14 FREE Metering VST Plugins For 2024!

Here are the best free Metering VST plugins to measure and manage audio levels in your mixing and mastering process. I’ve included lists of features, images, and videos.

These free Metering plugins include various types of meters such as peak, RMS, and LUFS meters to help you create well-balanced audio. Many of these metering plugins offer easy interfaces and visual feedback, allowing you to monitor audio levels, prevent distortion, and get industry-standard loudness with your music projects.

Best Free Metering VST Plugins

Youlean Loudness Meter
LVC-Meter
Voxengo SPAN
mvMeter2
APU Loudness Meter
MAnalyzer
Flux Stereo Tool
LoudnessMeterFree
Voxengo Correlometer
HOFA 4U Meter
LVLMeter
dpMeter5
SN02-G VU Meter
MLoudnessAnalyzer
How To Use Meter Plugins
Tips For Using Meter Plugins

Related: Free Oscilloscope VST Plugins

Instructions: Click the links below to visit each metering plugin. Look around each website for the download link or button. Do not install any suspicious software.

1. Youlean Loudness Meter

The Youlean Loudness Meter is a simple yet powerful audio plugin. Its main task is to help you adjust the true perceived loudness of your audio, which is important when preparing it for TV or streaming services release. It’s widely used in recording studios and is compatible with most DAWs, including FL Studio, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, and more.

This plugin can assess the loudness and dynamics of your mix, making sure you meet film and TV industry standards. The Youlean Loudness Meter is equally helpful in reaching the ideal loudness levels for a range of streaming platforms, such as Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and more.

This plugin also offers custom true peak alert thresholds, the capability to resize and scale the graphical user interface, a mini view, and a loudness distribution graph among other features.

Features:

Prepare Audio for TV or Streaming Services
Compatible with Major DAWs
Works on Windows and macOS
Complies with Film and TV Loudness Requirements
Prevents Mixes from Sounding Crushed and Unprofessional
Low CPU Consumption
Includes Loudness and Dynamics Measurements

Pros:

Helps find true perceived audio loudness
Can prepare audio for TV or streaming services
Helps comply with strict loudness requirements
Includes Film, TV, and Gaming presets
Available as an app, VST2, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin
Measures loudness for many streaming platforms
Helps prevent mixes from sounding unprofessional
Custom true peak alert threshold
Low CPU Use

Cons:

Does not work with all DAWs
May not be beginner-friendly
Limited channels. Only Mono, Stereo, and 5.1
No advanced features in the free version

Download Here | Windows / Mac

2. LVC-Meter

The LVC-Meter is a versatile and effective top-quality audio plugin. LVC-Meter offers a selection of features including a spectrum analyzer, stereo vectorscope, and a waveform history view. This free plugin enables true-peak monitoring to determine intersample peak levels. It also contains helpful controls for gain, balance, and width, making it great for final-stage adjustments.

It features an adjustable true-peak level for visualizing overs, a resizable interface, adjustable spectrum analyzer settings, and producer configurable colors, making this metering plugin helpful for all music creators.

Features:

Includes Spectrum Analyzer, Stereo Vectorscope, Waveform History View
Functions in EBU Mode, K-System Metering, dBFS Mode
Provides Gain, Balance, and Width Controls
User Configurable Colors and Spectrum Analyzer Settings
XML-Based Preset System for Saving, Importing User Presets

Pros:

More CPU efficient
Has waveform history view
True-peak monitoring
Has adjustable true-peak level
Resizable interface
User can change colors
Saves, imports, and exports presets

Cons:

Not compatible with older Macs
May require an iLok device for AAX format
Only native compatible with ARM and Intel Macs

Learn More | Windows / Mac

3. Voxengo SPAN

The Voxengo SPAN is a free real-time frequency spectrum analyzer tailored for professional music production. This easy-to-use VST plugin offers multi-channel analysis and customizable level metering options for more personalized testing of audio. With the ability to adjust block size, overlap percentage, and visual slope, Voxengo SPAN gives you more detailed control.

This plugin helps in thorough spectral analysis made easier by helpful features like secondary spectrum display, colored spectrum, and correlation metering.

