Is there a level meter gadget?

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sandbags
sandbags's picture
Joined: September 27, 2011

Hi.

I'm looking but I can't see any gadget that offers a level-meter facility that can be added to a patch. Being able to monitor levels at different points within a patch seems to me such an obviously useful thing (I do this a lot in Reaktor) that I'm wondering if I am missing something obvious..?

Thanks.

Matt

Lume
Lume's picture
Joined: September 10, 2011

The compressors and limiters have meters.
They're listed under "dynamics" in the contraption list.

Winslow17
Winslow17's picture
Joined: December 29, 2010

Also, in the top menu bar, under View, there's a selection labeled "Show Contraption I/O Activity Indicators." When selected, this causes the inputs and outputs of contraptions, as seen in the Patcher window, to light up in green and, when overloading, red while the patch is actively playing. Just be aware that having this option on when using a large patch of contraptions may tax the CPU sufficiently to slow the rendering of the user interface - at least, that's the case on Mac. For instance, you might see the time cursor stutter in Bassline and Drums.

sandbags
sandbags's picture
Joined: September 27, 2011

Thanks Lume. I'll take a look, presumably I can set a compressor with no appreciable threshold to create a pass-through meter gadget.

I still find it odd that this isn't included as a basic tool. Or maybe I'm just weird in wanting to examine levels in my patches :)

m/

sandbags
sandbags's picture
Joined: September 27, 2011

Thanks for the suggestion Winslow. In this case I'm not so much interested in overloads as comparing levels at various points. But I'll keep in mind for the future.

Cheers,

Matt

Lume
Lume's picture
Joined: September 10, 2011

@sandbags
yeah, i thought this was odd too, but now i see it as a very deliberate design choice!
(don't get me wrong, meters would be nice. and i think Ross will be getting onto improving and making new contraptions in the future)
i worry less about mixing and just get on with it.

@Winslow17
didn't know that! handy =]

sandbags
sandbags's picture
Joined: September 27, 2011

Okay I have found a pretty good workaround.

In the preferences there is an "Audio Output Meters" section that controls which output devices show level meters on the toolbar. By default only the "SoundOut" device is checked however you can add meters for any AuxiliaryOut device too.

So I add meters for AuxiliaryOut1 and then add the aux output device to my patch and wire it up to whatever I want to see a level for. There's a whole bunch of these devices so it would be possible to monitor several points. You're more or less limited by toolbar space.

Matt

Lume
Lume's picture
Joined: September 10, 2011

ha! tops.