K Metering

[Old School Audio Guy]

HI
Is there a way to set up meters to the K scales?
If not then this should be a feature request.
Cheers
Perry

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by Old School Audio Guy

HI
Is there a way to set up meters to the K scales?
If not then this should be a feature request.
Cheers
Perry

There is this free K-Meter for Windows and Linux. I'm on Linux and refer to it as a reference.

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/k-meter-by-mzuther

[lunker]

Originally Posted by Old School Audio Guy

Is there a way to set up meters to the K scales?

Yes, this is very easy to do in Reaper. It's too early in the morning for me to post good instructions (I'm just barely awake), but if you right-click on Reaper's master meter you will see options for setting an offset that you can use to scale the RMS meter.

Assuming I'm calibrating to K-14, my general approach is:

1) Put a -14 dB sine wave on a track, and verify that the master meter reads -14 dB peak.
2) Calibrate the master meter so that the RMS meter reads 0 dB (using the offset mentioned above). An extra (but not necessary) step is to set the scale of the RMS meter so that 0 dB RMS lines up with -14 dB peak, but that's strictly a visual thing, and is not necessary for calibrating the monitors.
3) Mute the sine wave, and put -14 dB pink noise on a track.
4) Verify that the master track reads 0 dB RMS (if not, then I set the levels wrong somewhere -- find out where, and fix it).
5) Adjust my monitors to the desired level with an SPL meter. Katz recommends 83 dB SPL per channel, but I usually set mine lower (maybe 77-80 dB) because 83 seems way too loud in my small mixing room.

Hopefully I remembered those steps correctly (still not quite awake yet). Somebody has probably posted a better tutorial for it already.

Or just use a K-meter like the one Glennbo suggested.

EDIT: Here is what I consider to be the "go to" document for K-metering: https://www.digido.com/portfolio-ite...ctices-part-2/
Hopefully the instructions I gave above agree with what's in Bob Katz' document. When in doubt, trust Bob, not me!
If you want more history, see part 1 (https://www.digido.com/portfolio-ite...ctices-part-1/).

PS -- Note that the "part 2" document is an updated version of the original AES publication (https://www.aes.org/technical/docume...KF8UR3cs0PKmSz). The most notable difference is that the original document suggests using 85 dB SPL, while the updated version uses 83 db SPL. He explains that discrepancy in the updated document.

[Old School Audio Guy]

Thanks for all the info
I think I will try the free standalone k meter first and see how that works
I'm just used to using the K scale from my previous DAW Sequoia
But I will give that a try before I try and alter Reaper. I finally got all thing working yet again so I don't want to change anything!
With my luck nothing will work and I will have to start over I already had to do that
But all is good now
Cheers
Perry

[jsaras]

Although not exactly the same the included JS Loudness Meter plugin is a sophisticated LUFS meter is arguably more useful.

One other feature that Reaper has is the "Normalize/Limit" button in the Render menu. It will export audio to predefined LUFS levels and limited to a predetermined true peak level. It makes quick work of level matching and preparing audio for streaming platforms that are picky about that sort of thing.

[Rusty Falcon]

Originally Posted by lunker

The most notable difference is that the original document suggests using 85 dB SPL, while the updated version uses 83 db SPL. He explains that discrepancy in the updated document.

There is an AES document floating around that recommends lower levels for smaller rooms based on room size. My 12x12x15 bedroom that I use for an office and mix room... the recommendation was 76 db SPL.