Gain staging with VU meters

[mjudge55]

It's basically second nature to me to make sure my sound sources are around a certain level and then I gain match any plugins I put on them anyway since I don't want to be fooled by any volume increase. So gain staging isn't some difficult process I'm putting myself through, just a couple simple little habits that have no downside I can see.

[enroe]

VU meters in 2023 (are of) as much use as a concrete parachute. Only use is for historical context.

Yes, that's a good comparison. You have to be clear: 32-bit fp means a dynamic
range of 1529 dB. At 64-bit fp we even have 12,317 dB. This means: The UV
meters are of no importance except for personal light flickering or for certain s
ensitive plugins.

[mjudge55]

I guess I agree VU meters aren't really that useful or necessary to gain staging -- too slow to tell you anything useful about many percussive sounds. And why fiddle with one more plugin just for a VU and an extra mouse click to open it when you can just look at available peak meters and keep stuff peaking around -10 dBfs? That works. In my DAWs RMS meters are available too if I want to look at something less responsive.

[Synthman2000]

Void