Interesting metering option

[Doug Young]

I ran across this tool called Decibel from process.audio today, and downloaded the trial. It's a bit pricey for what it does, at $89, since most people should have all these meters/visualizations in their DAW already. But what's cool is that it has a standalone app that can show what's going on with what's playing on your computer. So if you're checking out a YouTube clip, or soundcloud, or Spotify, whatever, or want to verify that your levels, phase, stereo image, etc are still ok after you've uploaded to one of these places, this makes it pretty easy:

https://process.audio/en/products/decibel

Screen Shot 2022-03-23 at 10.03.49 PM.jpg

[CollingsPicker]

I don’t know if it is the same app. but I’ve been using Decibel X for years and it works great.

[jim1960]

From the text on the website, it looks like this is stand-alone and you have to bounce your track before you can use Decibel. That's a huge inconvenience, imo. The metering program I like is Levels from Mastering the Mix. It's on sale right now for $34 and worth a look.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by jim1960

From the text on the website, it looks like this is stand-alone and you have to bounce your track before you can use Decibel. That's a huge inconvenience, imo. The metering program I like is Levels from Mastering the Mix. It's on sale right now for $34 and worth a look.

I hadn't even tried the plugin version, but no, it acts as a normal VST plugin, real time. I don't find that very interesting because there's nothing new here, just the usual meters. What I thought was worth bring to people's attention was the standalone program for being able to get info on streaming audio. We get someone here every week or two who thinks they're posting a stereo track that's actually mono, and the most recent example was someone who had stereo in their DAW, but somehow it became mono by the time it got to soundcloud. So this app lets you get info on anything that plays on your computer, you tube, soundcloud, itunes, whatever. Good for investigating other's sounds that you like, or verifying that what you have published is what you think it is. There are other ways to do that, but this makes it easy.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I hadn't even tried the plugin version, but no, it acts as a normal VST plugin, real time. I don't find that very interesting because there's nothing new here, just the usual meters. What I thought was worth bring to people's attention was the standalone program for being able to get info on streaming audio. We get someone here every week or two who thinks they're posting a stereo track that's actually mono, and the most recent example was someone who had stereo in their DAW, but somehow it became mono by the time it got to soundcloud. So this app lets you get info on anything that plays on your computer, you tube, soundcloud, itunes, whatever. Good for investigating other's sounds that you like, or verifying that what you have published is what you think it is. There are other ways to do that, but this makes it easy.

Got it. The text gave me the impression it only worked post-bounce and I was thinking that information would be more valuable pre-bounce but if there are people here who are having the issue you described, then post-bounce is necessary. There are threads in which I haven't much involved myself so I didn't realize what you described was an issue. I'll add this plugin to the Masterlist so it's easier for people to find.

Edit... I added it to the Specialty Plugin area. I didn't realize that Wytse Gerichhausen had done a review of this one. I've come to really respect his opinions on plugins and gear so I'm glad to be able to add one of his videos to the list.