Preset leveling idea: constant sine wave into VU meters

pauliusmm

pauliusmm

Fractal Fanatic
Maybe it could be easier to level presets if we could run sine wave through our patches and see the level in VU meters?
You would set sinewave level to match your guitar output level. The difference is when you play guitar and try to see VU meters - they are jumping up and down pretty quickly and kinda have to guess the peak value. With constant wave signal going into VU meters it would be easier to see the levels.
What do you think? Maybe this could be integrated into axe fx, or we could use some external sound generator for this?
Just thinking out loud here.
 
pauliusmm said:
Maybe it could be easier to level presets if we could run sine wave through our patches and see the level in VU meters?
You would set sinewave level to match your guitar output level. The difference is when you play guitar and try to see VU meters - they are jumping up and down pretty quickly and kinda have to guess the peak value. With constant wave signal going into VU meters it would be easier to see the levels.
What do you think? Maybe this could be integrated into axe fx, or we could use some external sound generator for this?
Just thinking out loud here.
Click to expand...

I just record a reamp track and play it back from my DAW.
 
That will not work.

If you want to achieve reliable leveling, you have to play the patch in the way you are going to use it.

If you have a perfectly leveled clean arpeggio patch, would it keep the same level if you test it with a thrash metal riff with heavy palm mutes?
What would happen if you test a thrash metal path by playing a soft arpeggio?
 
I've tried pink noise as well previously with the Orban level app. The problem was that different gain levels produced very different results. A clean and a dirty preset that was at the same level with pink noise the clean was much louder when I started playing through them. But it worked reasonably well adjusting presets with similar gain levels. In the end it was much easier to just strum and adjust on the fly. I guess you could add a looper block in the beginning of each preset and loop something you've played if you want to get a more scientific result but it wasn't worth it to me.
 
If you've got patch room, pop in a looper pedal in every patch, turn on patch spillover, and record a good firm open chord.
 
Has anyone tried bandwidth-limited noise? I would think if you limited it to between 120-3kHz it might be a closer approximation to guitar signal. The low frequency signal in particular might distort differently and fool the algorithm.
 
IMHO, there's no substitute for playing through each preset. You don't play the same way through all of your presets, so there's no point in metering them all the same way. Not to mention, clean tones will have a much wider dynamic range than high gain tones. A constant source would do nothing to compensate for that. You have to meter each preset in the context of its intended use.
 
Using the looper block IMO is the best way to adjust anything, including levels.

Nothing is more annoying than trying to make adjustments while physically playing for me.

It is very important to understand too that you should always set levels at the volume you will be using them at and on a system somewhat equal to what you will be using to amplify.

The biggest issue by far with meters is it is only showing you what's happening where it's being tapped..... not what's happening at the exit point (speaker).
 
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