Real-Time Fast Fourier Transform Frequency Analyzer
Adjustable Spectrum Analyzer Settings
Supports Multi-Channel Analysis
Output Level Metering and Headroom Estimation
Mid/Side and Stereo Analysis
Internal Channel Routing and Grouping
Retina and HighDPI Support

Download Here | Windows / Mac

4. mvMeter2

The mvMeter2 is an advanced, multivariable meter developed to deliver a wide range of measurements, such as RMS, EBUR128, VU, and PPM. As a next-generation plugin, it improves upon its predecessor, mvMeter, by integrating great features like the option of single or dual meter display, adjustable reference levels in every mode, the capability to adjust meter delay, and preset management.

This plugin replicates the behavior of traditional analog VU and PPM meters and is packed with useful features. It supports a selection of measurements and offers a wide range of metering options such as stereo, left, right, mid, and side.

If offers adjustable meter hold, OL level, and a pre-gain feature including gain matching.

Multi-Channel Metering: Stereo, Left, Right, Mid, Side
Single and Dual Meter Display
Adjustable Reference Level for All Meter Modes
Large and Accurate Live Meters
5 Different Meter Themes

View Website | Windows / Mac

5. APU Loudness Meter

The APU Loudness Meter is a free plugin designed specifically for the range analysis of your music. It provides support for a variety of loudness types such as LUFS, True Peak, RMS, and Peak. It also features real-time monitoring and customizable history and histogram views. This allows you to easily view all vital data on a single screen.

The APU Loudness Meter provides a wide range of options for evaluating loudness. This includes Momentary mode, which measures short-duration LUFS and dynamics; Short-Term mode, which assesses longer-duration LUFS; RMS, a traditional mode functioning as a measure for perceived loudness; True Peak, offering a more precise peak measurement by considering inter-sample peaks; and Peak, the standard peak circuit mode.

This plugin also allows you to separate or link audio channels, which is extremely helpful when dealing with multi-channel formats like Dolby Atmos.

Free Dynamic Range Analysis Tool
Supports LUFS, True Peak, RMS, Peak Loudness Types
Real-Time Loudness Changes View
Configurable History and Histogram Views
Standalone Application, VST, AU, & AAX
Loudness Types Configurable
Option to Split or Link Channels

Find Out More | Windows / Mac

6. MAnalyzer

The MAnalyzer is an advanced plugin for music creators. It’s a unique type of spectral analyzer and sonogram with distinctive features. Some of these features include smoothing, normalization, super-resolution, prefiltering, and deharmonization, giving you a lot of options for experimentation.

This download also includes different meters for sound analysis. There’s a peak meter, and there are loudness meters that follow EBU R128 and ITU-R BS 1770-3 standards. These help with maintaining consistent and balanced sound levels. With the MAnalyzer, you gain more control over your tracks.

Advanced Spectral Analyzer and Sonogram
Comes With Smoothing and Normalization Features
Super-Resolution Capability
Prefiltering and Deharmonization Features
Includes a Peak Meter
EBU R128-Compliant Loudness Meter Included
ITU-R BS 1770-3 Compliant Loudness Meter

Get Details | Windows / Mac

7. Flux Stereo Tool

The Flux Stereo Plugin is a great set of tools for stereo imaging and analysis. This software allows for accurate control over input gain and individual panning for both left and right channels. It provides detailed visual feedback with a vector scope and PPM meters for inputs and outputs.

This free plugin comes with unique features like Phase Inversion for incoming music on individual channels. It also has a built-in preset manager and a preset morphing slider for easy and intuitive control of all parameters.

The Vector Scope readily shows the phase integrity of your mix. The Flux Stereo Plugin even allows you to save “Global Preset” settings that include both A and B settings, as well as the position of the “Morphing Slider”, to speed up your workflow.

Ultra-Precise Control of Input Gain
Individual Pan for Left and Right Channels
Visual Feedback with Vector Scope Display
PPM Meters for Inputs/Outputs
Phase Correlation Meter for Signal Monitoring
Phase Inversion Option for Incoming Signal
Two Preset/Parameter Slots for Workflow Enhancement
Parameter Morphing Slider with Automation

View Website | Windows / Mac

8. LoudnessMeterFree

The LoudnessMeterFree is a simple audio plugin created for loudness analysis. It features a user-friendly interface with five measuring bars. The add-on facilitates analysis per channel and shows the variation between the left and right for top-level stereo balancing. With this plugin, you can attain a balanced loudness and produce professional-grade audio projects.

Its core offerings extend to an information label for readily visible data, a target loudness slider to set desired loudness, and LUFS value boxes that present crucial parameters.

