Documentation26
Version 26 · Updated 9.15.2026
Contents
1. Getting Started
1.1 Introduction
Evergreen Audio builds metering systems for music, post production, live sound, and broadcast facilities. The suite of metering tools is aimed at the professional mix engineer, and is designed to be configured precisely to the way a room actually works, so that metering is faster to read, more accurate, and less in the way.
The Mini Meter plugin (Pro Tools AAX, VST3, AU), Massive Meter plugin (Pro Tools AAX, VST3, AU) or Massive Meter Pro plugin (Pro Tools AAX Native and DSP, VST3, AU) work as standalone plugins or in conjunction with the Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro applications to display all meters in a single, flexible view.
The Mini Meter plugin and the Meter Bridge application for macOS are free, and together provide a sophisticated metering setup for small studios and educational environments.
Stepping up to the Massive Meter and Massive Meter Pro combined with either the Meter Bridge or Meter Bridge Pro, the system expands to provide advanced metering and extensive customization to meter exactly as the workflow requires.
When working with multiple mix engineers each engineer can run their own Meter Bridge Pro application and configure and display which meter plugins they are most interested in seeing. This allows each mix engineer to have a personal view of meter information independent of others.
1.2 What’s New!
Check out what’s new in the latest version of Evergreen Audio’s metering tools.
1.3 The Evergreen Audio Product Range
As part of Evergreen Audio products, there are several pieces of software that can be used independently or together to create simple to very sophisticated workflows.
Mini Meter Plugin
The Mini Meter plugin is a Digital Audio Workstation plugin for metering the audio signal where the plugin is placed in the signal chain. The Mini Meter plugin supports the Avid Pro Tools AAX Native, the Steinberg VST3, and Apple AU formats. The Mini Meter supports mono and stereo formats. The Mini Meter provides basic metering including Instant, Sample Peak, RMS, K-12, K-14, K-20, and VU.
Massive Meter Plugin
The Massive Meter plugin is a Digital Audio Workstation plugin for metering the audio signal where the plugin is placed in the signal chain. The Massive Meter plugin supports the Avid Pro Tools AAX Native, the Steinberg VST3, and Apple AU formats. The Massive Meter supports mono, stereo, and surround sound formats. The Massive Meter provides metering including Instant, Sample Peak, RMS, K-12, K-14, K-20, Linear, VU, and Digital VU.
Massive Meter Pro Plugin
The Massive Meter Pro plugin is a Digital Audio Workstation plugin for metering the audio signal where the plugin is placed in the signal chain. The Massive Meter Pro plugin supports both the Avid Pro Tools AAX DSP format for the HDX hardware and the AAX Native format for running as a host-based plugin as well as the Steinberg VST3 and Apple AU formats. The Massive Meter Pro supports mono, stereo, surround sound, and immersive formats. The Massive Meter Pro provides metering including Instant, Sample Peak, RMS, K-12, K-14, K-20, Linear, Dorrough, Dorrough Model 40, Dorrough Model 280, Dorrough Model 380, VU, Digital VU, and PPM Digital. The Massive Meter Pro also supports customized meters created in the Meter Bridge Pro’s Meter Editor.
Meter Bridge Desktop Application
The Meter Bridge desktop application allows metering many Mini Meter, Massive Meter, or Massive Meter Pro plugins in a single view. The Meter Bridge can also be used to meter up to 8 channels of audio in mono or stereo format through CoreAudio by itself or in conjunction with Mini Meter, Massive Meter, or Massive Meter Pro plugins.
Meter Bridge Pro Desktop Application
The Meter Bridge Pro desktop application allows metering many Mini Meter, Massive Meter, or Massive Meter Pro plugins in a single view. The Meter Bridge Pro can also be used to meter up to 384 channels of audio in any channel format through a CoreAudio by itself or in conjunction with Mini Meter, Massive Meter, or Massive Meter Pro plugins.
Meter Bridge Pro iOS Application
The Meter Bridge Pro iOS application brings the power of the Meter Bridge Pro to the compact form of an Apple iPad. The Meter Bridge Pro for iOS is a companion application that can be used to view Mini Meter, Massive Meter, and Massive Meter Pro plugins. The Meter Bridge Pro iOS application does not support metering a CoreAudio device.
1.4 Installation
There are installers for the different products. The combination installer (Evergreen Audio.pkg) installs all Evergreen Audio products while allowing installation of specific products. The individual installers install the individual products allowing for quick and easy installation.
In Pro Tools, the Mini Meter, Massive Meter, and Massive Meter Pro plugins are grouped under the Evergreen Audio company name and appear in the Sound Field category.
You can download the installers here: Downloads
1.5 Quick Start
The fastest way to get started is to launch Pro Tools and instantiate the Mini Meter, Massive Meter, or Massive Meter Pro plugin and launch the Meter Bridge or Meter Bridge Pro application.
The plugins can be found under the Evergreen Audio company name and appear in the Sound Field category.
