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There’s already been a huge amount of interest in my new plugin, Dynameter – which is great ! But a few people are confused, and there some common questions being asked – so here are the answers to the most popular ones.
What is Dynameter ? I’m confused !
That’s easy – click here to see a demonstration.
Do I really need this ? I already have an LUFS loudness meter/RMS meter/VU meter
Maybe not ! You can deduce a lot of the information Dynameter displays from any LUFS loudness meter, and achieve similar goals with a VU or RMS meter – for example, I demonstrate one approach here.
BUT
I own many different meters, and none of them display exactly what Dynameter does, in exactly the way that it does. For me, it’s more helpful, more immediate, and easier to use, than any of the other options. (Of course, I would say that…)
The main reason for this is:
It’s not a loudness meter. Dynameter shows you the difference between peak and loudness, which is a great indicator of dynamics. The more dynamic your music is, the larger the PSR value. Whereas if the loudness is pushed very close to the peak level, the PSR value reduces, reflecting the potential loss of punch, impact and space in the music.
But I already have the TT Meter, doesn’t it do the same thing ?
In some respects, but there are some important differences. The TT Meter‘s DR value is similar to PSR, but Dynameter uses the more modern ITU loudness standard, with a history graph. You can see how the dynamics of your music vary over time, making it easy to tell if you’re consistently reducing them further than you want to, or if the music just dipped briefly below your target value.
Finally Dynameter allows you to choose a Target PSR that suits your musical goals. The Target Guides show you at a glance whether you’ve achieved your target, and you can adjust the level or processing accordingly.
So what is PSR ? Why not use PLR or DR ?
PSR stands for the peak to short-term loudness ratio. It’s the same idea as the TT Meter’s ‘DR’ reading, but it’s calculated using LUFS loudness, not the RMS level. This is important, because LUFS places the most significance on the most sensitive frequency range of our ears, so its values reflect our perception of loudness much more closely than raw RMS level.
The two readings are often very similar, though – in our tests, for material with balanced EQ, if you keep Dynameter’s PSR reading above a target of 10 (say) then your master will measure DR10 in the offline TT Meter.
PLR, on the other hand, means simply “peak to loudness ratio”, and is based on the peak to integrated loudness of the music. The integrated loudness is calculated over a whole song or album. The difficulty with this is that short sections may be at a much higher level than the integrated loudness readings suggest, and it’s the loudest moments that suffer the most from excessive compression, limiting or clipping.
Because PSR is based on the short-term loudness, it accurately reflects the loudest moments in the music – and the history graph means you can see them in context.
OK, so what do the presets do ? Do they change the sound ?
No, Dynameter is just a meter, so it doesn’t change the sound at all. The presets are just quick ways for you to get started with finding the right Target PSR for your music. There are some guidelines in this video, and more detailed discussion in the user manual.
Summary
Dynameter combines several simple ideas and presents them in a unique way. The result is a simple, intuitive and effective way to assess the dynamics of your material, and help achieve your musical goals.
For more information, including a short video demonstration, click here.
Confused about Dynameter ? Your questions answered is a post from Ian Shepherd's: Production Advice
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