This add-on is great for music creation, mastering each song, and even live performances. It uses minimal resources and is compatible with a range of operating systems that support DAW, VST2, and VST3.

User Friendly Audio Plugin
Five Measuring Bars for LUFS Analysis
Displays LUFS Values for Important Parameters
Includes Data Memory and Clear Buttons
Audio Input Analysis Mode Feature
Stereo LUFS Display for Precise Balancing
Multiple Target Comparison Feature
Optimized for Low CPU and RAM Usage

9. Voxengo Correlometer

The Voxengo Correlometer is a stereo multi-band correlation meter audio plugin built for expert music production. It’s offered as a free plugin for detecting phase issues and estimating cross-track phase coherency, in AudioUnit, AAX, and VST formats. Drawing motivation from the correlation meter found in the PHA-979 phase-alignment plugin, it also works great as a mono-compatibility checker.

The stand-out feature of this correlation meter is its multi-band correlation metering, which can help identify even those out-of-phase parts in a mix that may normally be hard to spot.

It provides a range of 4 to 64 spectral bands, an adjustable band quality factor, and side-chain inputs. Completing its set of features, it includes Retina and HighDPI support, 64-bit floating point processing, and zero processing latency.

Multi-Band Correlation Metering Application
Phase Issues Detector
Cross-Track Phase Coherency Estimation
Mono-Compatibility Checking Function
Adjustable Averaging Time
Supports All Sample Rates

Find Out More

10. HOFA 4U Meter

The HOFA 4U Meter is a precise plugin for audio analysis and adjustment. Boasting features like peak, hold, EBU, and LRA metering, it provides a wide selection of controls for accurate tweaks and improvements to your audio content. This plugin also includes an MS decoder and features such as trim, fader, and mute, all within a scalable add-on window to suit your workflow.

This powerful tool assists in analyzing peak and EBU R128 levels through an easy drag-and-drop mechanism. The unique panorama function provides additional width in soundscapes.

The plugin is compatible with PC and Mac, along with all common sample rates, and is available in various formats such as Audio Unit, VST, VST3, RTAS, and AAX.

Precise Peak, Hold, EBU, LRA Metering
MS En-/Decoder Included
Features Trim, Fader, and Mute Functions
Stereo/Mono Switch Option
Can Analyse Peak and EBU R128 Levels
Innovative Panorama Function for Extra Width
Compatible with PC and Mac, 32 and 64 Bit DAWs

11. LVLMeter

The LVLMeter is designed for VST, AU, and RTAS hosts, offering a retro VU-meter design and stereo output. Offering 0dB VU calibration that ranges from -24dBFS to 0 dBFS.

VU Meter Plugin for VST, AU, RTAS
Compatible with Mac and Windows
Vintage VU-Meters
0dB VU Calibration -24dBFS to 0 dBFS
Available in 32 and 64 Bits Versions
Features a Peaks Marker
Stereo Functionality

Get Details | Windows / Mac

12. dpMeter5

The dpMeter5 is a detailed, multi-element digital music meter with tons of great features including RMS, EBU R 128, dialog gated, and TruePeak measurements.

This free meter plugin includes a sound measurement pack that supports 2-6 RMS channels, 2.0 stereo, 4.0, 4.1, and 5.1 surround settings.

Other key features consist of clear live meters, adjustable pre-gain, record metering results, and manual loudness match.

Precise Digital Audio Multi-Channel Meter
Features RMS, EBU R 128, Dialog Gated Measurement
Includes TruePeak (Intersample) Measurement
Click-Free 64-bit Internal Processing
Allows Up to 6 RMS Channels Metering
Provides Adjustable Pre-Gain Feature
Preset Manager

Learn More | Windows / Mac

13. SN02-G VU Meter

The SN02-G VU Meter is an easy-to-use VU meter VST plugin designed for all musicians, producers, and beat makers. Managing to fit two meters in the same size area where most other meters could only fit one. All controls are placed on the front panel for easy access and to simplify any adjustments you might need to make.

The SN02-G VU Meter provides four fixed nominal reference levels. Its dual function allows for the monitoring of both mono and stereo tracks. This plugin includes a switchable maximum value needle, sample peak LEDs, and a useful scribble strip.

