When is a VU not a VU?

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!

Unlike a bit of electronics, the VU meter is almost completely mechanical in nature.  To get it to work properly requires quite a bit of fiddly mechanical engineering, so it's no wonder that true VU's aren't cheap.

The VU spec itself is well defined, and tells you what the rise and fall times of the meter should be. It's these times that are difficult to get right, but are so essential to getting a meter that properly reflects music loudness, rather than just bouncing up and down to the music.

The real thing

We use Sifam VU meters, which are guaranteed to meet the VU spec.  They are not cheap, but they are the real thing! Combined with our passive switched attenuator, they make the ideal modern VU.