HoRNet VU Meter MK4 overview

[@coolvibesradio3267]

I work with orchestral arrangements and between articulations and printed reverb I usually work with at least 300 tracks. gain staging takes me usually one hour but sometimes even more. Then I discover this plugin and now I can do everything in 5 min.. Thank you Hornet! Best Italian Plugin Company!

[@HoRNetWeb]

That’s great! This is exactly the reason why we developed plugins like this!!

[@Khryptic]

Just bought this for £2.60 and it fixed a problem I've spent days trying to fix, and will save me 30 mins per mix going forward. so painless to use. A MUST HAVE

[@HoRNetWeb]

Khryptic thank you very much I’m glad it helped you 😁

[@Mcgiver699]

@@HoRNetWeb Saverio if you could make more videos like this it'll be great. Your plugins are not only great but I would say a must have. Your plugins solve so many problems and ccelerate workflow like no other do and the prices are absolutely ridiculous. Thank you for all your effort.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@Mcgiver699 thank you very much we try to create tools for real life problems ☺️

[@xXShigofumiXx]

So I just got this plugin and this is going to be a permanent part of my post production workflow. Setting dialogue levels with this has saved me so much time.

[@HoRNetWeb]

xXShigofumiXx thank you it’s great we helped you work better!

[@waldekmieszkuniec4047]

Just discovered Your company searching for a good delay and checked other plugins im impressed.. woooow like really im working with 100+ tracks making pro level beats/future house bass house and a lot of other genres this is underrated for a such low price You are getting so powerfull easy to use tool which saves time automatically You can make more profit from it (cause You save time and You made more tracks etc.) Big thanks im so happy mastering will be more faster and easier love it after first try i understand that i will use it forever 🔥🔥🔥

[@HoRNetWeb]

Great! that's all we are about, creating tools that makes you work faster/better and make them accessible to everyone :) Thank you for the support!

[@cbd_miso]

This is a game changer, wow. I cannot wait to use it on every single mix now and get the most out of my plugins. Thank you so much for making gain staging as simple as possible!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you we designed the plugin to make gain stain easier and let you save time, I'm happy if it works for you :)

[@PaulCassidyOrchestrations]

This plugin is fantastic! Add a zero to the price tag and you are selling at a fair price! People will pay a lot more for this. Thank you so much! 😘

[@macreviewz7187]

dont give him any ideas fool...

[@PaulCassidyOrchestrations]

@@macreviewz7187 Yeah I should delete that 😆

[@OilRacki]

First off, I love your plugins. Secondly, this video tutorial is fantastic. I feel pretty confident how to use this plugin after watching the video, and I'm inspired to start using it. Great stuff. I can see this plugin as being a permanent fixture on all my tracks, so it will be part of my default track template now!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much this is very important to us I mean to create tools that helps you in your daily workflow!

[@georgemcaldeira5632]

Hi, Can you add three colours mode, for K-12, K-14 and K-20 systems? example green, yellow and red. And a cool led effect with bars would be cool idea. Thank you

[@bobcabrera3080]

Great video. If I start a project with the Hornet VU Meter Mk4 on every track, and do the auto gain staging BEFORE I start processing/adding other plugins and mixing, can I remove all the instances of Hornet VU Meter Mk4...or di I need to leave them as the first plugin on all tracks?

[@OilRacki]

I'm no pro, but it makes sense to me that you would need to leave the VuMeter instance there. If you took the VuMeter plugin out, the input level of your tracks would be different now, which completely defeats the purpose of using the plugin. However, you could take the value the autogain adjusted your track with and use that value for input gain of your first plugin (if it has an input gain) or some other lower CPU gain plugin in place of VuMeter, though.. then you could drop Hornet VuMeter. I don't think this plugin uses a lot of CPU, but if it became an issue you could use the input gain suggestion, or freeze or bounce tracks out.

[@werkverzeichnis]

I see in the video, that you set the channels to -18dB. In other videos (not from you) the guys have their channels at 0 dB. I use -18dB in the channel and in the reference value. Is that correct? Or do I have to set the channel to 0 dB? And if I substitute one track, metered before with a new one (I have that sometimes after vocal revision), will I have to do the complete gain staging process for all channels again or only for the substituted one?

[@stonelark]

I love Hornet plug-ins! Great reliable plug-ins at an attractive price. This stuff will do things on other plug-ins will. These tutorial videos are an added benefit.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much for the support we hope to help you with your mixes!