Suitable for Mono, Stereo, and Mid-Side VU Metering
Includes All Controls Directly on the Front Panel
Offers 4 Fixed Nominal Reference Levels for 0dBvu
Can be Used on Mono or Stereo Tracks
Allows Selection of Display for Mono, LR, M/S
Features a Switchable Max Value Needle
Has Sample Peak LEDs with Hold Duration of 300 Ms

Download Here | Windows

14. MLoudnessAnalyzer

The MLoudnessAnalyzer is a plugin packed with plenty of features for assessing sound levels. Adhering to the EBU R128 and ITU-R BS 1770-3 standards, it’s a great pick for professional music producers seeking consistent results.

This free resource includes a peak meter and offers a variety of loudness meters, like momentary, short-term, and integrated. The MLoudnessAnalyzer also comes with a loudness range meter and supports EBU+9, EBU+18, and EBU+27 scales. This provides a broad assortment of measurement options.

EBU R128 and ITU-R BS 1770-3 Compliant
Includes a Peak Meter
Features Momentary Loudness Meters
Offers Short-Term Loudness Meters
Integrated Loudness Meters Provided
Includes a Loudness Range Meter
Complete Loudness Metering Solution

View Website | Windows / Mac

How To Use Metering Plugins

This video will show you how to use meter plugins to create better audio mixes.

Tips For Using Metering Plugins

Here are five top tips for using metering plugins to create better audio mixes:

Understand the Different Types of Meters:
- Peak Meters: These show the highest level of an audio signal and help prevent clipping. Use peak meters to ensure your audio levels do not exceed 0 dBFS.
- RMS Meters: Root Mean Square meters provide an average level of your audio signal over time. RMS meters help maintain consistent loudness levels in your mix.
- LUFS Meters: Loudness Units relative to Full-Scale meters are crucial for measuring perceived loudness, especially important for mastering and ensuring your mix meets industry standards.
- Spectrum Analyzers: These display the frequency content of your audio, helping you identify and correct frequency imbalances.
Set Proper Levels:
- Use metering plugins to set your levels during recording and mixing. Aim for peaks around -6 dBFS to -3 dBFS during recording, and keep your mix levels below 0 dBFS to prevent clipping and distortion.
Balance Frequencies:
- Use spectrum analyzers to visualize the frequency content of your mix. Ensure there’s a balanced distribution of frequencies without any dominant or lacking areas. This helps achieve a fuller and more cohesive sound.
Monitor Dynamics:
- Use RMS and LUFS meters to monitor the dynamic range of your mix. Aim for a good balance between dynamic range and perceived loudness. Avoid over-compression, which can lead to a lifeless mix, and under-compression, which might result in an inconsistent and unprofessional sound.
Reference Tracks:
- Compare your mix against professionally mixed and mastered reference tracks using your metering plugins. This helps ensure your mix’s levels, frequency balance, and dynamics are in line with industry standards. Pay attention to LUFS levels for overall loudness and use spectrum analyzers to match frequency profiles.

By following these tips and using metering plugins effectively, you can achieve more professional-sounding mixes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is A Metering Plugin?

A Metering Plugin is an audio software that assists in audio engineering and music production by providing visual feedback about the sound’s dynamics.

It is essential in the process of mixing and mastering, it ensures that the audio levels are balanced to achieve optimal sound quality. These plugins can show information such as peak levels, loudness ranges, and stereo width, assisting in making crucial decisions to enhance sound output.

Why Do I Need a Metering VST Plugin?

A metering plugin is important to make sure your mix or master meets the necessary technical standards. It also helps to balance frequencies, avoid clipping, and ensure that your track will sound good in different environments.

What is the difference between LUFS and VU Meter?

LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) and VU (Volume Unit) meters are tools for audio measurement, but they serve different purposes. LUFS measures perceived loudness, considering human hearing sensitivities, and ensures consistent loudness levels across media, crucial for broadcasting and streaming.

It assesses average loudness over time to maintain a balanced listening experience and compliance with standards. In contrast, VU meters measure real-time signal levels, displaying immediate changes in volume, but do not account for perceived loudness as effectively. Commonly used in analog equipment, VU meters help avoid distortion and clipping by providing a visual representation of the audio signal’s strength. Thus, LUFS focuses on perceived loudness over time, while VU meters handle real-time signal levels, both being essential for different aspects of audio production.

The metering plugins in this article offer a wide selection of features and benefits similar to popular paid metering options. These free plugins can help you achieve better-sounding mixes in your music projects. Good luck!