VU means what, exactly?
- Thread starter Lambo
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Pioneer727
SEMPER FI
VolUme :lmao:
Ron
Ron
fropiler
Super Member
Last edited:
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
It is Volume Units. It's calibrated, too, back in the good old, bad old days when radio stations used phone lines for their remote feeds.
Not to sound as rude as I sometimes am :-( but do y'all know how to use Google?
I quote from:
http://www.broadcastpapers.com/audio/DKAudioLevel&Readings-print.htm
Audio Levels and Readings
by Eddy Bøgh Brixen & DK-Audio
"VU (= Volume Unit). This instrument was originally invented by the Bell Lab and by American broadcasters in collaboration. It became a standard in 1939. The purpose of the instrument was to provide the users with information when using telephone lines for transmission and distribution. Also it was an attempt to give a visual information corresponding to the perceived level – the volume - of the sound. For this reason – as well as for practical mechanical and especially ballistic reasons – the instrument is acting rather slowly. It is more like a moving average. By definition the meter will reach full deflection (or 99% of full deflection to be more precise) if the signal has a duration of 300 ms or more.
The scale covers the range 20 VU to +3 VU. 0 VU is reached at the voltage 1.23 V (across a load of 600 ohm), corresponding to +4 dBm."
In the photo, you can see a happy WITH-AM Broadcast Engineer no doubt adjusting his trusty Ampex 600 to 0 VU as he records the presentation of the keys to the city to a WITH deejay by the then-mayor of Baltimore.
BTW, The broadcast engineer is my ol' man
Not to sound as rude as I sometimes am :-( but do y'all know how to use Google?
I quote from:
http://www.broadcastpapers.com/audio/DKAudioLevel&Readings-print.htm
Audio Levels and Readings
by Eddy Bøgh Brixen & DK-Audio
"VU (= Volume Unit). This instrument was originally invented by the Bell Lab and by American broadcasters in collaboration. It became a standard in 1939. The purpose of the instrument was to provide the users with information when using telephone lines for transmission and distribution. Also it was an attempt to give a visual information corresponding to the perceived level – the volume - of the sound. For this reason – as well as for practical mechanical and especially ballistic reasons – the instrument is acting rather slowly. It is more like a moving average. By definition the meter will reach full deflection (or 99% of full deflection to be more precise) if the signal has a duration of 300 ms or more.
The scale covers the range 20 VU to +3 VU. 0 VU is reached at the voltage 1.23 V (across a load of 600 ohm), corresponding to +4 dBm."
In the photo, you can see a happy WITH-AM Broadcast Engineer no doubt adjusting his trusty Ampex 600 to 0 VU as he records the presentation of the keys to the city to a WITH deejay by the then-mayor of Baltimore.
BTW, The broadcast engineer is my ol' man
Last edited:
F
foetusized
Guest
I thought it was Velvet Underground -- Foe
Unican_Eric
Pioneerious Collecticus
mhardy6647 said:
Problem is if we all used google to find our answers we would not need to ask questions on AK. Seems to me that when I joined this forum I was encouraged to ask questions. People seem to learn more reading the answers to the questions people asked. Lately I have seen more and more people telling newbies and such to use the search function instead of taking the time to chat with these people and getting to know them, and to me thats how friendships are formed. The good old art of conversation.
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
Don't know, but...
... I suspect the VU is exceeding 0 VU in that there photo...
... I suspect the VU is exceeding 0 VU in that there photo...
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
That's absolutely true, and I don't think I do this too often. It's only in the case of a very concrete, well defined question (like "what's VU") that the Google approach is a good Plan A, IMO. Searching AK is a good Plan A for the "FAQ" type of questions ("Can I use a 5751 in place of a 12AX7?").
Note that I used Google m'self, to double-check my feeble memory, in the present case!
On the other hand: When folks have questions like: "how will Auricaps sound compared to Orange Drops as coupling caps in my Fisher 400", Google's not such a good resource as posting the question at a forum like AK or AA.
Last edited:
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
Did you ever notice that THINGY at the top of AK pages? I had posted something about the new Airbus A380, and then something about the Boeing prototype for the 707 jetliner... and, no lie, one of the links up there claimed to be for a place to buy used 707's!
I could use a few spare VU meters, but I don't have space in the basement for a 707.
dbsupercrew
Well-Known Member
All ya need is an acre or so, but getting it there presents a REAL problem............
Sandy G
Retired Member
I always wanted an old tall-tail B-52. I'd PROMISE the Air Force I wouldn't initiate any thermonuclear attacks on any other place, unless they REALLY deserved it. I'd love it, 'n' pet it, 'n' polish it, 'n' call it "George"...VU meters? Yeah, we have 'em on R-390As...They were designed to send a audio signal out over telephone lines, 600ohms, & they have a VU meter on 'em, as well as another little meter calibrated in dB for signal strength. -Sandy G.
mhardy6647
Lunatic Member
Yeah, but if you did, then the Firm would have to kill you, right?
Similar threads