[@rabizzle254]

Why didn't I know of this plugin earlier? Stumbled across it on a video, went straight to the website and bought it. Time saver, as one can spend almost 1 hour on initial gain staging. Thanks and well-done Hornet!

[@raverone909]

Glad to see the new version! Been using MK3 for a year or so, and went straight to your site to pick up the MK4 as soon as I saw it. So far, it has some great improvements. A couple of important tips I'd recommend for an update: 1) Please allow the parameters to be adjusted via the scroll wheel on my mouse, as in MK3. 2) The gain and reference adjustments are too sensitive. I went to adjust and the level shot up from 0dB to over +30dB in just a few pixels!! Thanks for helping producers with their workflow. Keep up the great work!

[@HoRNetWeb]

raverone909 hi thank you for the tips 😄 I’m glad you enjoyed the update!

[@muziclock9925]

One question, if I don't use analog modeling plugin should I by default set it to Reference -18dB and Max -6dB? Can you tell us what the 'Reference and Max Peak' should be for AUX busses and Individual tracks??

[@NaiNitis]

Already uprgraded to MK4, have been using MK3 since like mid 2017, and it's basically in all of my sessions, saves a lot of time! Thanks, Saverio :)

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much for your loyalty and support :)

[@FreakyNoyz]

Ciao, complimenti per i vostri prodotti! Ho già un vostro plugin e sto pensando di acquistare anche questo. Non sono un PRO, al momento utilizzo prodotti Akai come software e hardware e mi do al beatmaking. Vorrei capire meglio alcune cose. Una volta create delle tracce inserisco VU meter MK4 come primo plugin in ogni slot di ogni traccia. Mando in play l'intera canzone e una volta stoppato il tasto AUTO va off in automatico. A questo punto il gain di ogni traccia è stato regolato. Poi ci lavori su, aggiungi plugin, EQ, FX etc, di regola il segnale dovrebbe nuovamente salire e sforare no? Quindi cosa fai, rimandi in play la traccia con AUTO ON per regolare di nuovo il gain? C'è qualcosa che mi sfugge. A questo punto non sarebbe meglio mettere VU MK4 come ultimo plugin in ogni traccia in modo che regoli il gain tenendo in considerazione gli effetti precedenti? Grazie.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Ciao, grazie mille 😀 in realtà VU meter deve stare come primo plugin per consentire alle emulazioni analogiche successive di avere un segnale al livello giusto. Cioè poi dipende tutto da quello che vuoi ottenere ma l'idea di base e' raggiungere un emulazione analogica a 0VU cosi da farla lavorare nel suo range ideale. Se dopo tutta la catena i livelli sono cambiati ovviamente puoi usare i fader del mixer della tua DAW, sono li per un motivo 😃

[@benshirleymusic]

Just bought this plugin. Thank you!

[@MerajTypeBeat]

Such a time saver. Thank you so much for this brother!

[@HoRNetWeb]

You are welcome hopefully it’ll help you get faster results!

[@ChuckCreeseProductions]

I just purchased this plugin, not entirely sure how it works though. I placed it on my mixbus, setting it so it doesn't go over -2.0. But ever time I click off it and come back it has reset its self and everything has gone back to the volume to what it was before. Is there a way to stop this? thank you

[@4huge4]

what about gain stage with guitar DI tracks hit a specific plugin lets say neural dsp? how to calculate this any tips?

[@john23336]

Hi, what is the difference between setting the maximum peak at -6 or -12, I don't understand when to set it, and to which value to set it? For example if I mix some guitar and pianos, what max peak I should use? If I mix some synths-leads, what max peak should I use? Could you please tell me more about the max peak? And how to set it accordingly to what is being mixed.

[@HoRNetWeb]

AdrIlIv hi there is no written rule, I usually set it to -6db because this is the higher you can go before creating peaks over 0dB after the reconstruction filter is applied by the D/A converter. If you use analog modeling plugin you probably want to disable it since the peaks would be soft clipped by the analog emulation in those plugins

[@john23336]

@@HoRNetWeb Thanks for the quick reply, it would be helpful if in future you could implement such kind of information in the product manual, or a FAQ(frequently asked questions) so people will know faster what it is about

[@HoRNetWeb]

AdrIlIv 😁 thank you for the suggestion!

