, to prevent from clipping....

From what i've experimented, a db meter is useless.... Send the FOH your max level and he'll set the gain.

It's hard to have a good level following what you're playing and songs & gigs are built on nuances.... And for me the volume pedal is a must-have... even if you don't change rig during a song, you have to play low cause you start the song alone with the singer and when all musiciens comes in, you have to increase your volume to be heard.

I remember once, i've worked to have the same level for each rig ; what a bad idea, i was not able to cut the mix for my solos

If you don't cut the mix, you have to work on frequencies, not only turning up the volume...

Ruefus · July 26, 2024 at 4:26 PM

*Insert obligatory reference to the Fletcher-Munson curve*

https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/what-is-fletcher-munson-curve-equal-loudness-curves.html#what-are-fletcher-munson-curves

doctormcfarland · July 26, 2024 at 4:36 PM

The main point is internal gain staging. If one rig is reading -10dbfs but another is -2dbfs but they are far apart to access quickly then there is not an easy way to roughly match levels. Nothing has to be exact but in the ballpark would be nice. On the Headrush for instance I look at the output meter to make sure the rig volume is hitting just below zero. This ensures all the rigs are roughly the same and my Master volume knob on the unit can also be set consistent position.

AndySchick · July 26, 2024 at 7:40 PM

Additionaly, a pure level meter wont help much. In order to judge the perceived loudness, one would need a loudness meter.

musicmad · July 27, 2024 at 5:40 PM

Lots of good points here in terms of ideal solutions. Still a simple level meter could be useful once you got used to the challenges it comes with. I wonder if the watt meter is exactly this?

jaeger 28 · July 28, 2024 at 5:56 PM

I had good results levelling rigs using Loudness Meter in Logic. It’s more clever than a db meter and it’s working when switching levelled rigs in band context.

V8guitar · July 29, 2024 at 2:21 PM

Never needed this because as mentioned a number of times, there are so many variables.

Clean sounds need to be at a lower level anyway because they cut more. Frequency has such an impact that it should be done by ear and refined in the band. Changing rig volume takes seconds and a basic balance can easily be done at home.

Once set, never needs touching so.....

Edward Dixon · July 29, 2024 at 4:52 PM

I use the meters on my mixer to set levels. Normally I have the mixer gain at zero and the volume fader at unity and then bring up the instrument volume up till it hits -15dbfs on the meter. Works great in my studio (the only place I play these days) the only time I have to make adjustments is when I change guitars and that is usually done with the volume knob on the guitar.