Once the Meter Bridge Pro application is launched, a Configuration document is created and the Add and Remove Systems dialog is opened. The Pro Tools system with the Massive Meter Pro plugin should appear as Massive Meter Pro. Select the checkbox for Massive Meter Pro and click OK.
The System “Massive Meter Pro” and the Massive Meter Pro plugin should be displayed in the main user interface of the Meter Bridge Pro Application.
The same steps work for the Mini Meter or Massive Meter.
2. Core Concepts
2.1 Systems, Plugins, and Meters
In the Evergreen Audio ecosystem, there are three core components and terms that are used: System, Plugin, and Meter. The following sections describe what each are and how they fit into the ecosystem.
Systems
Each DAW hosting the Mini Meter, Massive Meter, or Massive Meter Pro is called a system. The system name can be changed in any of the plugin instance’s settings. The system name is used across all plugins in that DAW.
The Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro find and connect to systems and display all plugins as meters.
Plugins
The Mini Meter, Massive Meter, and Massive Meter Pro are the three different versions of plugins. These plugins can be instantiated or hosted in a DAW such as Pro Tools, Reaper, or Logic.
Meters
The Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro display all available Meters in the main windows. These Meters are either from a Plugin on a System or they are channels from an active CoreAudio device.
The term Meters is analogous to Plugins hosted in a System or DAW.
In the case of using a System, a Meter corresponds one-to-one with a plugin instance on a System. The other case is CoreAudio where Meters sourced from a CoreAudio device set up in the Audio Device Settings.
2.2 Configurations and Templates - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application supports saving and restoring layouts along with automatic detection and connection to the Massive Meter plugins hosted in Pro Tools systems. This provides minimal setup and configuration time when managing complex workflows.
Configurations
The Meter Bridge Pro Configuration allows saving of specific Pro Tools systems. This stores the unique identification of the Pro Tools systems it is connected to and displays any Meter plugins that are in the Pro Tools system.
To create a new Configuration, select the File menu and the New Configuration option. The shortcut to create a new Configuration is Command+N.
Templates
The Meter Bridge Pro Template provides a mechanism to create a specific template based on the Pro Tools system name (set in the Massive Meter Plugin Settings) and Massive Meter plugin names.
The Template allows the mix engineer to create Templates that match their Pro Tools templates based on generic names. The Meter Bridge Pro automatically connects to the named Pro Tools systems and to the named Massive Meter plugins. This allows the mix engineer to switch Pro Tools sessions and use the same Meter Bridge Pro Template for many sessions.
To create a new Template, select the File menu and the New Template option. The shortcut to create a new Configuration is Command+T.
To configure a template, select the Setup menu and the Manage Template option. The shortcut to open the Manage Template window is Command+Shift+M.
Use the + and - icons to add and remove both systems and meters. Use the text editing fields to change the name of the System and Meters. Use the popup menus to select the channel format for the specific meter.
The “Include Audio Device” checkbox will add the current CoreAudio device to the Template. The CoreAudio device will be displayed based on the selected Audio Device Settings.
Save Configuration As Template
To make the creation of Templates easier, there is the Save Configuration As Template feature that allows a Configuration to be saved as a Template. Under the File menu is a menu option of “Save As Template”. This option is available for when a configuration file is open. Selecting Save As Template brings up a standard save as dialog both allowing the user to save the Configuration as a Template.
2.3 Standard View and Universe View
The Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro main windows have two different views for displaying meters. The first is the Standard View which shows all systems and all meters across the window from left to right. The second is the Universe View, which shows only meters; it does not display systems or group meters by system. The Universe View provides a single view of all meters and allows them to be organized independently of which system they belong to.
To switch between the Standard View and the Universe View, the keyboard shortcut of Command+U can be used. In the Settings, the Display tab has a checkbox for switching between the Standard View and the Universe View.
3. Working with Meters
3.1 Customizing Meters
The Meter Bridge Pro application, the Massive Meter plugin, and the Massive Meter Pro plugin provide many features for customizing meters.
Meter Names
The Meter Bridge Pro application allows for changing the meter name and the name of linked meters by clicking on the meter name to reveal the icon. This will reveal a text edit field allowing the meter name to be changed.
For linked meters, changing the meter name to be empty will revert the meter name to its original name which is a combination of the linked meters name.
Meter Colors
The Meter Bridge Pro application allows for changing the meter color by clicking on the meter name to reveal the icon. This will reveal a color picker to select the color for the meter.
Meter Scaling - Meter Bridge Pro and Massive Meter Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application and the Massive Meter Pro plugin support scaling the meter indicators. In the Meter Bridge Pro application the scaling applies to all meters. In the Massive Meter plugin, each plugin can have its own scaling.
Scaling can be used to create a customized view and focus on the specific range that is of interest.
To change the scaling, click and drag on the tick mark indicators on the left and right of the meter indicators. This action changes the scaling of the display. When a value is moved to the bottom of the scale, values will be hidden at the bottom when there is no room to display them.
To change individual scale points, Command+Click and drag the scale point label.
To reset the scaling back to the default value, double click on the tick mark indicators.