[@john23336]

@@HoRNetWeb No problem :)

[@nicochris83]

hello ,great stuff from your team! i would like to ask something...in a channel rack which is the best row ?for example,u put first the vu meter and after all effects and compressors??or the opposite?and if u use in the same channel the lu meter,which is the best row??vu,effects,lu?or something else?thank u in advance

[@HoRNetWeb]

I would use VU meter first to gainstage the tracks, then all the effect chain needed, then LU meter set to integrated, this makes an almost ready rough mix

[@nicochris83]

@@HoRNetWeb ooo perfect :) thanks for responding :) looking forward for your new staff :)

[@georgezorbas6422]

hello..bravo for your plugins and the prices!please whats the differences between VU Mk4 vs LU meter mk2?Are both making automatic gain staging and..what else?

[@HoRNetWeb]

George Zorbas they use two different ways to measure loudness, one uses VU and the other uses LU, the purpose it’s the same but the results are slightly different

[@indiefruit]

Great tool and super easy to use. Makes me much more confident knowing my tracks are all coming out at the same volume before mixing/balancing. I have noticed that when running it on most instruments to get -10db/0VU on my meter, it works instantly, but using it on bass annd kick with the same parameters has the output coming in much lower (-15db). Any reason for this or am I missing something on how this works? Thanks again.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi it all depends on the kind of material, VU measure loudness not peak so the final level depends on the loudness of the source, a kick drum has a lower overall loudness than a distorted guitar for example. Also, VU Meter MK4 has a "peak protection" feature, that means that if a peak is found to be higher that the level set in "maximum" the gain is adjusted so that that single peaks does not exceed that level

[@stephenfell4338]

Hi can you still buy the mk3.? As all the extra features grouping etc on the mk 4 i dont need i just want to set the 2 values hit auto and forget! And move on with the mix

[@manmademoonmusic]

A noob question, but am I understanding the most basic use of this? 1. I'd place one instance MK4 as the first plug in on every track ( or groups of tracks), 2. Zero the mixer sliders 3. Press the Auto button 4. roll the music....and after so long( how long?) I'd stop the music, the Auto lights go out, 5. and I then leave all the instances of the MK4 as the first plug in on each track, but don't necessarily need the GUI open at the point. Is this all correct ? Is any of this correct ? :)

[@HoRNetWeb]

Everything correct :) in general you want to have all your tracks with the right gain before starting to mix (or even whole recording) that's why VU meter is useful. As a rule of thumb I would let all the song play through VU Meter so it can catch every peak

[@larrycavallucci3258]

I have both the VU and LU meters from you. What was a bit confusing in your console, was this.....do you set the Faders to Unity for each track as well as the Main Out ----on Studio One-----before running the meter? When and where is best to place the LU Meter. I've been setting it to -12 DB MAX and the Target to -1 VU. Any comments on those settings of mine? I have about twenty of your plugins, Pison !

[@Gang-25j]

Why would your faders not be at unity gain what gain staging? This was a crazy question bro.. a year ago but I hope you know way more now

[@wrightproductionsuk8318]

Did i miss something? I am sure this plugin makes sence to some but if one has - 18db as a reference the maximum at -2db and the target -2VU then press auto the reading peak at 0. Where is headroom being measured from? This is the most confusing plugin I have ever used so far. Sorry to say.

[@HoRNetWeb]

0Vu means that a sine wave at 1k with a peak level of -18dBFS reads 0 on the meter, VU is a loudness measurement

[@lovelotus1728]

is there an advantage to having the MK4 and the normalizer,? or do you just need the normalizer? If you have both, how would you use them simultaneously?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Love Lotus they are two different plugins, the normalizer is designed for volume normalization while vu meter is a meter first with the addition of a normalization feature

[@lockee77]

great Question :) !!

[@carlosp.1846]

have different results with mk3 and mk4 with the same parameters and AUTO, set to ref-18/peak-6/0Vu , Mk4 gives -5.4db and Mk3 gives-6.3db result with the same sound after analyse. Worst is that Mk4 goes over 0vu (put another Vu after to check). Means i have greater results with Mk3 as it doesn't go over 0vu as requested, question: is Mk4 a downgrade?

[@williambastidas4842]

Hola, qué ocurre si después de aplicarlo quito el complemento de la sesión, se pierde la ganancia que he aplicado?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Yes, it's the plugin that applies the gain so if you remove it you lose the gain adjustment.

