[Scott Dorsey]

wrote:
I have looked through several sound recording apps but can't find one w the=
feature I need: show a recording signal meter full-screen or darn close so=
it can be seen from 10' away. Dont need other options, only record to PCM/=
WAV, 24-bit, 48kHz.

Use whatever application you want, and get a metering plug-in. Orban has
a free one that is pretty good. There are some for-pay ones that are good
too. Most of them should let you put the meter on a second screen and make
it large so that you can put the meter near the talent.

WHY DO I NEED THIS? I'm recording interviews on locatio=
n and this could greatly help the experts control their speaking levels wh=
ile talking. We don't have time for proper training or long shoots. Hoping =
to try this out. If nobody knows of one, would it be hard for a freelance a=
pp dev to make it, do you think? Budget is tight, as always! Thx in advance=
!

I think you'll find that "playing to the meter" is very difficult and will
require a lot of practice for the talent. It's a useful skill to learn;
radio folks practice a lot keeping the meters in range, but it's not something
you can expect a guy off the street to do right off.

You're much better off just allowing huge amounts of headroom and riding
gain in post. We live with 16 and even 20 bits of resolution, there's no
reason not to just keep levels at -20dBFS to allow a little room for the
talent to get loud.

If you're booming and mixing at the same time you may not have the ability
to ride gain so well, but we have so much available dynamic range today that
you really shouldn't need to.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."