Ive never had the VU meters moving around funny.
Actually it’s weird… I haven’t run into most of the issues people on here have had with plug ins OR Ntrack… maybe I’m getting a well deserved break in at least one area of my life 
The lower boundary of the rec-VU meter’s range is -60dB (with me at least - maybe that’s a setting somewhere?).
So if your soundcard’s noise is visible, it is probably also audible.
If you apply compression to that, it can of course become very audible.
IMHO a soundcard with input noise over -60dB isn’t really fit for serious recording.
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| The lower boundary of the rec-VU meter’s range is -60dB (with me at least - maybe that’s a setting somewhere?). |
Rightclick on the Vu and select “range”.
Back Again, on this Thread:
Nils K, talked about back in the Dark Days with a P-11 machine… That’s where I was, with the Blue Plugs… It may not have been the plugs, as much as it was the P-11 celeron 300khz. machine, with the S/B PC 128 audio card.
However, I’m wrestleing with these two Intel P-111 machines now, that have entirely different issues…
I don’t expirence any of these issues with the Intel P-4 Studio Tracking Machine that has '98SE installed, as it’s Desk… After the “Tracking Files” get created, is, when the issues begin to surface… At least in the set-up I have here…
If I continue the post production in build 1516, with '98SE as the operating system I have no issues to report… It’s importing the .wav files into the XP inviroment that “Work-Arounds” become nessessary…or begin to rise to the surface… The tracks need to be re-imported into n-Track and XP Desks for post production, if that’s what you call it…
I’m discovering that I have no “Stable Inviroment”, beyond the Tracking operation, of producing the completed product… unless I continue through to the completed/end product, with '98SE, as the Operating System…
The only way I can see that might help is, to migrate beyond this Bottle-Neck is, to toss out these P-111’s and build a couple of Hi-END P-4’s to replace these out-dated P-111’s…
You see, I haven’t found a way to be comfortable, editing and putting tracks, together, in the “Tracking” Inviroment/Studio, setup… Of course, I go back to that inviroment, from time-to-time, while the “end product” is comming together… Well, that’s whats happened, in the recent past…
So… this migrating to XP, has become a BIG Bottle-Neck, for me, and this operation… But, I’ve completed some projects, useing XP only, as the Desk…
Bill…
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| IMHO a soundcard with input noise over -60dB isn’t really fit for serious recording. |
Hi hansje:
Perhaps, you mean, the opposite? -50db is a poorer number for “Noise Floor… -70 is a better noise-floor figure… Lots of mulit-track 1” and 2" tape machines, in the '80’s had S/N spec’s in the -60 db range… The tape noise, itself, had noise floors in-and-around -55 db’s… Noise floors better than that or in the -70’s or better ment, the production, had to crossover, into "Digital editing, inviroment… meaning A-D Mastering… Well???
Bill…
Bill,
I don’t mean the opposite. -50dB is over -60dB isn’t it? So noise under -60dB is better than noise over -60dB.
I don’t think we disagree here.
Since the VU meter range appears to be tweakable, all remarks about moving meters without input signal are meaningless without knowing the meter range.
Yea… I’ll think about this… Meter reading/settings are relative meanings… I’ll rethink this… Sorry… I have to go back to work…
Bill…
Hi hansje:
I’m back… with a reply, after thinking-and-mulling about this VU Meter thought…
I seem to think about VU Meter readings as an rms. A.C Voltage measurment concept, applied to a generated tone in khz. For example… a 1khz. tone expressed in db’s would be equal to .775 v.a.c. @ 0db… At -10db the voltage would be equal to .336 v.a.c. and-so-on, till at -60db the a.c. voltage generated would be an arithmetic figure expressed in logrithmic terms. and be equal to so-many milli-volts a.c. However, I stand corrected on the actual figure, in milli-volts a.c. important… but not here…
So, if the meter senativity on the n-Track editor, has an adjustment/configuered value of say -60 db… then the meter response is more senisitive to an a.c. voltage reference than a VU Meter value of… say -40db…
So… a signal-to-noise ratio of -90 db’s… expressed in milli-volts a.c. has a noise floor spec. much better than a signal-to-noise figure of -40 db. expressed in volts a.c. in relative, terms…
It was discussed some time ago here on the Board regarding the up-grading… and how difficult, it would be to improve the metering concept of n-Track to incoperate a http://www.dorrough.com/dorrough/ Meter concept in digital terms into n-Track…
In my way of thinking, that would place n-Track… Head-and-shoulders above any multi-track editor on the market, today, and in the future… But nobody seemed to agree with this “Fantic” idea/concept I have… regarding this…
It seems that there is no software equivilent to this meter… If I knew how to write in computer-terms, I would be in the middle of creating a Durrough/Digital Meter for use in multi-track editors… I don’t think I have a chance at arriving at this knowledge base, in my life-time, if I can’t make a couple of P-111 computers behave, properly…
Bill…