Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

I've been thinking about changing the meter settings in PT 12.4. gain. I currently have it setup so the meter clips when the signal goes above -18. After using this setup for a month or two I'm starting to think that there's a better way to setup it up.

I'm gonna try setting the first meter stage, dark green, to -18 and then figure out what works best for the remaining colors. I have a quick question tho.. would it work out better to make it -20, instead of -18? My reasoning is that the levels increase with every added plugin.. if I set the dark green to -20, it will most likely stay below, or at -18, even after inserting a couple plugins. I mostly always insert subtractive EQ as the first plugin, followed by compression and a second EQ for boosting and color/saturation.

What meter settings do you all use? Thanks.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

I don't use the metering in PT as anything more than a sanity check. Always use a metering plugin. PSP Triple meter is a good one as is the one from Brainworx called bx-meter - see here: https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/p.../bx_meter.html
I like the latter because it has the Katz metering system as part of it. A third one I sometimes use is DP Meter Pro from Blue Cat.

As to what level you use that is entirely up to you. I suggest reading up on the Katz metering system to get a good idea of what to look for; you'll find with that that what you're looking for in metering levels depends on the genre of music in play.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

I actually have the bx-meter plugin. I really need to read the manual, as I have a decent understanding of what I'm looking at, but not enough.

Is there a way to configure PT so it shows more than one plugin window at a time? It'd be nice to have an EQ plugin open while also having a the spectrum analyzer showing simultaneously. Same with the bx-meter staying on the screen while other plugin windows are open.

Thanks.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

That's easy - click the little red dot on the upper right of each plugin gui. With the dot unlit windows will stay open.

As to understanding what the bx meter is showing peruse not only the manual but to truly get it read up about K-System metering.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

Same goes for floating faders. Some might not be aware, you can have faders of tracks and sends open up in separate small, floating windows by clicking on the tiny fader symbol on tracks and sends in mixer window.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

Hello, I've been looking at a way to set the clip threshold to another value that is not 0db, how did you accomplish this?

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

Go to Preferences -> Meters tab. At the top right of the window you can choose between several different meter types (via drop down menu), as well as enter your own custom settings.. one of them being the dBFS value.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

That worked perfectly, thank you.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

I used to set the clip (0 dBFS) to -18 or 20dB, but recently I've been keeping that at 0dB and using the first light green shade as -18. It's helped me manage the increase in dB from accumulated plugins. I just keep an eye on the input gain not passing -18 when initially tracking.

Re: Gain Staging - Meter Setup
 

I recently bought a very good and inexpensive plug-in you might want to take a look at, VUMT Deluxe from Klanghelm, have it on ALL my tracks now. works perfectly and has a wide variety of metering scale options, I'm using K-20 and RMS -3db.