Hi all. Relatively new to Reaper, definitely new to the forum -- first post.
I've reviewed Ian Shepherd's info on LUFS concepts, in particular
http://productionadvice.co.uk/lufs-dbfs-rms/. This webpage has a link to a pink noise .wav file that should, according to Ian, read out at about -11.5 dB RMS and/or LUFS on the meter. I loaded this pink noise .wav file into Reaper to check out its metering. I also used ToneBoosters TB_EBULoudness plugin to get a LUFS readout.
Before getting very far I had to investigate Reaper's master meter settings which are displayed by right-clicking the master meter. I set the "Top Label" to show "RMS" and set the "Display offset" to "0.0" to get raw uncompensated values.
Playing the pink noise track showed an RMS reading of -14.2 dB, which is about 3 dB under the target of -11.5 dB.
The Ian Shepherd webpage describes how a meter will read 3 dB too low if the meter was incorrectly calibrated using a square wave rather than a sine wave; according to AES, a sine wave is the correct waveform to calibrate a meter for music.
I see that Reaper's master meter settings also has a "Display gain" option to add 3 dB to the meter readout. When I use this +3 dB display gain and re-run the analysis, Reaper shows an RMS reading of -11.2 dB, which is essentially the correct reading. (I note that TB_EBULoudness gives a LUFS readout of -11.3 LUFS.)
So, after all that, my questions are: Is the Reaper master meter incorrectly calibrated using a square wave thus reading 3 dB too low? If so, is it advisable to set and keep the "Display gain" to +3 dB?
[Forgive me if any of this has been previously addressed. I searched the forum to see if it had, didn't see anything, and before long I'm sidetracked for hours reading other posts!]
Reaper V5.973 x64
Does Reaper master meter read 3 dB too low?
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