3.2 Organizing Meters
Meter Groups - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application supports grouping meters together into a Meter Group.
A Meter Group is created with the keyboard shortcut of Command+G or through the Groups menu and Create Group menu item. The group name can be customized in the Create Group dialog. The Meter Group will be associated with a system such that it appears with the system.
To quickly group meters based on the name of the meter, select “Add Meters By Matching Name”. This will find all meters with the same prefixed name as the group and automatically add them to the group. For example, if the group name is “SFX”, any meter with a name beginning with SFX will be automatically added to the Meter Group.
Once a Meter Group is created, meters of any type can be dragged and dropped into or out of a group.
After a Meter Group has been created, meters can be automatically added to the Meter Group by name using the menu command “Group By Name”.
A Meter Group can be deleted using the Groups menu and the Delete Group submenu. Each existing Meter Group will be listed in the submenu.
A Meter Group can be shown or hidden like any system or meter using the View menu.
When in Universe View, meters from any system can be added to any Meter Group. When switching between Standard View and Universe View, in Standard View only the meters associated with the system will appear in the Meter Group.
Meter Linking - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application supports Linking meters together. To link meters, the meters must be of the same type. Meters that are on different systems can be linked together.
When the meters are linked together, a new meter is shown with the name combining the original meters and the meter indicators are interlaced together. The meter indicators show the same color as the original meter.
To link a meter click on the Meter Name user interface element and then click on the Link Meter icon. A popup will be displayed showing the available meters to link to.
To unlink a linked meter, click on the linked meter’s Meter Name user interface element and then click on the Link Meter icon. When only one meter is selected in the list, the linked meter will disappear from view.
It is possible to link multiple meters together. Start by linking two meters together, then on the newly linked meter link in more meters.
This mode is useful for comparing meters together for some workflows such as PEC/Direct.
Show and Hide Both Systems, Meters, and Meter Groups - application
The Meter Bridge Pro application allows for showing and hiding both systems, individual meters, and meter groups. There are several ways to change the show/hide state of a system, meter, or group.
Click on the System Name or the Meter Name user interface to display the show/hide meters icon. Then click on the icon to show a list of all meters in the system that can be shown or hidden.
To show or hide a specific system, meters, or meter groups, the application View menu has options for showing and hiding systems, meters, and meter groups..
Arranging Meters and Systems - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application allows you to organize and arrange the connected systems and meters. Systems and meters can be moved by clicking and dragging on the label of either the system or the meter.
When dragging a system or meter, a vertical blue line will appear and show where the meter will be positioned when the system or meter is dropped.
When in the Universe View, the meters can be arranged in any order.
When in the Standard View, the arrangement of meters is constrained to the system that the meter belongs to.
3.3 Focus and Fold Down
Meter Focus - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application focuses on a specific meter by zooming that meter to fill the entire main window.
To focus on a specific meter, double click on the meter indicator.
To return back to showing all meters, double click on the meter indicator.
The Massive Meter Pro plugin has the ability to display and control the meter focus of the Meter Bridge Pro application. The magnifying glass icon in the Massive Meter shows the state of the focus for that meter and acts as a toggle switch for changing the focus. Clicking on the magnifying glass will change which meter is focused in the Meter Bridge Pro application.
Meter Fold Down - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro application supports folding a multichannel meter down into a single consolidated mono meter, and unfolding it again to show all channels
To fold down a specific meter, Option+Double click on the meter indicator.
To return back to showing all channels of a meter, Option+Double click on the meter indicator.
When a meter is put into fold down mode, the meter label is displayed with the name “FD”.
The signal shown on the folded down meter is the individual channel with the largest magnitude/loudest signal.
The Massive Meter Pro plugin has the ability to display and control the meter fold down state in the Meter Bridge Pro application. The double meter icon below the magnifying glass icon in the Massive Meter shows the state of the meter fold down for that meter and acts as a toggle switch for changing the fold down state. Clicking on the double meter icon folds that meter down, or unfolds it, in the Meter Bridge Pro application.
4. Meter Windows - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro desktop application has dedicated Meter Windows that allow you to put specific meters into specific windows.
This functionality enables multiple advanced workflows including placing large meters on dedicated displays and placing them on or around your console or at the front of your stage under your projection screen.
The Meter Window menu under the Windows menu provides the ability to create, delete, open, and close the Meter Windows.
Note that, multiple Meter Windows can be created allowing you to have any combination of meters and Windows.
Use the New Meter Window menu to open the Create Meter Window dialog to create a new Meter Window. Select the System and Plugin/Meter for the Meter Window. The System and Plugin/Meter can be changed once the Meter Window is created by moving your mouse over the upper right hand corner of the window to reveal a gear icon and then clicking on the gear icon
4.1 Metering CoreAudio Devices
The Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro applications support metering CoreAudio devices with customized meter layouts.
This functionality is only available on the macOS version of the Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro.
The Meter Bridge application supports up to 8 channels of CoreAudio input and supports both mono and stereo metering.