[@HumanBeingWithFeelings]

Hi! I bought this plugins years ago but I only have MK3 in my downloads section. how can I get MK4?is it a paid upgrade?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Yes it's a paid upgrade for VUMeter MK3 owners. Just log into our website and go to the plugin page to get the upgrade price.

[@HumanBeingWithFeelings]

@@HoRNetWeb ok thanks

[@Bigsurfle]

ciao . mi stanno piacendo molto i vostri plugin ,molto efficienti e accessibili .Volevo chiederti se potrei applicare questo VU METER su tutte le tracce e magari anche prima di registrare in midi o audio . Complimenti

[@HoRNetWeb]

certo! io lo uso sempre come primo plugin del mix!

[@Bigsurfle]

@@HoRNetWeb ok va bene . Ti ringrazio

[@ThinkTwice-mn8uq]

Hello, Vu meter first and effects and lu meter at last?? It's a good process??

[@HoRNetWeb]

Yes imho, you can use LU meter to get a sort of auto mix doing this way :)

[@ThinkTwice-mn8uq]

@@HoRNetWeb Auto mix ?? I just want to make sure that my strip is at -18dbfs and -18lufs .. If what I'm telling you in my initial question is valid it's OK .. Thank you.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@ThinkTwice-mn8uq Yes it's valid, but since LUFS takes into consideration frequency content, if you normalize every track to a specific LUFS level (it does not matter which one) you are automatically balancing tracks each other, and it sounds surprisingly good. I've made a video some time ago to show this technique

[@ThinkTwice-mn8uq]

@@HoRNetWeb Ok, thanks you. What IS the name of the video please ?

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@ThinkTwice-mn8uq here it is kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIndlmWvlrWnhLc

[@philiplloyd1759]

Absolutely love the cat's ass coat hangers on the wall in the top left of the screen, nice one 🤣👍

[@HoRNetWeb]

Philip Lloyd those are nice hangers 😁 you can find them at IKEA 😂

[@nersonangelo]

I've been using more or less 3 years now really amazing plugin, But I keep wishing there is a feature to lock all controls after "autogaining," or remove all groupings button so there will be no accidental changes to entire groups.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you for the nice suggestion! nobody had this idea before so i'm adding it to our feature request list :)

[@phadrus]

This is a good idea!

[@tri-unetrl3966]

Can you use this to gainstage during the recording process or does it have to be after?

[@HoRNetWeb]

fo course you can use it during recording if your DAW supports inert on the input of the track (reaper does this for example)

[@mentalprogram5256]

Just bought it .. gonna watch this vide then use it.... cant wait

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much for buying 😄 if you have any question just ask!

[@mentalprogram5256]

@@HoRNetWeb It works great. Saves me so much time. Love it.

[@KhavelX]

Good, but mk4 has a small error in the resize skin, it is not possible to make it large and duplicate the stay in pro tools, it gives error pro tools.

[@KenshoTV]

Hi Saverio, I just purchased the vu meter mk4. Use it in cubase pro 12/Windows 11. However I think I ran into a problem. When I have the instrument channel fader set at unity with the VU meter on it, calibrated to -18 max at -12, the signal comes in way too loud while the meter is not hitting the 0VU in the meter, when I select auto, the signal is way too loud instead of the 0VU, what am I missing?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi not really sure I understand your problem here, VU is a loudness measure unit so if you send a short peak to -12dB it may well be that the peak ends before the meter can reach the +3 limit (it takes 300ms to the VU meter "needle" to reach the final level)

[@KenshoTV]

@@HoRNetWeb Peak or rms, I'm looking for a 'set it and forget it'-plugin, so I can do soundprocessing without having to set each plugin's output manually. I thought the vu meter was the solution for this.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@KenshoTV Well you need to know what you want to achieve. if you have a certain loudness requirement or if you need to respect some peak limit. TheNormalizer can do both while VU meter only works with VU

[@KenshoTV]

@@HoRNetWeb Ok, I'm going to dive into that, all I'm looking for is the have my gain stabilised (at -18dbfs) between each processor (eq, compressor etc). The reason I bought the vu meter is because it says it does gain staging automatically, I assumed that would also help to maintain the levekl between the plugins in the chain.

