MAAT DRMeter Mk2 metering plugins

Recording, Mixing and Producing
#1

@OMas from MAAT…

Can you tell us a little more about the DRMeters Mk2 and why/how its different/better than Waves, Nugen, Izotope, Tc Electronics, or stock Nuendo meters.

Thanks…looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

#2

Hey Jonathan,

Sure, here goes…we at MAAT have intimate knowledge of metering, both standards and implementation. Some of the unique features of DRMeter MkII (DRM2) are:
• DRMeter MkII is the first loudness measurement tool specifically designed for music as well as broadcast production & post
• DRMeter MkII combines R128 & A/85 metering with DR & DRi Dynamic Range measurement
• It’s the only Loudness meter that displays channel–specific trends and events by augmenting mandated mono measurements with classic L/R metering to control problem areas without the need of another meter
• DRM2 premiers the Dynamic Deviation™ & Dynamic Margin™ functions, for an intuitive presentation of current dynamic density compared to Target Loudness & TP Threshold
• DRMeter MkII is the first loudness meter with DualVu™, displaying both Relative and Absolute scales simultaneously for more intuitive and easier to understand measurement.

In addition, DRMeter MkII features include:
• Multiple metering modes are visible simultaneously making important parameters foremost for specific job demands (You can set up your fave collection of metrics as a preset)
• Measurement proceeds for all metrics in the background, allowing for quick switching of standards without losing context
• Dynamic Deviation™ offers lucid Loudness management when mastering for different Loudness–normalized music distribution platforms
• Individual Left/Right values for Max. Short Term, Max. Momentary & True Peak to spot trends & channel–specific issues
• Three metering modes: L-Mode (Loudness), D–Mode (Dynamic Range) & Integrated (Loudness)

  • Mode toggles between RMS, Momentary & Short–term Loudness
  • Mode toggles between DR (estimated DR), PSR (SPPM–to–Short–term Ratio) & LRA (Loudness Range)
  • Integrated Mode toggles between DRi (DR) & LUi (Program Loudness)
    • 30 dB Zoom Scale for non–broadcast applications
    • R128 Gate defeat for non–EBU regions & channels
    • Real time, one button Mastered for iTunes (MfiT) metering and monitoring seamlessly integrates MfiT into mastering workflows

One thing to notice is the inclusion of the emerging PSR standard rather than the non–standardized PLR. There’s plenty more info on our product page, and in the downloadable user manual in our Support section…Hope this answers many of your questions.

#3

@OMas, any chance a 5.1 version is coming down the road?

#5

Hey Jonathan,

Fer sure. Multichannel versions of all our products are on the development roadmap. We gotta get the stereo versions out first though!
We’re considering MPEG-H support as it includes all forms, including (old skool) discreet, objects and Ambisonics.

OMas

#6

That’d be really cool!! I would love try the ambisonics version if you guys are able to pull it off. How difficult would it be for you guys to develop this? Is it the same technology in a different box? Or do you have to re-think the thing all together?

#7

A bit of both actually. Though the whole UX is different for stereo and multichannel, some of the underlying code could be modified and reused.
We’ll see…Can’t put the cart before the horse just yet!

#8

Back in the day, asked [quote=“Jonathan, post:1, topic:3371”]
how its different/better than Waves, Nugen, Izotope, Tc Electronics, or stock Nuendo meters
[/quote]

A couple of things:

First off, our CEO, Friedemann, is one of the folks on the ploud group of the EBU, the folks who designed R 128 (which spawned A/85). He’s also a mastering engineer who found that, waaaay before R 128, there was no consistent measure of subjective loudness. So, he started the PMF or Pleasurize Music Foundation. The PMF’s mission, I was a PMF board member long before F.T. and I founded MAAT, was twofold:

1. promote sane loudness processing in pop music/suggest alternatives in the Loudness Wars and

2. create and promote a new way of measuring subjective Loudness for pop music that actually aligns subjectively with the way we perceive how loud music is.

We at the PMF started the conversation that eventually led to R 128, and the Loudness control measures mandated worldwide. That, in turn, led to the Loudness normalization you find hiding in most all streaming services today. The result; nowadays if you engineer music “too loud,” it’ll actually be gain reduced on playback making it quieter than the songs around it!

Item 2 above: if you’re gonna engineer sanely, you need tools, and that’s one of the things that the DR Dynamic Range standard promotes — a standard that millions of engineers and enthusiasts use to gauge relative loudness of popular music.

So, the DR family of MAAT tools includes DR measurement, which is unique. Combine that with an easy to understand design and thoughtful user experience, and you have some great “weapons in your arsenal” for addressing perceived Loudness.

#9

But what specifically is unique about it? Insight 2 gives you LUFS, then you export the graph of loudness over time to an excel spreadsheet and print it. You then go back and address loudness (using the chart which gives you min/sec) in the specific areas of the film or broadcast mix that exceed anything that will give your client grief from the FCC or the broadcast stations limiter algorithms. What are you saying DR measures for us that LUFS doesn’t?

#10

So, R128 and A/85 Loudness was originally designed to control perceived loudness of advertising. All other genres and forms of content came along for the ride, so to speak. To quote from the DRMeter page, the DR algorithm “…looks at the loudest 20% of the instantaneous signal, (while) LRA (and the rest of R128) purposefully ignores the top 5% of a track’s dynamic deviation, making it unsuitable for the evaluation of the dynamics of music.
DRMeter MkII also includes PSR or Sample Peak (SPPM)–to–Short–term Loudness Ratio, another way to evaluate Loudness as defined by the AES. PSR is a more modern and “accurate” metric, in the perceptual sense, than the more common PLR. Both DR and PLR align more closely with our hearing perception that R128 metrics since R128 was tuned for completely automatic machine control of Loudness. Bottom line: it’s good to have several metrics available in order to achieve the client’s intent, regardless of delivery platform.