Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/44580
AES Focus: Plug-ins Media Composer and News Cutter. The Grimm LS1 combines beauty, musi- cality and accuracy in one speaker. Designed for both mixing and mastering, the LS1 is a result of research into the common obser- vation that speakers are accurate or musi- cal, but rarely both. Definitely a sight to behold, the speaker has a wide-baffle design and is perched on two half-cylinder legs that house the drive elec- tronics, encompassing two 180W Class D power amplifiers, a 48/76-bit DSP, digital I/O, AD/DA and the same clock circuit as the Grimm CC1 master clock. The LS1 is a two-way active speaker with a DSP crossover and correction. It features an extremely accurate frequency response: 55 Hz-30kHz +/-0.5dB, easy subwoofer integra- tion and is compatible with 32kHz to 192kHz sampling rates. TC ELECTRONIC TC Electronic (www.tcelectronic.com), based in Risskov, Denmark, was founded in 1976. They develop, manufacture and market audio products for musicians and audio pro- fessionals. TC Electronic will be showing a new plug-in at AES to go along with its already popular LM5D Loudness Meter ($799) plug-in for Pro Tools. The AM6, or "Annoyance Meter," is its latest offering for the audio post com- munity. Both plug-ins are bundled together for purchase. Also, TC Electronic is offering the AM6 for free to all previously licensed owners of the LM5D. The dissatisfaction with peak level indicators has created a new wave of metering tools. Loudness-based metering is the next step to more accurate meter readings and more con- sistency in program levels. TC Electronic's LM5D loudness meter gives you an accurate view of your program levels, allowing for more precise bal- ancing. The meter is compliant with ITU-R BS. 1770-2, EBU R128 and ATSC A/85, which offers a standardized loudness level for all types of program material. The LM5D works for all types of audio signals: mono, stereo and 5.1. The creation of the LM5D started with TC Electronic's research into dynamic range tolerance, or the preferred average loudness of material within a specific environment. From that research, TC Elec- tronic added two "Universal Descriptors" to the LM5D to provide an indication of a pro- grams' relative loudness. Those descriptors are Center of Gravity and Consistency. Cen- ter of Gravity is the average loudness of a program and is measured in a range from -80 LFS to +12 LFS. If a station broadcasts at an average loud- ness of -22 LFS, and your pro- gram has a Center of Gravity of -19.5 LFS, then your pro- gram should be attenuated 2.5 dB to meet the station's aver- age loudness. The other 30 Post • October 2011 www.postmagazine.com The TC Electronic LM5D loudness meter works with all types of audio signals: mono, stereo and 5.1 surround. descriptor, Consistency, is an indication of a program's dynamic range. It is measured in a range of -40 to 0 LU. The lower the number, the greater the dynamic range. For example, cinema movies have a Consistency range of -6 to -15 LU, but a commercial only has a range of -0.5 to -2 LU. A steady tone has a consistency of 0 LU. Another feature of the LM5D is the radar display, which consists of two rings. The outer ring is a meter that indicates the current loudness and the inner ring is a visual display of the long-term loudness. If your program is an hour long, you can set the Radar Speed to control how long one revolution of the radar takes. By adjusting the Radar Speed to fit your program length, you can get a color-coded map of the loudness history. For example, you may notice that your program gets pro- gressively louder, or that a music introduction is louder than the rest of the program. The long-term loudness radar is a very useful visual representation of your program's dynamic range over time. It shows you where levels fall below or exceed the listener's loud- ness tolerance range. The AM6 Annoyance Meter plug-in is an essential metering tool for engineers that cre- ate trailers and commercials for movie the- aters. The AM6 meter displays loudness based on Leq(M), which is a measure of annoyance as defined by TASA, MPAA, Dolby and DTS. The AM6 uses the same radar design as the LM5D. The radar provides a visual map of loudness or annoyance over time. It also dis- plays an Leq(M) number for the entire com- mercial or trailer, for quick reference with