VU Meters
VU Meter Overview
There's nothing quite like a VU meter!
Even in today's digital age, with fancy plasma meters and flashing lights, a good mechanical meter just speaks of quality. They are just so good at indicating average loudness, that it's virtually a must to have a set in every production/ or mastering room.
Of course, not every meter with "VU" written on it is actually a VU meter, and unless it has proper VU ballistics, it's pretty useless.
Crookwood make 2 excellent proper VU meters, one in a 2RU 19" package ideal for mounting in modular workdesks, and one in a 4RU 1/3rd width package to match our product control panels.
Read all about them below!
When is a VU not a VU?
The Truth is most VU's on most pieces of equipment are utterly useless at indicating loudness!
The VU is a precise mechanical meter, and so to get it right, it costs a lot of money to make - sometime more than the piece of equipment the cheap VU meters are mounted on!
VUs for digital
One of the problems with using a VU with modern digital equipment, is that the levels are completely unsuitable. VU's were designed for +4dBu signals, whereas modern digital devices work at +18 to +24dBu. The result: VU meter needles get pegged, making the meter useless.
Crookwood have solved this with an adjustable attenuator, allowing you to operate a VU whatever the signal level!
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