Mini VU

[JoleFIN]

Has anyone tried these out, are they worth the $2.84 / suitable for any cheap project?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6901

Deal Extreme has a lot of cheap stuff.. some of them crap, some is useful. At least the ipod/iphone screen protectors and cover sleeves are a steal *hint*

 

[abbey road d enfer]

These are the same meters as used by Focusrite, TLAudio, Joe Meek, Toft, Behringer...
Apparently the ballistics are not too bad. But they are very small; what's the point of having a small VU-meter? I mean, it's OK if it's used as a vague indicator of how much you drive a tube stage or a tape recorder, but for any serious purpose, it's just a toy.
Anyway, what's the use of a VU-meter in the digital age?
VU-meters were already deemed useless 40 years ago for broadcast transmission, for vinyl mastering, where they had to be replaced with peak-meters.
I understand the craving for a nice pair of SIFAM meters, because they are nice, comfort therapy, though...

 

[PRR]

If they are really 500uA as claimed (it seems likely), then sensitivity is lower than a true VU meter. You will need a smaller series resistor. If you bridge it across a true 600 ohm line, you will have level drop and significant THD.

Do they have rectifiers in them? (Apparently not.)

If you stick them inside an op-amp loop, how most good old gear massaged cheap meters into semi-VU meters, it will be fine after trimming. Of course the ballistics will be wrong. But VU ballistics were always a compromise between what was needed and what was possible with a magnet and a coil.

You can re-engineer any peak-meter plan to use these.

The review says 3 out of 4 work. That's still under $4 a wiggle. I don't see how you could go wrong.

 

[skipwave]

Gain Reduction meter for vari mu compressor.

 

[pedroplanet]

would it work on a LA4 or 1176?
or should I buy that JLM vu buffer kit?

 

[abbey road d enfer]

These things are ok for that type of applications. You don't want to use a VU-meter buffer for hooking that up to a compressor as a GR indicator. You need something that passes DC. You need to get the CV and buffer it. That's how it's done in the 1176 and the LA4. They have a buffer stage that drives the meter via a 3.6k.