[@topflight2182]

I just bought this plugin. When I use auto it gets the levels and some instrument tracks show 0Vu while other tracks are lower and not reaching 0vu. Also when I see if this plugin is accurate by running the auto gained signal to my daw VU meter the signal readings do not match . Hornets vu meter show zero my Daw vu meter shows a different level reading . Why is this ?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi, a VU meter is not a peak meter so you cannot compare it with the DAW meters. Standard DAW meters show you the actual samples levels while a VU meter shows you the loudness of the signal, for this reason they will always display a different value (which is expressed in VU and not dBs, 0VU is a level which is linked to actual dB level by the "reference" parameter). Also when using auto gain you have to keep in mind that we have a "peak protection" parameter, as explained in this FAQ www.hornetplugins.com/support/faqs#vumeter_4 so it's possible that VU meter won't reach the desired target if the signal is full of short transients.

[@pascalhaux]

Nice when to use the LU meter versus the VU meter for mixing?

[@HoRNetWeb]

P.Records there is no rule, usually it depends on personal preference, both tools measure loudness but they use two different principles. LU is a more modern and accurate way of loudness metering but historically the recording industry relied on vu meters so ma y are accustomed to that

[@pascalhaux]

@@HoRNetWebThanks Saverio what do you usually prefer

[@HoRNetWeb]

P.Records well I usually use vu meter because I’m more used to it

[@pascalhaux]

@@HoRNetWeb Thank you Saverio you've been very helpful.

[@HoRNetWeb]

P.Records you are welcome! If you have more questions just write us!

[@Espresso101]

Just picked it up, what a great time saver. Thank you so much!!!!

[@HoRNetWeb]

SoundGuy great! We hope it’ll improve your workflow 😁

[@Espresso101]

@@HoRNetWeb I noticed a bug so far. When ever I try to set it to -20 as reference, it'll just go to -19 instead and I have to play with it by clicking on it several times before it'll go to -20 by itself. Same thing with trying to set for -16, it'll just go to -15 instead and i have to play with it to get it to go to -16. If u need more details about my system let me know where I message you. Sorry for the trouble but my converters are max output +24dBU which means -20dBFS is be my 0VU reference

[@craiglynch1160]

How did you create the groups?

[@HoRNetWeb]

you don't, there are 8 groups available in side the plugin, simply assign any of the instances you have in your session to any of the eight groups. all the instances on the same group will receive the same settings

[@jakelondon]

How do you have your display offset configured for Reaper's meters?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Sorry I don't think I understand your question

[@jakelondon]

If you right-click on the master fader meters, a global settings dialog box pops up. What settings are you using there for loudness metering, (i.e., Meter, RMS window, Display Offset and Display Gain)?

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@jakelondon right now I have peak + LUFS-M with offset set to -14

[@r_luren]

Can you bounce the track after the auto gain is captured so I can remove plugin?

[@HoRNetWeb]

yes sure! that's what I do all the time :)

[@devoidofskill]

This plugin is beyond based.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you

[@rockwriter9054]

Hi have these tracks in version 4 have to have applied transform to render audio? When using studio one then turn off the plug ins?

[@blkbird]

Wait... so nasty clipping occurs only at the master fader point? It doesn't destroy the sound between plugins? You can clip at the output of a plugin (before the tape plugin, in this case) and it doesn't destroy the sound itself? Can you expand on this a bit, please? This is a new concept to me. Thank you.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Consider that VU is meant to be used with analogue gear. what happens here is that we are normalizing to a certain loudness value (+3VU in the sample) so short peaks in the drum sound will be able to go above 0 very easily, in fact soon after the first demonstration I add HoRNet Tape which is a tape simulation plugin that creates a smooth saturation allowing the tracks to never go to the red. Of course we are still clipping our drums bus and the master bus, but this can be cured simply lowering the bus level

[@alexbreugelmans8448]

Superb!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much!!

[@eliasfinney8892]

Help!! Bought VU meter MK4 over the weekend in the Hornet sale along with some other apps by yourselves and installed them. But for some reason, even though VU meter was scanned like the others its not showing up in my effects list yet the other Hornet apps are. I know its installed correctly as I can see when it scans the VSTs its seen by both Reaper and Bandlab but doesn't show up in either....help please? Thanks

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi sorry we found an issue in the latest windows builds and we are fixing it this month

[@agauerm]

Can it adjust the left and right volume levels of a stereo track?

[@ST-fl5fy]

So... I am confused I am using a guitar plugin. Placing the VU Meter before the guitar plugin or after makes a big difference. Should I place it before or after the guitar amp sim?