The Meter Bridge Pro application supports up to 384 channels of CoreAudio input and supports all standard formats for metering.
Metering CoreAudio
The Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro application supports metering CoreAudio devices and creating customized meter layouts.
Audio Device Settings Menu
To enable CoreAudio metering, open the “Audio Device Settings…” menu item under the “Setup” menu. This dialog can also be opened using Command+Shift+A.
Audio Device Settings Dialog
The Audio Device Settings dialog enables you to create, load, and modify meter settings for specific CoreAudio devices
The Audio Device settings files are stored in the Documents folder in the “Meter Bridge Pro Settings” folder in the “Audio Device” folder. You can copy settings files to and from this folder when moving between computers.
Meter Settings
The Audio Device Settings allow you to select existing settings using the Meter Settings popup menu. This setting displays the currently selected settings file and lists the available settings that are stored in the “Meter Bridge Pro Settings” folder in the “Audio Device” folder.
Display Name
The Audio Device Settings allow you to set the name to be displayed for the specific CoreAudio device. This allows customization of the displayed name of the device for easier identification and management in the Add Audio Device and main windows.
Input
The Input popup menu shows the currently selected CoreAudio device and other available CoreAudio devices. To change which CoreAudio device is selected, click on the popup and select a different CoreAudio device.
Sample Rate
The Audio Device Settings allows for setting the sample rate of the CoreAudio device. Note that if multiple pieces of software are using the same CoreAudio device, changing this setting will change the sample rate for all software using the device.
Buffer Size
The Audio Device Settings allows for setting the buffer size of the CoreAudio device. Note that if multiple pieces of software are using the same CoreAudio device, changing this setting will change the buffer size for all software using the device.
Creating, Deleting, and Default Meters
The “New Meter” button will create a new meter and display it in a row.
The “Delete Meter” button will delete the meters associated with any selected row(s). Select the row and click the Delete Meter button.
The “Default Meter” button will create a new meter for each one of the channels available for the CoreAudio device.
Changing Meters
Each meter can have its name, format, and channel mapping changed.
To change the meter name double click on the text display of the meter name. This field will become editable once double clicked on. Type a new name and hit enter to save it.
The meter format can be changed by clicking on the popup to show all of the available formats. Selecting a new format clears the channel mapping.
To map input channels to meter channels, simply drag and drop the meter label from the I/O section onto the appropriate channel. The channel mapping can be changed by dragging and dropping the meter label to a new channel or back to the I/O section.
Saving Changes and Canceling Changes
Clicking the “OK” button will close the Audio Device Settings dialog and provide an option for canceling the changes, saving the changes to the existing file, or saving the changes to a new file.
Note that if no changes are made, the OK button will close the dialog without prompting for cancel, save, or save as.
5. Counters and Screening
5.1 Counter Display - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro desktop application has a Counter Display that displays counters from a selected MIDI Timecode input (MTC input), longitudinal timecode (LTC), or Mackie HUI (Human User Interface). The counter display can be shown in both a separate floating window or in the main Meter Bridge Pro window.
Setting Up the Counter
Setting Up an MTC Input Source
The application settings Counter tab contains the settings for configuring the incoming MTC source. Use the MTC Input menu to select a MTC Input source. The MTC source can be configured in Pro Tools or another DAW and in the macOS Audio MIDI Setup application. Consult the documentation for your DAW for further information about how to configure MTC generation.
Setting Up an HUI Input Source
The application settings Counter tab contains the settings for configuring the incoming HUI source. Use the HUI Input menu to select a HUI Input source. The HUI source can be configured in Pro Tools or another DAW and in the macOS Audio MIDI Setup application.
Setting Up an LTC Input Source
The application settings Counter tab contains the settings for configuring the incoming LTC source. Use the LTC Input menu to select a LTC Input source. The LTC source comes in through the currently selected Core Audio device. Use the popup menu to select the specific channel the LTC source is coming into.
Customizing the Counter
See the Counter Settings section for additional information about how to customize the Counter.
5.2 Screening Mode - Meter Bridge Pro
Screening Mode is a powerful feature that allows complete control and customization of what is displayed in the Meter Bridge Pro’s Counter. This workflow enables easier screenings and note taking when doing a screening.
Check out the Meter Bridge Pro’s Counter section to learn how to configure the system to display MTC, LTC, or HUI information.
Screening Mode provides the ability to load a screening mode file which specifies a set of timecodes corresponding to the first frame of action and the last frame of action. These timecode values allow Screening Mode to automatically calculate the linear time position for each reel. The position is the value displayed in the Meter Bridge Pro’s Counter.
Adding Reels
Adding new reels to Screening Mode is done through clicking the + sign for Add Reel. A new reel will be added based on the times on the previous reel.
The position is where the reel sits on the timeline and the starting value of the Counter for that reel. The position is automatically calculated based on the first frame of action, last frame of action, and position of the previous reel. This computation calculates the proper position for the newly added reel.
Editing Reels
Screening Mode allows editing of the first frame of action, last frame of action, and position using either timecode or feet+frames. The text fields support standard editing for the type of text field as well as copying and pasting valid times into the fields.
