WAVES Dorrough Meter Collection Stereo Meter Plugin User Guide
- June 10, 2024
- WAVES
Table of Contents
The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection
User Guide
The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection
User Guide
Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 Welcome
Thank you for choosing Waves! In order to get the most out of your Waves
processor, please take the time to read through this manual.
In conjunction, we also suggest that you become familiar with
www.wavesupport.net. There you will find an
extensive Answer Base, the latest Tech Specs, detailed Installation guides,
new Software
Updates, and current information on Authorization and Registration.
By signing up at www.wavesupport.net , you
will receive personalized information on your registered products, reminders
when updates are available, and information on your authorization status.
1.2 Product Overview
ABOUT DORROUGH
Dorrough Electronics designs and manufactures precision audio and video
monitoring devices. For over 20 years, Dorrough has pioneered new technologies
in audio signal processing and monitoring for the broadcast, motion picture,
and recording industries.
The patented Dorrough Ballistic is based on the mathematics intrinsic to audio
waveforms. The average integrates amplitudes in the context of time, for a
true reading of audio power that satisfies both ear and machine.
Simultaneously, users are provided with a real time peak, which picks up
destructive “burst anomalies” the ear might miss, but that are all too
noticeable to recording devices.
The mathematical cohesion between Peak and Average also provides users with a
unique window into qualitative aspects of the sounds they are recording. By
observing the relationship (gap) between the Peak and Average displays, the
user can observe graphically the effects of processing, compression, and even
detect distortion. While traditional VU meters are useful for determining
average sound levels, and PPM meters are known for their ability to catch fast
transient peaks, neither provides both average
and peak level displays, which are needed to get an indication of overall
program loudness. Dorrough Meters are fully compatible with AES/EBU standards.
1.3 About the Modeling
Modeling the Dorrough Meters was one of the most ambitious projects Waves has
ever undertaken.
We realized that modeling the visual behavior of a hardware device is as great
an engineering challenge as modeling the audio behavior of a hardware device.
Delivering superfast peak and average metering, while preserving the analog
feel and look of the original hardware meters were of the utmost importance.
The results are, we feel, the most accurate audio software meters available.
1.4 Mono and Stereo Components
WaveShell technology enables us to split Waves processors into smaller plug-
ins, which we call components. Having a choice of components for a particular
processor gives you the flexibility to choose the configuration best suited to
your material.
The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection—Stereo Edition includes two component
processors:
- Dorrough Mono – A mono meter, available in 3 sizes and 3 styles.
- Dorrough Stereo – A stereo meter, available in 3 sizes and 3 styles.
1.5 Surround Components
The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection—Surround Edition includes the Waves
Dorrough Mono and Stereo meters plus two additional component processors:
- Dorrough Surround 5.0 – A dedicated 5 channel meter, available in 3 sizes, 3 styles, and 3 channel configurations. (Available in Pro Tools, Nuendo, and Cubase only.)
- Dorrough Surround 5.1 – A dedicated 6 channel meter, available in 3 sizes, 3 styles, and 3 channel configurations. (Available in all supported hosts.)
Chapter 2 – Quickstart Guide
- Choose the style you want to work with: Arc, Horizontal, or Vertical.
- Choose your size: Small, Large, or Extra Large.
- The Average level should not exceed the middle three red LEDs; Peaks should reach the area of the upper scale red section. These guidelines apply to normal loudness levels; today’s mastered music levels are usually considerably hotter.
- When working with a stereo signal, choose Sum/Diff mode to make sure there is no energy drop in the sum which could be caused by phasing problems and that the difference (diff) is not too low compared to the sum.
- The Overs error LED lights up when there are more than 3 samples that exceed 0 dBFS.
Chapter 3 – Interface and Controls
3.1 Interface
3.2 Dorrough Meter Controls
Style controls choice of meter style.
- Vertical (340/380)
- Horizontal (240/280)
- Arc (40 AES/EBU)
Size controls choice of meter size.
- Small
- Large
- Extra Large
Reference controls choice of reference level.
