Having Cubase 6.5. How can I use the SLM128, must it inserted into every track? or can there be a special track that displays the meter and give an overall metering for the whole of the project tracks?
HI
I think on the Masterchannel. You want to know if your endprdouct is in range.
Greetz Bassbase
Hi,
It depends on the metering. If you want to measure level of any track, you can insert it on every tracks. If you want to measure main output (what is more logical), insert it on the Master Output (Stereo Out).
The SLM128 would be used at the final mastering stage, and needs to be the last plug in on the master channel, it’s all about the final peaks and levels.
It would perhaps be a good idea, to know what the levels and peaks are supposed to be to conform, anyone know where this info is?
There is not much point in having accurate metering, if you don’t know what target you are aiming for.
There is not much point in having accurate metering, if you don’t know what target you are aiming for.
The figures on this meter show in red if over & green if under…You are aiming for them to be green.
The SML R128 loudness meter is NOT meant to be placed on every track/bus (the meters in Cubase are just fine for that task) but rather on the Master Bus/Stereo Out, and as the very last plugin in the chain (after your limiter). You’re aiming at an average reading of -23LU (plus/minus 1dB deviation is acceptable), which is the equivalent of -23dBFS RMS in current terminology. This is measured by the Integrated meter found on the top right of the plugin and should display the overal RMS level of the entire material.
The maximum peak level should be at -1dBTP (True Peak), which is the same as -1dBFS PEAK in order to prevent inter-sample peaking. This is measured by the True Peak meter found at the bottom left of the plugin window. The Range meter measures the crest factor or the difference between average levels (RMS) and peak levels. IOW, it measures the dynamic range of your material. The Momentary and Short Term meters are best suited for live broadcast and commercials respectively.
HTH
Thanks for the replies. I have put it now as an insert in the output channel, which i think is alright. The meter is just around just little bit red all the time so i guess i will have to read the manual about dynamic range and how to adjust it in my Cubase project. I guess by lowering the master volume.
Hi
I would lower the volumes of your tracks till the mix fits the parameter and not just pull down mainvolume.
Greetz Bassbase
Why not? That’s what the Master/Stereo Out fader is for. As long as he puts the SML R128 meter on the post fader inserts (inserts 7 & 8 for those who may be wondering), it should make zero difference whether he pulls down the faders on the tracks/busses or the master fader. Granted the latter option will be the easiest one 
Can the “short-term” or “integrated” modes be configured to give the same info as a typical VU-type meter? My understanding is that a typical VU-type meter, because of slower ballistics/inertia, gives information more like the RMS rather than the peak (and thus, more a reflection of perceived loudness, which correlates with RMS more than peak).
?
Actually, these meters do a better job at calculating the average or RMS loudness of a material because they employ a gate that removes low level background noises from the equation. This is especially useful for very dynamic material, where the crest factor is much wider than say a commercial. Otherwise, you would still end up with programs of dissimilar loudness levels because of the discrepancies in dynamic range. It is still not perfect, even with the gate, but the results are much closer to the same volume level with it on. For this reason the meters cannot be changed to reflect what you’d expect from a traditional VU meter. There’s only one of the meters that doesn’t have the gate, and that’s the Momentary meter, since it’s only 400 ms.
Correction: The only meter that’s gated is the Integrated Meter. The others don’t employ a gate. Sorry for the confusion.
There is no way I would ever try to master a song in Cubase/Nuendo. Wavelab is so affordable and capable, it’s almost a no-brainer. It’s interesting that the SLM128 isn’t listed to work with Wavelab.
I’m glad to see that this will finally (for free) be available in Cubase! 
It will make mastering a bit easier for those who do it in Cubase/Nuendo.
It’s a shame you cant use the SLM128 in offline mode! (or can you?)
So I can get the LU for a large time segment without having to play the whole thing through.
After all that’s what the integrated meter is for!
Background info with a human touch:
I think it’s been posted before but it’s good info so …
didn’t see that one…Is this a new product?
Sorry to go off topic, was surprised.
For that you might want to take a look at the free TT Dynamic Range Meter - which has also a VST version and looks quite nice too… http://www.dynamicrange.de/
Hey Mr Ulf,
Thanks very much for posting the link - what a great introduction to the topic.
(I hope nobody else asks questions about this topic before watching that video - that was an hour well spent.)
Steve.
I have and use the TT DRM, can it do offline dynamic analysis? didn’t know that!
Yes you can, but only in wav 16 bits and 44.1Khz. Open the standalone TT and click load to choose a file.