FabFilter

Hi there,

when mixing using K-scale metering (e.g. K-14) I am experiencing discrepancies in RMS levels of about 3db between Pro-L and my Cubase Pro 8 control room meter.

They seem to line up if I enable the AES17 button in the Cubase control room which adds an additional 3db to the metering.

Does this mean that Pro-L has implicitly enabled something like the AES17 functionality?

Thanks very much in advance for some advice since it's a little bit confusing to me which meter tells me the truth;-)

Best regards,
distinct

Hi district,

I'll take a closer look at this! I did indeed see a different with the Cubase 8 meter, but I see the same difference with other third party plug-ins that have K-metering (showing the same RMS levels as Pro-L). I'll investigate!

... after investigating a little bit more, the short answer to your question is: yes, enabling the AES17 button should match the RMS level of Pro-L (which RMS level is calibrated to a sine wave).

Floris, something related to this came up in a discussion with one of my colleagues the other day.

When I first began using Pro-L as my main limiter I noticed that the RMS value in the 16, 32, and 48 dB scales read lower than expected, while it read as expected in the K-12, K-14, and K-20 scales. Since I typically use K-12 (plus a host of other metering), I kind of just dismissed it.

However, the other evening a budding ME asked me why the RMS values in Ozone and Pro-L differed by 3-4 dB. I looked into it and sure enough the 16, 32, and 48 dB meter under-read by 3 dB (therefore note using the AES17 standard).

Why the discrepancy?

Thanks.

Sorry to bring this backup but it's happening to me, Pro-L shows around 4dB lower RMS levels than my DAW's metering(Ableton Live9.5)! I have tried other limiters and they all show the proper value except Pro-L!

Hi guys,

For its K-Metering scales, Pro-L implements the AES17 calibration; a sine wave at 0 dB peak level, will have an RMS level of 0 dB as well.

For the other scales, Pro-L doesn't implement the AES17 calibration and shows the 'true' RMS level, the actual average level over time.

Cheers,

Not using K-Metering system at the moment and I notice that the meter still shows around 4dB lower than other plugins/DAW metering...

Hi George,

As I explained, for the non-K metering scales (48 dB, 32 dB, 16 dB), Pro-L does not use the AES17 calibration, so when tested with a sine wave, it's level will indeed be 3 dB lower than meter that do use it.

If you test with a complex/rythmic signal, the RMS level may of course also differ due to the RMS window size...

Cheers,