- 14 (0 VU = +4 dBu = -14 dBFS)
- 18 (0 VU = +4 dBu = -18 dBFS)
- 20 (0 VU = +4 dBu = -20 dBFS)
Although the meters are digital and display full scale metering, three
reference levels are offered for better orientation when working in
conjunction with analog devices.
The selection (-20,-18, or -14) represents a reference level of +4dBu, which
is usually represented by “0” on professional analog VU meters.
-20 dBFS is the Digital AES reference standard.
-18 dBFS is the Digital EBU reference standard.
-14 dBFS is commonly used in post-production and certain mastering situations.
Please note: Reference levels will only give you correct readings if your
interface and analog devices are calibrated to correct levels. Therefore, it
is imperative that your studio is calibrated.
Dly (Delay)
Range
0-50,000 samples
Resolution
500 samples steps
Due to I/O buffer distribution in certain host applications (e.g. Sound Forge,
WaveLab, and Logic) metering response may precede the audio coming out of your
system. To compensate for this possibility, we added a Delay control that
allow synchronization of the meter display with the audio.
(This will not alter the input signal in any way.)
Do not change the Dly setting if you do not have sync problems between your
audio and the meter display.
Peak controls the peak display mode.
- Auto holds the peak for 3 seconds.
- Hold holds the peak for an infinite time.
- Reset resets the peaks.
When none of these modes is selected, the peak display will constantly
refresh.
Overs
Like their hardware counterparts, Waves Dorrough meters are able to detect and
display the number of Overs, which are defined as 3 samples or more that
exceed 0 dBFS (-0.0008 dBFS @ 24bit).
- Overs Display LED displays the number of Overs.
- Overs Reset resets the Overs count to 0.
Meter Mode controls the metering mode. (Stereo components only)
- Left/Right displays Left and Right channel levels independently.
- Sum/Diff (Sum and Difference) Left/Upper meter displays the Sum of Left + Right; Right/Lower meter displays the energy difference between Left and Right.
- Phase displays phase correlation between Left and Right.
- 0 LED indicates that the signal is 100% correlated (mono)
- -39 LED indicates that the signal is 100% out of phase
- -20 LED indicates that the signal has random correlation
Readings between -20 and 0 can be considered good phase correlation; readings
between -20 and -39 can be considered bad phase correlation.
3.3 Surround Edition Controls
The Surround edition includes the Waves Dorrough Mono and Stereo meters, plus
5.0 and 5.1 channel meters. Their controls are the same as those for the Mono
and Stereo meters as described above, with the addition of controls for Meter
Order and Sum & Diff / Phase.
Meter Order controls the layout of the meters according to common disciplines
practiced in the surround sound industry. You can select between:
-
Film (Default)
0: L, C, R, Ls, Rs
1: L, C, R, Ls, Rs, LFE -
ITU
0: L, R, C, Ls, Rs- 1:L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs
-
DTS
0: L, R, Ls, Rs, C- 1: L, R, Ls, Rs, C, LFE
Sum & Diff / Phase Page
The Surround Edition plug-ins features a special single Sum & Diff / Phase
page, which allows the selection of channel pairs to be displayed on two sets
of Sum & Diff / Phase Meters.
Please note:
The Waves Dorrough Meter Lt vs Rt mode is a bit different than the standard
Dolby Lt / Rt matrix .
The Waves Dorrough Meter Lt vs Rt mode displays the sum of:
- 5.0: Left + Left Surround + 0.5 Center vs. Right + Right Surround + 0.5 Center
- 5.1: Left + Left Surround + 0.5 Center + 0.5 LFE vs. Right + Right Surround + 0.5 Center + 0.5 LFE
3.4 WaveSystem Toolbar
Use the bar at the top of the plugin to save and load presets, compare
settings, undo and redo steps, and resize the plugin. To learn more, click the
icon at the upper-right corner of the window and open the WaveSystem Guide.
The Collapse button (- / +) hides the control section, leaving only the meters
displayed.
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