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Orban Loudness Meter


Indianrock2020
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Use the loudness meters on either side of your head.... you have my personal guarantee that they will never cause your computer to lock up.

Well, when equalizing six patches of widely varying tones, to be used later through a PA system, I want to get something more reliable and accurate than just trying to compare them with my ears.   I use the LKFS number showing on the right in the attachment.

post-1445431-0-99920000-1513263307_thumb.png

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Well, when equalizing six patches of widely varying tones, to be used later through a PA system, I want to get something more reliable and accurate than just trying to compare them with my ears. I use the LKFS number showing on the right in the attachment.

Here we go again...

 

PERCEIVED LOUDNESS is what matters, not a number on a meter...this is ESPECIALLY true when comparing "widely varying tones", crafted at a volume, and in an environment completely different from that in which you intend to use them. The distorted tone @ 80 dB will blow the doors off a clean tone @ 80 dB, EVERY SINGLE TIME. So what good is leveling them all to some arbitrary number? Answer: it's not. Doing it this way, then cranking up to gig volume through a PA is gonna result in levels that are all over the place.

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We do a final tune up during sound check but I'm attempting to get the patch levels all close from a LKFS loudness perspective ( at home, in advance ).  I don't claim to understand LKFS entirely but it's not the same as decibels or what a VU meter would show.

 

"LKFS is derived from dBFS, which is decibels referenced in the digital realm to the amplitude level of the most significant bit of the signal, hence Full Scale. LKFS is in fact an amplitude level. However, it is intended to stand in for the subjective quality we call "loudness." In order to make that at least reasonably plausible, LKFS modifies simple amplitude level (as expressed in dB) to more closely resemble what our ears hear under normal television viewing conditions. "

 

http://www.tvtechnology.com/audio/0014/lkfs-amp-the-calm-act/208806

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LKFS modifies simple amplitude level (as expressed in dB) to more closely resemble what our ears hear under normal television viewing conditions.

Whatever magic fairy dust they've incorporated into this thing can't change the fact that the way we perceive loudness changes depending on the kind of sound we're listening to. Furthermore, this thing was clearly created with a completely different task in mind. Do what you like, but since you're not watching TV, or fidding with a 5.1 surround sound signal which might contain anything from whispered dialog to huge explosions, all being pumped through multiple speakers all over one's living room, how this thing is supposed to help with a guitar rig is beyond me.

 

Leveling volumes is not mysterious, nor is it an intellectual pursuit requiring fancy toys to accomplish "accurately". You have all the tools you need in your head.

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So far the tool has worked pretty well.   Our sound guy hasn't given me the impression that my patches are all over the map.  Since you can't hear FOH very well from the stage, I'd have to run a 50 foot cable so I could play from the room ---- which would mean going there on an extra trip or earlier than I care to.      Different things work for different people/situations.  One thing about such tools, though, is they don't suffer from ear fatigue and prevent yelling from spouses who don't want to hear "gig volume."  :-)

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I have been using voxengo span for several years, but not really for leveling patches...More to check my ears that I have got the pcokets right so I am not killing, vocals, keys etc...The average loudness is only really useful for recording situations for me...Different folks use different tools and preferences of the tools they like, or just ears...If everyone did it the same way, music would be pretty sterile and you wouldn't find those glorious tonal accidents...but just my opinion.

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