[@HoRNetWeb]

you should put it after the guitar sim. It's like recording a guitar in the studio, you plug the guitar in the amplifier then you mike the amp an record the performance. Of course while recording you make sure it does not exceed the 0VU. So the chain is you -> guitar -> sound card -> pedalboard -> amp -> vu meter -> whatever processing chain for the guitar you use

[@ST-fl5fy]

@@HoRNetWeb great thanks for the reply. One more thing I use MK3. I like that look. Is MK4 still the same under hood or is the algorithm different? Apart from the new layout?

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@ST-fl5fy the algorithms are the same, MK4 is more refined in grouping (you can send commands to every instance or just the group) you can see the level of any other vu meter, and the GUI can be resized freely

[@EdwinDekker71]

Good plugin 👍👍👍

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much!

[@kiddo3670]

Hi! I purchased the Hornet VU meter mk 4. I tried copying x64dll and placed it at steinberg then vst plugins but still cant see it at ableton live. I also re scanned my plug ins in preferences. Please help

[@HoRNetWeb]

Keith hi could you please open a support ticket on our website so we can give you assistance? Thank you

[@jackc8120]

What's the cpu usage in ableton on windows for this meter? Thank you

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi I can't give you exact figures as the CPU usage varies depending on CPU, sample rate and buffer size, but VU Meter is usually very light on CPU!

[@TjKdlc]

Very nice ! Thanks Saverio !

[@HoRNetWeb]

Julien Thuiland you are welcome!

[@AlphaDynamics22]

I love this! Purchasing today. I do think it'd be nice if the name was just copied from the track (although in most DAWs you can see it above). This would allow us to see the names nicely in the VU meter but only have to rename instances that for some reason really needed a different name.

[@HoRNetWeb]

That’s something we want to add to the plugin too!

[@CHOKSTARmusic]

So, I would suggest a few things. Please take it as constructive criticism. Now, first of all, this and Lu meter, both are just awesome. No complain. They work as they should. But what I like to say is, 1. As VST3 plugins, can get the 'Track Name' info from the tracks ( or channels), it would be nice, if the VST3 versions of this and LU meter can get the Name from the tracks themselves so that we don't have to type in the names. 2. In studio one, if I save a zoomed version and then reopen the session, the plugin looks unnatural, although sounds right.

[@HoRNetWeb]

CHOKSTAR thank you very much for the suggestions, we’ll add the track name in the next update

[@cgonzt5636]

Hello I’m interested, but is this different from Auto gain pro?

[@HoRNetWeb]

They are completely different things, AutoGain Pro is a gain rider that continuously adjust gain to follow a reference, while VU Meter is a metering tool that can also normalize your track to a given level.

[@onzkicg]

@@HoRNetWeb Thanks! So if I only need something to make all my tracks have consistent same levels- I use Vu Meter? It’s like preparing all tracks for future mastering.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@onzkicg yes it's one of the tools you can use, but for better consistency i recommend using LU Meter MK2 in integrated mode. LU is today's standard for referring loudness

[@elysiumsky]

Thank you, This is the absolutely the most useful plugging ever!

[@HoRNetWeb]

elysium sky thank you very much we are happy that we helped you with your mix!

[@tri-unetrl3966]

What I don't understand is If I'm using this to gainstage while I'm recording tracks one by one why do I have to hit the auto button every single time when their all in the same group??? They should all be set at the same gain that I set which in my case is set at 0db VU.

[@HoRNetWeb]

The gain is set accordingly to the audio you are recording. so every track needs a different gain to put everything at 0VU (remember VU measure loudness not peak) Also the auto button in conjunction with the grouping function is useful when you have to record many tracks together (like while recording drums) since you set the levels to 0 VU at once on many tracks with just one click

[@alpearson]

Awesome plugins. Keep up the good work. 👍👍👍👍

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much :)

[@alanmev]

this plugin looks better than "The Normalizer", but why normalizer is more expensive?

[@gabrielrf1]

Is there a way to keep autogain on in order to automate gain throughout a track? I want my bassline to stay at the same level throughout my track even though I am modulating saturation.

[@gabrielrf1]

Guess that's what your AutoGain plugin is for *facepalm*

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@gabrielrf1 You are right, or the AutoGain series, or TheNormalizer in continuous mode :)

[@MarvelJAM]

Could the VST3 version pull the track name? BTW. Love your plugins. Great and creative video

[@HoRNetWeb]

MarvelJAM as far as I know this is not part of the specs, I can do that with special extensions specific to each daw , I know for sure that reaper allows it

[@MarvelJAM]

@@HoRNetWeb Thank you for answering. It would be a cool thing but sounds like more work thank I had hoped

[@inFreestyle]

how it works with VST Instruments?

