Metering
SpectraVU+
VU, plus sample peak and crest.
One-time purchase, no subscription. No account, no node-lock, no internet connection. Your license file is emailed the moment payment completes, or try it free for 14 days first.
Overview
A VU meter with sample peak, crest and peak/RMS bars, on Spectra's measurement core. The 0 VU reference is set on the meter face, and the peak side reads dBFS or dBu. macOS and Windows.
A VU meter with sample peak, crest and peak/RMS bars beside the needle. All four run on Spectra's measurement core, so a reading here and a reading there are the same number.
The 0 VU reference is set on the meter face: drag the chip on the dial, -30 to 0 dBFS in 1 dB steps. The peak side switches to dBu, so the figures read against your own calibration.
Seven fixed views, from the full meter down to a window the width of a fader strip. There is no layout editing. In REAPER it runs inside the mixer strip. Audio passes through untouched.
Sample programme
The needle, and what it leaves out
A 276 ms ballistic, with the two readouts SpectraVU+ puts beside it.
Features
VU, sample peak, crest and peak/RMS bars
The four readouts from Spectra on one meter. What the needle alone leaves out: how much room is left before full scale, and how far the peak sits above the RMS.
The 0 VU reference is on the front
Drag the 0 = -18 dBFS chip on the dial: -30 to 0 dBFS in 1 dB steps, double-click for -18. No settings panel, no menu.
Peak in dBu, against your own calibration
Set the offset your room is lined up to and the sample peak and the bar scale are relabeled in dBu. Only the labels change. The clip point and the Over stay at 0 dBFS.
Peak and RMS on one bar pair
Two bars per channel on one scale, with the RMS on the outside so a stereo pair reads symmetrically. The peak hold sits across the bar, and the Over clears itself once the hold falls back below full scale.
Seven views, chosen from a menu
VU on top, VU only, VU beside, Meters + Peak + Crest, Meters only, Meters only (vertical), and Peak + Crest only. The view you pick becomes the default for the next instance you open, and Set current as default saves its settings with it.
It runs in REAPER's mixer strip
Tick “Show embedded UI in MCP” for the mixer or TCP for the track panel, and the meter keeps running with the plugin window closed. Each is set separately to the VU, the sample peak or the crest. VST3 or CLAP.
Seven views. The one you pick is used the next time you open it.
Specifications
| Format | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone applicationCore Audio on macOS; ASIO or Windows Audio on Windows | Yes | Yes |
| VST3 | Yes | Yes |
| Audio Unit (AU) | Yes | — |
| CLAP | Yes | Yes |
| AAX Native | Yes | Yes |
The installer ships VST3, CLAP, AAX and the Standalone application on both macOS and Windows. Audio Unit is macOS only. ASIO is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, registered in Europe and other countries.
| Requirements | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| OS version | macOS 10.15 Catalina or later (Intel) · macOS 11.0 or later (Apple Silicon) | Windows 10 version 1607 or later, 64-bit |
| CPU | Apple Silicon or Intel (Universal binary) | 64-bit Intel or AMD |
