HoRNet VU Meter MK4 4.1.0 update

We are excited to announce the release of HoRNet VU Meter MK4, the latest version of our digital VU meter plugin, now enhanced with automatic gain staging and a host of new features. This update introduces several powerful improvements designed to optimize your workflow, whether you’re in the recording studio or mixing your tracks.

The HoRNet VU Meter MK4 is more than just a traditional VU meter. It is a digital tool that integrates seamlessly into your workflow by offering automatic gain setting and grouping functions, making it an indispensable asset for both professional and home studios. The VU Meter MK4 allows you to name your tracks and create groups of tracks within your DAW, making it easier to manage large projects and monitor levels across multiple tracks at once.

One of the most powerful features of VUMeter MK4 is its ability to send parameter changes to any instance of the plugin, regardless of whether they belong to the same group. This flexibility makes it possible to adjust settings across the entire project without having to navigate to each instance individually. Furthermore, the plugin lets you view the level of any other instance in the project, making it easier to monitor VU levels across multiple tracks without closing the GUI or switching between tracks. This feature significantly enhances the user experience, especially when working with larger projects that involve multiple tracks and instances of the plugin.

VUMeter MK4 is a versatile tool that proves useful during both the recording and mixing stages of music production. During recording, you can rely on the loudness indicator to get an accurate reading of your signal’s perceived loudness. This is crucial for ensuring that your recordings are properly balanced and that you’re not overloading your recording levels. The VU meter has a 300ms integration time, allowing it to effectively measure and respond to your signal’s loudness without causing unnecessary fluctuations. To further improve your recording technique, you can pair the VU meter with peak meters to maintain a balanced signal. This is important, as keeping the loudness and peak values close to one another ensures a cleaner, more controlled recording that translates better in the mix.

Another essential feature of VUMeter MK4 is the calibration setting, which allows you to adjust the 0VU point to match the optimal level for your A/D converters. By default, the calibration is set to -18dBFS, but you can adjust this according to the specifications of your specific A/D converter. Each converter has its own internal headroom, and this adjustment is necessary to prevent overloading the analog front-end. If your input signal is too hot, especially when pushing close to 0dBFS, you risk distorting the analog stage, leading to an undesirable sound quality.

In the mixing stage, VUMeter MK4 becomes even more valuable. When working on your mix, the VU meter allows you to monitor the loudness of critical tracks, particularly those that have too much energy in the transients but lack the appropriate loudness. These are often the tracks that sound out of place when mixed in with the rest of the session. By using the VU meter alongside a peak meter, you can identify and address any issues, ensuring that every track is perfectly balanced in terms of both transients and loudness.

One of the standout features of VUMeter MK4 is its automatic gain function, which automatically adjusts the internal gain to keep your signal peaks at the desired level. This feature is especially useful when working with analog-emulating plugins, where gain staging plays a significant role in achieving a clean, distortion-free mix. Applying too much gain can introduce excessive distortion, which can accumulate and negatively affect the overall mix. The auto gain function helps to prevent this by automatically adjusting the gain, ensuring that your signal peaks stay within the optimal range. You can set the desired level anywhere between -3 and +3 VU, giving you plenty of flexibility in how you apply this feature to your tracks.

For transient-heavy sounds, there is an added safeguard built into the auto gain function. If a track’s peaks are too strong, the max peak ceiling ensures that the signal doesn’t exceed the set level, preventing clipping and preserving the integrity of the sound. This feature is particularly useful when working with drums or other percussive elements that tend to have sharp, transient peaks.

The grouping function in VUMeter MK4 is another powerful addition. You can group multiple instances of the VU meter together and apply changes across all instances in that group with just a single click. For example, if you have several drum tracks in your project, you can group them and apply the same auto gain, reference, and color settings to all instances within that group. This makes it incredibly easy to manage your mix and ensure that your settings are consistent across all tracks. The “Send to all” option is particularly useful for applying parameter changes to every instance of the plugin, even if they aren’t in the same group. This feature streamlines the workflow, making it more efficient and intuitive to manage the various instances of VUMeter MK4 in your project.

The latest 4.1.0 version of VUMeter MK4 introduces several important bug fixes and enhancements. The update addresses a random crash issue with various DAWs when changing meter colors on macOS. It also includes a reworked group data exchange logic, which allows for better compatibility with sandboxed applications on macOS. Additionally, we’ve fixed an issue that prevented the plugin from being loaded on macOS versions prior to 10.11, and we’ve resolved a VST3 issue that caused tracks to become mono. We’ve also added GUI lights that show the grouping status for every parameter, providing a visual cue to help you keep track of your settings.

As always, the update is free for existing owners of the plugin, and you can download it directly from the user area. If you are currently using VU Meter MK3, you can upgrade to version 4.1.0 for just €1.99.

The HoRNet VU Meter MK4 is an essential tool for any producer, offering advanced features like auto gain staging, grouping, and calibration to optimize your mixing and recording process. Whether you’re working with analog-style plugins or purely digital tools, VUMeter MK4 ensures your levels are perfectly controlled, providing the clarity and precision needed for professional results.