UAD Powered Plug-Ins Manual v5.2 - Just Music

K-20
K-20 mode displays 0dB at –20dB below full scale. K-20 is intended for material
with very wide dynamic range, such as symphonic music and mixing for
film for theatre.
K-14
K-14 mode displays 0dB at –14dB below full scale. K-14 is intended for the
vast majority of moderately-compressed material destined for home listening,
such as rock, pop, and folk music.
K-12
K-12 mode displays 0dB at –12dB below full scale. K-12 is recommended for
material intended for broadcast.
Peak-RMS
This is what is often considered a “normal” digital meter, where 0dB is fullscale
digital code.
Note: When the meters are in the K-modes, the displayed RMS level is
3.01dB higher when compared to the same signal level in the Peak-RMS
mode. This is done to conform to the AES-17 specification, so that peak and
average measurements are referenced to the same decibel value with sine
waves.
Meter Response
The main stereo Input/Output meter actually displays three meters simultaneously:
The RMS and instantaneous peak levels, which follow the signal,
and the “peak-hold” (also known as global peak) level.
The peak-hold level is the maximum instantaneous peak within the interval set
by the Hold button, and is also displayed as text to the right of the meters. To
reset the peak hold levels, press the Clear button.
Precision Limiter metering is also active when plug-in processing is deactivated
with the Precision Limiter Power switch. Metering is disabled when the
plug-in is bypassed by the host application.
Gain Reduction
Meter
The Gain Reduction meter displays the amount of limiter gain reduction. More
green bars moving to the left indicate more gain reduction is occurring.
Gain reduction only occurs when the input signal level exceeds 0dB. Therefore,
increasing the Input knob usually results in more gain reduction.
UAD Powered Plug-Ins Manual - 148 - Chapter 15: Precision Limiter