It's not a bug, it's gear/region specific in the "hardware/console world". It's pretty much a choice of the equipment manufacturer, as far as I know it has never been standardized. So VU meter reference at -18dBFS does not always mark/read 0dB in real gear. + If I'm correct, the reference level -18 dBFS at 0 VU is calibrated with a 1 kHz sine wave, it's not done with pink or white noise or any filtered noise etc.
E.g. read this SoundOnSound discussion:
https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... hp?t=88380
"The 0VU level on the VU meter should always equate to whatever the audio system alignment level is deemed to be. In the analogue world that's usually either 0dBu (0.775Vrms) or +4dBu (1.228Vrms) in professional gear, or -10dBV (0.316Vrms) in semi-pro gear. In the digital world it's normally either -18dBFS in Europe, or -20dBFS in America."
+ This article:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... ery-useful
Contrary to the conclusion of the above article ("VU meters are much easier and less stressful than focusing on a loudness meter") my take on this subject is this: what's the benefit of using VU meters in the digital realm? It's an old analogue non standardized metering. In the digital domain there are much better (meaning more informative) tools. So I'm much more used to working with some sort of a loudness meter (e.g Sonible's true:level and true:balance is great as is the Youlean LoudnessMeter, ADPTR's Metric AB, Izotope's Insight, Melda's MMultiAnalyzer or even it's free MLoudnessAnalyzer). I would even rather pick a "Dorrough" type (like the Waves Dorrough or PA's free bx_meter) to work with than a VU meter.
But that's just me, I'm sure there are great engineers using digital VU meters either because they come from analogue gear and they're used to it, or there are some workflow/ ease of use/ comfort etc. benefits I never noticed.
E.g. read this SoundOnSound discussion:
https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... hp?t=88380
"The 0VU level on the VU meter should always equate to whatever the audio system alignment level is deemed to be. In the analogue world that's usually either 0dBu (0.775Vrms) or +4dBu (1.228Vrms) in professional gear, or -10dBV (0.316Vrms) in semi-pro gear. In the digital world it's normally either -18dBFS in Europe, or -20dBFS in America."
+ This article:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... ery-useful
Contrary to the conclusion of the above article ("VU meters are much easier and less stressful than focusing on a loudness meter") my take on this subject is this: what's the benefit of using VU meters in the digital realm? It's an old analogue non standardized metering. In the digital domain there are much better (meaning more informative) tools. So I'm much more used to working with some sort of a loudness meter (e.g Sonible's true:level and true:balance is great as is the Youlean LoudnessMeter, ADPTR's Metric AB, Izotope's Insight, Melda's MMultiAnalyzer or even it's free MLoudnessAnalyzer). I would even rather pick a "Dorrough" type (like the Waves Dorrough or PA's free bx_meter) to work with than a VU meter.
But that's just me, I'm sure there are great engineers using digital VU meters either because they come from analogue gear and they're used to it, or there are some workflow/ ease of use/ comfort etc. benefits I never noticed.
Statistics: Posted by ozonepaul — Sat Mar 08, 2025 1:16 pm