The Position value can also be modified to create customized positions to be displayed in the Counter view.
Saving Files
When the Screening Mode Setup window is closed, if there are changes to the file information, it will prompt you to either Cancel, Save, or Save As the file. This allows you to either save changes to the currently loaded file or save it as a new file.
Current File
The Current File menu loads a Screening Mode file. These files are located in the users Documents folder then in “Meter Bridge Pro Settings” folder then in “Screening Mode”. The file location is persisted between launches of the application.
Screening Mode File Format
The first line of the file indicates the frame rate of the timecode in the Screening Mode file.
Valid options for frame rates are:
23.976
24
25
29.97
29.97df
30
30df
Subsequent lines in the file indicate the first frame of action followed by the last frame of action. The pairs of timecode are separated by a space or tab. There is one pair of timecode values per line.
Example
24
01:00:10:00 02:00:00:00
02:00:10:00 03:00:10:00
6. The Meter Editor
6.1 Meter Editor - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Editor allows you to create and customize meter styles and layouts. Customizing your meters allows you complete control over the padding around your meters, the size of labels, clip and signal present indicators, colors and color breaks, and scale points. In addition to creating custom layouts for meters, meter ballistics can be customized to create the exact integration time (attack) and decay that best suits your workflow.
The layouts, colors, and scaling are saved as independent files allowing you the maximum flexibility in creating and customizing the Meter Bridge Pro. You can mix and match settings to get the exact look and feel and behavior for your meters.
Settings
The Meter Editor Settings view provides quick access to meter settings in the Settings tab allowing you to quickly test out the different settings you would have in your Meter Bridge Pro.
These settings are linked to your overall Meter Bridge Pro settings so they are loaded from the settings and are active such that when you change one, it will be automatically applied to the settings of the Meter Bridge Pro.
Layout
The Meter Editor Layout view allows you to design a custom layout including different layouts for each channel format (mono, stereo, 5.1, etc.).
The Layout view provides settings for height of meter labels, channel labels, meter values, as well as height of the clip indicator and signal present indicator.
The padding around each meter bar can be controlled to create customized spacing around each meter bar. To apply the setting to a specific meter bar, first click on the meter bar to select it and then adjust the padding value. To deselect a meter bar, click on it again. You will notice a gray selection box around each meter bar when it is selected.
Custom Ballistics
The Meter Editor Layout view also allows you to create custom ballistics. To create custom ballistics, select the “Custom” from the “Meter Type” popup. This enables the Decay and Integration Times entry fields.
Resetting
The Reset button in the Meter Editor Layout view allows you to reset all settings to their initial state. You will be prompted to reset the current channel format or all channel formats if modifications are made to specific channel formats.
Color
The Meter Editor Color view allows you to create custom meter colors including custom position for the color breaks.
To select and load an existing color, click on the paint bucket icon and select a color from the available options.
Color break positions can be added or removed by clicking on the + sign at the bottom of the example color bar or the - sign to the right of each position value.
The positions in dB can be edited by changing the value in the text edit box. The values can be changed from 0 to -100. When the value is changed, the text edit box and the color break position will move to the appropriate position.
To change the color, click on the example color bar to reveal the color picker. Use the color picker to select the new color to be displayed for the specific color break/section.
Scaling
The Meter Editor Scaling view allows you to create custom scaling including custom positions for each scale point.
To select and load an existing scale, click on the Tick Marks popup and select a scaling from the available options.
Scaling positions can be added or removed by clicking on the + sign at the bottom of the list of dB values or the - sign to the right of each position value.
There are two sets of values that can be customized. The first, on the left, is the dB value. This is the value in dB for the scale point. The second, on the right, is the display value. Having two values one for dB and one for display allows you to create custom scaling with the desired display value.
This functionality allows you to create meter scaling similar to the K-12 scaling where there are positive values displayed. You can even add text to the display values if that fits your workflow.
The positions, on the left, in dB can be edited by changing the value in the text edit box. The values can be changed from 0 to -100. The display values, on the right, can be edited by changing the value in the text edit box. The values can be any text value. When the value is changed, the text edit box and the scaling position will move to the appropriate position.
Saving and Loading Files
In the Layout, Color, and Scaling views, you can select the individual files by clicking on the menus for Custom popup, the paint bucket icon, or Tick Marks popup.
The files are saved in your Documents folder in the “Meter Bridge Pro Settings”. Each file is stored in the “Layout”, “Color”, or “Scale” folders.
When closing the Meter Editor, if a change has been made to the settings, you will be prompted to either Cancel (not save), Save, or Save As. You may be prompted to save each of the files.
7. Reference
7.1 Shortcuts
The Meter Bridge Pro desktop application, the Meter Bridge iOS application, the Massive Meter plugin, and Massive Meter Pro plugin have several keyboard and mouse shortcuts allowing to quickly change settings and work with Configurations and Templates.
Mouse Shortcuts
The Meter Bridge Pro desktop application, Massive Meter plugin, and Massive Meter Pro plugin has the following mouse shortcuts for quick navigation.
