SSL Meter Plug-in - User Guide

03 April 2023 15:11

Introduction

The SSL Meter plug-in brings all your essential metering needs to your DAW. It integrates with the SSL 360 Plug-in Mixer and software, and by extension has first-class integration with the SSL UF1 hardware controller.

Key Features

Classic digital metering
Analogue (VU/PPM) meters
Sound field metering (phase correlation and balance)
Real-Time-Averaging (RTA)
Fully re-scalable GUI

Supported Platforms and Hosts

For compatibility information about plug-ins, visit the Plug-in Operating System and DAW Compatibility FAQ.

When we release an SSL plug-in, we test it on all Windows and macOS operating systems that aren't End-of-Life (EOL) at the time of release.

The versions listed below are the latest on which we have officially tested the the product.

It is possible for our products to work on platforms outside of this list. However, if your host, host version or operating system is not listed here, we recommend you demo the product before purchase to confirm that it works correctly.

Hosts/DAWs

The plug-in has been tested in the following hosts:

FL Studio
Ableton Live
Logic Pro
Reaper
LUNA
Pro Tools
Cubase & Nuendo
Studio One

Demo/Trial

To demo this plug-in, you can simply download it from the product page and run it up in your host - the software will guide you through the rest of the process.

Download and install the plug-in.
Open your DAW/host.
Insert the plug-in to commence activation (sometimes this will happen when the plug-in is scanned on startup, depending on your DAW/host).
When you see 'Activation is required', click 'Try'.
Log into your iLok account and click 'Next'.
Select a location to activate the license to, and click 'Next'.

Installation and Download

You can download installers for a plug-in from the website's Download page, or by visiting a plug-in product page via the Web Store.

All SSL plug-ins are supplied in VST, VST3, AU (macOS only) and AAX (Pro Tools) formats.

The installers provided (macOS Intel .dmg and Windows .exe) copy the plug-in binaries to the common VST, VST3, AU and AAX directories. After this, the host DAW should recognise the plug-in automatically in most cases.

Simply run the installer and you should be good to go. You can find more information about how to authorise your plug-ins below.

Licensing

Visit iLok, Licensing and Activation for guidance in activating your SSL plug-in.

360° Plug-in Mixer + UF1/UC1/UF8

The SSL Meter is a 360-enabled plug-in, and integrates with the SSL 360° Plug-in Mixer.

Since the Meter plug-in is controllable from the 360° Plug-in Mixer, it has first-class integration with the powerful UF1 hardware control surface. For more information on the UF1 integration & SSL 360° please refer to the UF1 user guide.

Top Bar

BYPASS

Bypasses all plug-in processing.

SLOT NUMBER

Displays the slot number of the Meter plug-in instance within the SSL 360° Plug-in Mixer Centre Section.

TRACK NAME

When using a compatible DAW, the name of the current track will be detected by the plug-in and shown here.

360°

Clicking the 360° button will launch the SSL 360° Plug-in Mixer, your virtual SSL console. If SSL 360° is not installed, it will show you more information about SSL 360° and how you can download it.

RESET

Resets all metering in the plug-in.

Overview Module

The Overview module displays a summary of digital metering and stereo information.

TRUE PEAK (TP)

Turns on True Peak metering. When True Peak metering is enabled, the peak is still measuring the maximum level that your signal reaches, but True Peak mode oversamples the signal for a more accurate reading; and it will show any inter-sample peaks.

DIGITAL METERS TYPE

Selects the type of Digital Metering shown in the Overview.

Choose from Non-Linear, Linear and K-System options.

Non-Linear - non-linearly spaced scale 0, -5, -10, -20, -30, -40, -60, -∞ dBFS
Non-Linear 2x - same as 'Non-Linear' but shows a higher resolution above -30 dBFS
Linear - linearly 5 dB spaced scale from 0 to -50 dBFS
Linear 2x - same as 'Linear' but with a minimum display of -25 dBFS
K-20 - K-Scale metering with -20 dBFS anchor point
K-14 - K-Scale metering with -14 dBFS anchor point
K-12 - K-Scale metering with -12 dBFS anchor point

DIGITAL METER BARGRAPHS

The selected type of digital metering is displayed here. Click on an overload segment above the bars, or either max text meter, to clear all overloads in this section.

PEAK/TRUE PEAK METERING READOUTS

Displays the Current Peak or True-Peak value, and the Maximum Peak value since the last reset. Readouts will turn red when clipping occurs. Click to reset.

RMS METERING READOUTS

Displays the current RMS/Average value, and the the Maximum RMS/Average value since the last reset. Readouts will turn red when clipping occurs. Click to reset.

BALANCE METER

Indicates the overall left-right balance of your mix. Helps you to easily identify if your stereo image is being 'pulled' to the left or right of centre.

LISSAJOUS VECTORSCOPE

The Lissajous Vectorscope plots the difference between left and right channels on an XY axis that has been rotated 45 degrees. Vertical pattern readings indicate similarity between left and right (mono activity).

PHASE CORRELATION METER

Indicates the phase correlation of the stereo signal. +1 means perfectly in phase, -1 means perfectly out of phase. Persistent negative readings suggest mono compatibility issues.

Overview Module - Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are accessed using the 'Cog' icon in the bottom bar.

