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Maintenance release for the EBU R128 meter
HoRNet ELM 128 MK2: The Ultimate LUFS Meter for Precision Loudness Control
HoRNet has just released an updated version of its EBU R128 loudness meter plugin, the ELM 128 MK2, with several new features and improvements. As a powerful LUFS meter, this plugin is designed to meet the highest standards of broadcast loudness, ensuring that your audio works well across a variety of platforms and devices. If you’re a professional sound engineer, music producer, or anyone involved in audio post-production, the HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 is an essential tool for achieving precise, consistent loudness throughout your tracks.
Loudness has long been a challenge in the audio industry, especially when it comes to broadcasting. The goal is to ensure that audio levels are consistent and fit within industry standards, so that listeners do not experience sudden jumps or drops in volume between different content or programs. The EBU R128 standard was created to tackle this problem by providing a framework for loudness normalization. It uses the LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) scale, which is designed to match human perception of loudness more accurately than traditional decibels (dB).
This is where the HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 comes into play. By providing precise measurements of loudness across different formats and ensuring that your audio complies with broadcast standards, this plugin helps you achieve professional, consistent audio quality for any project.
The HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 offers a range of powerful features that make it an indispensable tool for audio professionals:
Comprehensive Loudness Measurements: The plugin offers five key loudness measurements to give you a full picture of your audio’s level:
Momentary: A short-term measurement that offers insight into the immediate loudness levels of your track.
Short-Term: An average loudness measurement over a 3-second period, helping you understand mid-term loudness trends.
Integrated: The overall loudness measurement over the entire length of your track, often used as a final reference for loudness compliance.
Dynamic Range: The difference between the loudest and softest parts of your track, helping to assess how much dynamic range is present.
True Peak: This measurement tracks the highest point of the signal, ensuring that the audio does not clip and maintains integrity during playback.
These five loudness measurements give you total control over your audio’s loudness, enabling you to make the necessary adjustments for broadcast, streaming, or mastering purposes.
Multiple Metering Modes: The HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 supports a wide range of formats, including mono, stereo, and 5.1 surround metering. This versatility makes it suitable for various audio production setups, from simple single-channel projects to complex surround sound mixes. It ensures that you can achieve accurate loudness measurements regardless of the format you’re working with. Whether you’re mixing a podcast, mastering a track for digital streaming, or working on a film’s surround sound, this plugin’s versatility allows you to monitor the loudness levels accurately.
Real-Time Loudness Normalization: One of the standout features of this plugin is its normalization function. HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 automatically adjusts the gain in real time to ensure that your signal doesn’t exceed your set reference level. This helps to eliminate the need for constant manual adjustments, making the loudness control process more efficient. Whether you’re working with momentary, short-term, or integrated loudness readings, the normalization function adapts to your selected standard and keeps your levels in check. This ensures that your track maintains a balanced loudness level without any distortion, clipping, or unwanted loudness spikes.
History Graph for Loudness Monitoring: For users who need to track loudness changes over time, the HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 includes a detailed history graph feature. This graph lets you review loudness over a period of up to 12 hours, allowing you to monitor dynamic shifts throughout your audio. This feature is especially helpful for post-production workflows or mastering sessions, where you need to ensure consistency over a longer duration. By reviewing the history graph, you can track how your audio’s loudness fluctuates over time and ensure that it adheres to the loudness targets set by the EBU R128 standard.
Precise LUFS Measurement: The plugin uses LUFS as its core measurement unit, which is more in line with human hearing than traditional dB measurements. LUFS takes into account the frequency response of human ears, meaning that it provides more accurate and relevant loudness readings. This ensures that your audio is measured in a way that reflects how listeners will perceive it, especially across different listening environments. Traditional dB meters do not consider the nuances of human hearing, while LUFS provides a more precise representation of what the average listener will experience.
The HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 is compatible with a wide range of DAWs and audio setups. Whether you’re working on a simple stereo mix or a complex surround sound project, this plugin ensures accurate and consistent loudness monitoring. It’s designed to work seamlessly in both professional and home studio environments, making it an essential tool for anyone involved in audio production, from music engineers to broadcasters.
In terms of performance, the HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 is optimized for low CPU usage, ensuring that it won’t bog down your system during heavy sessions. It allows you to run multiple instances of the plugin without sacrificing performance, which is crucial when you’re working on larger projects or live sessions. This optimization ensures that your sessions remain responsive and efficient, even when you’re working with several tracks or complex setups.
The latest update to HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 (version 2.1.1) brings several improvements to enhance the plugin’s stability and functionality:
Fixed Black GUI Issue in Logic 10.5.x: Some users experienced a graphical issue where the GUI would appear black in certain versions of Logic. This has been resolved, ensuring a smooth visual experience.
Fixed Peak Meters Stuck on “Red”: In previous versions, the peak meters would sometimes get stuck on the “red” indicator at random times. This issue has now been fixed, ensuring that peak levels are accurately displayed.
Fixed Mono Channel Output Issue: When set to mono on a stereo track, the plugin was outputting only the left channel. This bug has been fixed, allowing for accurate mono channel processing.
Fixed Resize Issue in Pro Tools: Users working in Pro Tools had reported issues with resizing the plugin window. This has now been corrected, improving compatibility with the Pro Tools interface.
This update is available for free to existing owners of the plugin and can be downloaded from the user area.
The HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 is a vital tool for anyone serious about achieving professional-grade loudness control in their audio projects. With its comprehensive set of features, including real-time normalization, accurate LUFS metering, and multiple metering formats, it’s the ideal solution for mastering engineers, sound designers, and anyone working in broadcast or post-production environments. The latest update has further improved stability and usability, making it an even more valuable addition to your audio toolkit.
Whether you’re mastering your latest track, working on a film soundtrack, or fine-tuning audio for broadcast, HoRNet ELM 128 MK2 ensures that your work meets the highest standards for loudness and consistency. By providing you with the tools to measure and control loudness effectively, it empowers you to deliver professional audio that performs flawlessly across different media formats and listening environments.