Changing Meter Scale
To change the meter scale, click and drag the meter scale indicator to change the scaling based on the value that is clicked. For example, to click on -40dB and drag the value to the bottom of the meter to change the range of the meter from -40dB to 0dB.
To reset the meter scale, double click on the meter scale indicator.
Ordering Systems and Meters
To change the order of systems or meters, click and drag on the meter name label. A blue line will appear where the meter will reorder when dropped.
Zooming In On A Specific Meter
To zoom in on a specific meter, double-click on one of the meter indicators. This will hide all other meters and only show the meter that was double-clicked on. Double-click again on the meter indicator to show all meters.
Fold Down A Meter - Meter Bridge Pro
To fold a meter down, Option+Double click on one of its meter indicators. The multichannel meter collapses to a single mono meter labelled FD. Option+Double click again to show all channels.
Keyboard Shortcuts - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meter Bridge Pro desktop application has the following keyboard shortcuts for quick navigation.
| Action | macOS |
|---|---|
| New Configuration | Command+N |
| New Template | Command+T |
| Open Configuration/Template | Command+O |
| Open Last Configuration/Template | Command+Shift-O |
| Save Configuration/Template | Command+S |
| Close Configuration/Template | Command+Shift-W |
| Save As Configuration/Template | Command+Shift-S |
| Open Add/Remove System Window | Command+Shift-D |
| Open Manage Template Window | Command+Shift-M |
| Open Audio Device Settings Window | Command+Shift-A |
| Open Screening Mode Window | Command+Shift-T |
| Open Meter Editor Window | Command+Shift-E |
| Open Settings Window | Command+Shift-P |
| Create Meter Group | Command+G |
| Change/Toggle Universe View | Command+U |
| Refresh System Information | Command+Shift-U |
| Open/Close Counter Window | Command+3 |
7.2 Settings
The Meter Bridge Pro application and Massive Meter Pro plugin both have settings that are used to customize the look and behavior of the software.
To open Meter Bridge Pro settings, choose Settings from the Meter Bridge Pro application menu or from the Setup menu. The keyboard shortcut is Command+Shift+P.
To access the Massive Meter settings, click on the gear icon located in the plugins user interface in the upper right corner.
Metering - application and plugin
The Metering section of the settings provides the available settings associated with metering.
Meter Type - application and plugin
The Meter Type setting is used to select the type of metering for the meter indicators. The options are Instant, Sample Peak, RMS, Linear, Dorrough, Dorrough Model 40, Dorrough Model 280, Dorrough Model 380, K-12, K-14, K-20, VU, Digital VU, and PPM Digital.
Peak Hold - application and plugin
The Peak Hold setting determines how long the Peak indicator remains at the peak level.
The Until Next Play Start will hold the indicator until the next play start of Pro Tools. This allows for further inspection of the peak indicator without having to rush.
Clip Indicator - application and plugin
The Clip Indicator setting determines how long the Clip indicator shows that the meter has clipped.
The Until Next Play Start will clip the indicator until the next play start of Pro Tools. This allows for further inspection of the peak indicator without having to rush.
Tick Marks - application and plugin
The Tick Marks setting provides options for what tick mark indicators are shown next to the meter indicators.
Segment Size - application and plugin
The Segment Size setting provides options to change the meter indicator segment or LED when in Segmented Style. This setting has no effect when Segmented Style is disabled.
0 VU, dBFS - application
The 0 VU, dBFS setting sets the value 0 VU corresponding to a dBFS value. The default is -14 dBFS. This allows you to adjust what 0 VU shows.
Max Meter Bar Width - application
The Max Meter Bar Width setting provides a maximum limit for the number of pixels wide a meter bar can be. The default is 200 pixels.
This feature can be used to better organize meters when using multiple rows.
Show Meter Tick Marks - application and plugin
The Show Meter Tick Marks setting shows the meter tick mark or meter scale displays on the left or right side of the meters. This setting is useful to reduce clutter in the user interface or hide the scale for Dorrough or VU meters which have their own scale indicators.
Show Meter Name - application and plugin
The Show Meter Name setting shows the meter name in the plugin and Meter Bridge.
Meter Name On Bottom - application and plugin
The Meter Name On Bottom setting sets the positioning of the Meter Name either on the top or bottom of the meter.
Show Channel Label - application and plugin
The Show Channel Label setting shows the meter channel label in the plugin and Meter Bridge.
Channel Label On Bottom - application and plugin
The Channel Label On Bottom setting moves the meter channel labels to the bottom of the user interface while the meter name is on the top of the user interface.
Show Meter Values - application and plugin
The Show Meter Values setting shows the meter values for each channel in the plugin and Meter Bridge.
Meter Values On Bottom - application and plugin
The Meter Values On Bottom setting moves the meter value indicators to the bottom of the user interface while the meter name is on the top of the user interface.
Signal Present Indicator - application and plugin
The Signal Present Indicator setting displays the signal present indicator at the bottom of the meter bar. This can be used when scaling the meter such that negative infinite is not the lowest value.