DIGITAL METERS PEAK HOLD

Sets the hold time for the Peak segment.

DIGITAL METERS RMS INTEGRATION TIME

Sets the RMS integration time for the Digital Meters

LISSAJOUS FADE TIME

Determines how long the history of the Lissajous stays on screen.

Analogue Meters Module

The Analogue Meters module displays instantaneous level values on a set of meters like the kind you would find on a piece of analogue hardware.

ANALOGUE METERS MODE

Selects the type of Analogue Metering. Choose from VU or PPM.

ANALOGUE METERS REFERENCE LEVEL

Sets the reference level in dBFS for the Analogue Meters. The meter reading is also affected by the choice of 0 VU line-up, which is covered under 'Advanced Settings'.

ANALOGUE METERS - VU

Volume Unit Meter. Works in a similar way to human hearing providing an averaged representation of signal level.

The main needle (black) shows the current value whilst a secondary Max Value needle (red) shows the maximum value reached since the VU meters were last reset.

The overload indicator will light up when the level exceeds 0 dB.

ANALOGUE METERS - PPM

Peak Programme Meter - Type II. Also known as a Quasi PPM. Favoured by many as a useful tool in helping to achieve a good programme balance.

The main needle (white) shows the current value whilst a secondary Max Value needle (red) shows the maximum value reached since the VU meters were last reset.

The overload indicator will light up when the level exceed 6 dB.

Analogue Meters Module - Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are accessed using the 'Cog' icon in the bottom bar.

0 VU LINE-UP

Determines the 0 VU line up. +4 dBu equals 0 VU is the Standard VU method. -2 dBu equals 0 VU is the French method.

MAX NEEDLE

Determines the hold time of the Max Value Needle.

DUAL FORMAT

Determines if the Analogue Meters are reading left-right or mid-side signals.

Real Time Analyser (RTA) Module

The Real Time Analyser (RTA) module displays the frequency spectrum of the source.

Bar graph

Each represents the level of the signal in that frequency band (lighter colour), and the peak hold value is displayed in the background (darker colour).

Selecting a band

To select a band, simply click it. When a band is selected, it will be highlighted. The currently selected band, current and max values are displayed above the graph.

Mousing over a band

When you mouseover a band, information about this band will temporarily be displayed. This will also temporarily override the selected band.

RESET PEAKS

Resets the Peak Hold metering on the RTA graph.

RTA BAND FREQUENCY

Displays the current frequency selection of the RTA graph.

CURRENT RTA BAND READOUT

Displays the current value of the RTA band.

MAX RTA BAND READOUT

Displays the maximum value of the RTA band since the last reset.

Real Time Analyser (RTA) Module - Advanced Settings

Advanced settings are accessed using the 'Cog' icon in the bottom bar.

RTA PEAK HOLD

Sets the Peak Hold time for the RTA. The Peak Hold for the RTA is indicated by the darker fill in the background.

RTA SCALE TOP

Sets the value represented at the top of the RTA bar graph.

RTA SCALE BOTTOM

Sets the value represented at the bottom of the RTA bar graph.

RTA ANALYSIS SOURCE

Determines which signal(s) the RTA is representing on screen.

L+R Sum - the left+right sum of the signal
Left Only - only the left side of the signal
Right Only - only the right side of the signal
Mid - only the mid (mono) component of the signal
Side - only the side (stereo) component of the signal

RTA WEIGHTING

Determines if A-Weighting is applied to the RTA or not. A-weighting more accurately reflects human hearing.

RTA AVERAGING

Sets the averaging time of the RTA. When set to 'Real Time' then no time averaging is applied. When set to 'Infinite'

Presets

All of our plug-ins ship with carefully designed presets to aid your workflow.

Factory presets are included in the plug-in installation, installed in the following locations:

macOS: /Library/Application Support/Solid State Logic/PlugIns/Presets/[Plug-in Name]

Windows: C:\ProgramData\Solid State Logic\PlugIns\Presets\[Plug-in Name]

Switching between presets can be achieved by clicking the left/right arrows in the preset management section of the plug-in GUI, and by clicking on the preset name which will open the preset management display.

The Preset Management menu reflects the folder structure of the preset folder.

Revert Changes and Delete

Revert Changes discards any changes to the current preset.
Delete removes the current preset from the filesystem. Factory and Producer presets cannot be deleted from the plug-in GUI, although they can be manually deleted using the filesystem (Windows Explorer or Finder).

A/B and Copy

A/B allows you to toggle quickly between two presets. This is useful for comparing between two parameter settings.
COPY X TO Y is used to copy presets between A/B.

UNDO/REDO

SSL plug-ins come with a built-in UNDO/REDO stack, in case your DAW doesn't handle this.

UNDO undoes the current action in the history stack.
REDO re-does the next action in the history stack.

Re-scalable GUI

The SSL Meter plug-in is re-scalable from 50% all the way to 200%. Click the 'magnifying glass' icon in the bottom right-hand corner to rescale the GUI.

Built-in Help

This plug-in features built-in contextual help. To turn this feature on, click the '?' in the bottom right-hand corner. Mouse over elements of the GUI to see some information about the feature.

Click the tooltip to cycle through the pages.