[@HoRNetWeb]

you have to put it after the VSTi, are you having a specific issue?

[@44gg37]

What about its CPU usage? Can my 2012 Mac run it through the whole mixing session?

[@HoRNetWeb]

It depends on the number of tracks :) Reaper reports between 0% and 0.1% usage for an instance on an i5 mid 2012 Macbook Pro

[@christianbasa9738]

I think one thing that confuses me is do you keep it on all your channels when you're mixing, do you turn on the auto gain to see what it should be and then set it in the vst and remove hornet, or do you export the audio with hornet on and just mix the stems. I feel like I'm just not understanding

[@HoRNetWeb]

well there is no just one way to go. you can simply leave the plugin there or use the info to set the gain on a trim plugin (not ideal imho) or (and this is what i do) bounce in place after gain staging.

[@bikesandbeats4693]

Why not have the Name function of the plugin simply follow the name of the track it's inserted on so you don't have to manually type in the name?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Yes, the latest version does this, but it does not work on VST since the standard does not support this feature

[@bikesandbeats4693]

@@HoRNetWeb OK. I’m using AAX. I just purchased the plugin on 1/23. Has there been an update since then? I used it yesterday and the track names didn’t auto populate.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@bikesandbeats4693 sorry I got mistaken, we haven't update VU Meter MK4 yet with that feature. It'll come soon.

[@jorgstagge9547]

Using it in the new ProTools under WIN10, Failure happen when ya activate plugin 1st time all is well window open you set your parameters all well. But when you deaktivate the plugin and reactivate later you have a empty screen in pluginwindow

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi could you please open a support ticket on our website so we can keep track of the issue?

[@Genre_Genius]

Why did you remove hornet vu meter from snare up and down channel? Btw awesome review!!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Sumit Shrestha becaus this two tracks are bussed together to the snare track and treated like they are a single one

[@Genre_Genius]

Thank you!!

[@brown3460]

Is this compatible with the MPC ren running 1.9 software on a MacBook?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Mark Brown we haven’t tested it with MPC but as long as it supports the VST or VST3 standard it should work

[@jerryg7491]

Thanks so much...Brilliant!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you very much for your support :)

[@hr2186]

Hate I missed all the Xmas sales!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Keep on following us we have sales very often! :)

[@erkamau9629]

wich setting for gain staging in recording phase ?

[@HoRNetWeb]

it depends on your converters headroom, usually the default -18dFS is fine. then you aim for the level you want, i prefer to stay at 0VU for vocals, bass or other type of sound that does not have strong transients, while on drums i go to 3VU

[@rafalvarezsevilla]

this is great, you are great, thanks dude!

[@HoRNetWeb]

Thank you :)

[@realmusic4you]

Greetings, I do not see the upgrade in my account. It still shows the MK3 version How do I Get The Update?

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi the HoRNet VUMeter MK4 is a paid upgrade from the MK3 version. To get the upgrade price just go to www.hornetplugins.com log into your account and go to the VU Meter MK4 page, you'll be shown the 1,99€ upgrade price.

[@Acoustribute]

Can’t for the life of me figure out how to install this on Studio One after purchasing and downloading. Anyone help me out?

[@Hellridermario]

Hi, just move the plugin files to their respective plugin folders. If you're on Mac go to your hard drive - library - Audio - Plugins. Put the plugins in their respective folders. If you're on PC, guessing that you're in x64 go to: Disc C - Program Files - Vst Plugins and put there the VST plugin. For VST3 on the same Program Files folder go to: Common Files . And there you will find the VST3 folder

[@tri-unetrl3966]

I noticed that sometimes this doesn't work. sometimes it doesn't gain stage a track. What's up with that???