Segmented Style - application and plugin
The Segmented Style setting changes the meter displays from a solid color to an LED style segmented display.
Display - application and plugin
The Display setting controls various settings related to displaying meters and their layout.
Refresh Rate - application and plugin
The Refresh Rate option sets the refresh rate of the meters. There is low (15 FPS), Standard (30 FPS), and high (60 FPS).
The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the meters appear. The higher the refresh rates use more CPU.
Use Small Header - Meter Bridge Pro
The Use Small Header setting causes the main Meter Bridge Pro window header to be a custom, smaller header rather than the standard macOS system header. This can be helpful for minimizing the application user interface size.
Always On Top - Meter Bridge Pro
The Always On Top setting allows the main Meter Bridge Pro application to be on top of other windows such as the Pro Tools Mix and Edit window.
Rows In Universe View - Meter Bridge Pro
The Rows In Universe View setting makes the Meter Bridge Pro application display across 1 to 5 rows when in the Universe View. This is convenient to make best use screen space and display the meters in a more efficient manner.
If the Meters Per Row setting is set to something other than 0, this value is used instead of Rows In Universe View.
Meters Per Row - Meter Bridge Pro
The Meters Per Row setting makes the Meter Bridge Pro application display a specific number of meters per row in the Universe View. When the value is left to 0, the Rows In Universe View is used to automatically layout the meters for each row.
If there are extra meters that do not fill a row, the remaining meters will be added to the last row. This feature allows better control over the number of meters displayed per row. This is very helpful when using a CoreAudio device with many meters such as 256. The rows can be configured to show 64 meters per row.
Spacing Between Meters - Meter Bridge Pro
The Spacing Between Meters setting changes the amount of space between meters in the Meter Bridge Pro. There are options for Narrow, Standard, and Wide
This setting can be used to create more space between meters to provide better visual separation of the meters for quickly differentiating between meters.
Universe View - Meter Bridge Pro
The Universe View setting hides the System name user interface element. This can be helpful for minimizing the application user interface size.
Note that the Configuration or Template document must be closed and reopened for the setting to take effect.
One System Per Row - Meter Bridge Pro
The One System Per Row setting makes the Meter Bridge Pro application display systems on individual rows. This applies to the standard view.
Show System Name - Meter Bridge Pro
The Show System Name setting makes the Meter Bridge Pro application show the System Name. This setting can be used to simplify the Meter Bridge Pro view.
Display Peak/Clip In Pop Up - Meter Bridge Pro
The Display Peak/Clip In Pop Up setting enables the Meter Bridge Pro application to display a pop up element that shows the meter name of a meter that has clipped or passed the peak threshold value.
This feature provides a prominent user interface element when a peak or clip has occurred. The popup will be shown based on the Peak Level For Pop Up, Peak Hold, and Clip Indicator settings.
Clicking on the popup display will clear the display.
Peak Level For Pop Up - Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro
The Peak Level For Pop Up setting sets the threshold in dB for when the Display Peak/Clip In Pop Up user interface element is displayed in yellow.
This setting can be configured to values such as -20dB or -5dB to set the threshold to when the Peak/Clip Level In Pop Up is displayed.
Follow Plugin Colors - Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro
The Follow Plugin Colors setting makes the Meter Bridge Pro application meters follow the color changes of the Massive Meter plugin.
Follow Plugin Order - Meter Bridge Pro
The Follow Plugin Order setting makes the Meter Bridge Pro application meters follow the order of plugins (track order) in Pro Tools.
Enabling this setting causes the order of meters to change in the Meter Bridge Pro when moving tracks in Pro Tools.
Follow Track Color - Massive Meter and Massive Meter Pro
The Follow Track Color setting makes the Massive Meter Pro track the Pro Tools track color. When this is set, the meter color follows the Pro Tools track color.
Counter - Meter Bridge Pro
Input
The Input setting is used to select the counter display source.
Setting Up an MTC Input Source
The application settings Counter tab contains the settings for configuring the incoming MTC source. Use the MTC Input menu to select a MTC Input source. The MTC source can be configured in Pro Tools or another DAW and in the macOS Audio MIDI Setup application. Consult the documentation for your DAW for further information about how to configure MTC generation.
Setting Up an HUI Input Source
The application settings Counter tab contains the settings for configuring the incoming HUI source. Use the HUI Input menu to select a HUI Input source. The HUI source can be configured in Pro Tools or another DAW and in the macOS Audio MIDI Setup application.
Setting Up an LTC Input Source
The application settings Counter tab contains the settings for configuring the incoming LTC source. Use the LTC Input menu to select a LTC Input source. The LTC source comes in through the currently selected Core Audio device. Use the popup menu to select the specific channel the LTC source is coming into.
Format
The Timecode Format setting sets the expected Timecode Format that is being received for MTC or LTC. This value should be set to the same format that is being sent to the Meter Bridge Pro. If this does not match, the displayed timecode may not be correct.