[@HoRNetWeb]

Honestly without giving me more details it's hard to say. if you have an issue you could open a support ticket on our website www.hornetplugins.com

[@tri-unetrl3966]

@@HoRNetWeb Sometimes the meter doesn't reach 0db VU when it's set to 0db VU.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@tri-unetrl3966 make sure you have the "maximum" setting turned off, if it's left at -6dB it may prevent the VU from reaching the level you set. Please refer to our FAQ (www.hornetplugins.com/support/faqs/) and the user manual

[@iamhear_officially]

Does anyone know why the AUTO button doesnt stay on when I push it? It always goes back for some reason. This plugin is great but I dont know how to solve this.... its a big deal that the AUTO gain gets switched off randomly. Thanks to anyone who can help! I appreciate it :)

[@HoRNetWeb]

The auto button should switch off by itself only when you press stop because the plugin has already analyzed the audio and has already set the gain level. the same happens when you save a session, the auto button is never saved as active because you don't want to start computing all the gains again every time you re open your project

[@hettovennik2887]

Clever!

[@cedricmi]

It really doesn't look like a VU Meter. It would be great to be able to choose the traditional needle-type representation.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Hi Cedric, it's designed like this to be more useful in a screen, it occupies the space horizontally so you can fit more instances on a 16:9 monitor. Also a bar display is more visible (in fact every meter since the invention of le LED is made as a bar) the needle was an old analog way to display stuff that is really not fit for a digital monitor. Bu if there is enough demand we can also add a needle display.

[@tri-unetrl3966]

Why does it have to jolt in volume so high after turning on auto and pressing play??? You should add ear protection on a new update so it doesn't have to blast that loud in someone's ears it's very annoying! I'm sure everyone would agree. Something to think about...

[@HoRNetWeb]

well it all depends on how far are your recordings are form the target you set. honestly it never happened to me that VU Meter ad to work more than 6 - 8 dBs . The only thing we can do is slow the gain change to avoid doing sudden changes...

[@mikelo303]

Cool plugin. Video should be 3 min long. No tape example as it's just confusing. Just simple how to set it and how to use it. Still great plugin.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Since many asks on our support board what the "max peak protection" does i simply thought that this kind of explanation was useful

[@AlphaDynamics22]

@@HoRNetWeb You were correct. That was a great example and helped my workflow. I disagree with the previous comment. I would have like to see what you do in a full mix. I would have liked to see how you would have used the plugin on other groups, busses, and the master potentially.

[@OilRacki]

​@@HoRNetWeb I thought the example of using Tape was pretty useful and now I'm going to be using that in my own workflow.

[@HoRNetWeb]

@@OilRacki great! I'm happy if I helped you in some way :)

[@CestLaVie73]

If you change drums, gain is same...you can see different drums but cannot change invidually parameters. Could be nice if that change happened too, right?

[@HoRNetWeb]

sorry i don't think i understand what you mean...

[@LucaSten432]

VSt italiano e spiegato in inglese da 1italiano. Quando si dice l'itala non ha mercato... Non ho parole , anzi una parolina in inglese la dovrei scriverei. Comunque complienti per il Plug in.

[@HoRNetWeb]

Ciao francamente quando ti rivolgi al mi do intero devi farlo in inglese che è l’unica vera lingua universale

[@Kcgrade095]

How would this affect your cpu if you have it on every channel?

[@HoRNetWeb]

The plugin is very light, especially when the interface is closed, but to save all the CPU you can you can simply bounce in place after the gain staging is finished

[@eliaszerano3510]

MacBook about to lift off, r is someone using a vacuum cleaner in that room ?

[@HoRNetWeb]

elias zerano ahah nope just fan noise 🤣

[@WiseOaf]

Good plugin! I have idea about new plugin to Meter family. How about the mothership meter plugin - Meter Bridge. It can take information from others Meter plugins in session and visualise it in one UI window with ability to control gain, pan and some other parameters. Main idea - it's should be like mixer in DAW but more compact and universal, like visual mixer from izotope, but more precise because of good metering and more classic fader type controls. I see it like Softube Console One software UI with gain faders (simple rounded rectangle with light opacity) right on meters for saving space. I have visual representation if you interested.

[@HoRNetWeb]

That's one thing I wanted to do but found a lot of difficulties in making it usable when more than 16 channel where displayed at once on the screen. Scrolling renders the thing useless and decreasing the size of meters and putting them on two lines may make them very small if we go above 32 channels. And trust me I had clients that hit the limit of 128 instances of VU Meters that I had in the previous grouping system

[@WiseOaf]

@@HoRNetWeb Ahh, ok. I understand. I think that's why izotope Visual Mixer not exactly a mixer, but a panel with small rounds. So, maybe in the future you solve the main problems and release something like that, or simplified version on 24 channels for example. I thinking about not channel by channel control, but rather main buses (group of channels) control.

[@tri-unetrl3966]

Helloooooo??