Display Format
The Display Format setting sets the display to show either Timecode or Feet+Frames in the Counter. Note, when using HUI, this setting does not apply.
Display Values
The Display Values setting sets the display to the specified display for either Timecode or Feet+Frames. Timecode and feet+frames can display values that can be set independently. This allows you to customize exactly what is displayed in the Counter allowing you to show the viewer exactly what you want. Note, when using HUI, this setting does not apply.
Font
The Font setting sets which font is used to display the Counter. The fonts are all fixed width fonts to ensure proper placement of the characters in the Counter.
Color
The Color setting sets which color is used for the Counter display allowing customization to fit your studios needs.
Current Timecode and Desired Feet+Frames
The Current Timecode and Desired Feet+Frames setting sets the specific timecode and feet+frames synchronization point. This allows you to pick which feet+frames point matches your starting timecode.
Display In Meter Window
The Display In Meter Window setting enables the Counter readout display to be shown at the top of the main window.
Use Small Header
The Use Small Header setting causes the Counter window header to be a custom, smaller header rather than the standard macOS system header. This can be helpful for minimizing the application user interface size.
Always On Top
The Always On Top setting allows the Counter window to be on top of other windows such as the Pro Tools Mix and Edit window.
Screening Mode Current File
The Current File setting allows you to pick a specific Screening Mode file to currently be used.
Screening Mode Setup
The Screening Mode Setup button opens the Screening Mode dialog allowing for viewing, changing, selecting, and saving a Screening Mode settings file.
Plugin
The plugin settings contain setting related to plugin specific information.
Custom Track Name - Massive Meter and Massive Meter Pro
The Custom Track Name setting allows the plugins displayed meter name to be different from the original track name.
The meter name defaults to the name of the track the plugin is instantiated on.
To change the track/meter display name, change the text in the Custom Track Name field. To revert to the original name of track, delete the text in the Custom Track Name field. When the settings are closed, the original track name will be used.
Note, the Custom Track Name is used by the Meter Bridge Pro for both display purposes and to map the plugins to meters in the Meter Bridge Pro when using a Template file.
Meter Delay - Massive Meter Pro
The Meter Delay (Samples) setting allows the specific meter to be delayed by a number of samples. This setting can be used to align meters that are out of sync due to complicated routing scenarios where the built-in delay compensation of the digital audio workstation does not fully compensate for delays.
Record, Mute, Solo, Input Monitor - Track Override - Massive Meter Pro
The Track Override setting set a specific VCA track with the root same name of another track/meter to be used as the source for Record, Mute, Solo, and Input Monitor. This is an advanced feature to enable workflows with VCA’s controlling the record, mute, solo, and input monitor for VCA groups that are metered independently.
Audio Devices - Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro
Default Meter Name
The Default Meter Name setting sets the default name prefix for meters created in the Audio Device Setup dialog. This setting is helpful when working with a CoreAudio device with many channels. For example, if there is a CoreAudio with 64 channels, the Default Meter Name can be used to automatically name each meter as “Onyx - 1”, “Onyx - 2”, etc.
System
The system settings contain the settings that relate to the system.
System Name - Mini Meter, Massive Meter, and Massive Meter Pro
The System Name setting allows the user to name the system that the Massive Meter is on. This can be used to name the different systems that are running Pro Tools. Some examples might be, Music, Dialog, Effects, or Recorder.
The system name is displayed in the Meter Bridge Pro application when selecting a system for the Configuration or when setting up a Template. The system name is also displayed in the main window of the Meter Bridge Pro application.
Note that the System Name is a system wide setting and applies to all Massive Meter plugins hosted on the computer.
Network Interface
The Network Interface setting selects which network interface for the communications between the plugin and application. This is saved at the system level.
The Meter Bridge and Meter Bridge Pro use Apple’s Bonjour system for discovering plugins and TCP/IP for communication between the application and plugins.
Reset Settings
The Reset Settings setting provides the Reset button to reset the settings to the default state. This is a helpful function to clear all settings in case the system is behaving oddly.
Version
The Version section shows the version number of the software.
7.3 Product and Feature Overview
The following table shows which features are in which product.
| Mini Meter | Massive Meter | Massive Meter Pro | Meter Bridge | Meter Bridge Pro | Meter Bridge Pro iOS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Paid | Paid | Free | Paid | Free |
| Format | AAX Native, VST3, AU | AAX Native, VST3, AU | AAX Native, AAX DSP, VST3, AU | macOS app | macOS app | iPadOS app |
| Channel formats | Mono, stereo | Mono, stereo, surround | Mono, stereo, surround, immersive | Mono, stereo | Mono, stereo, surround, immersive | Mono, stereo, surround, immersive |
| CoreAudio metering | no | no | no | Up to 8 ch | Up to 384 ch | no |
| Instant, Peak, RMS | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| K-12, K-14, K-20 | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| VU | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Linear, Digital VU | no | yes | yes | no | yes | yes |
| Dorrough (4 models) | no | no | yes | no | yes | yes |
| Digital PPM | no | no | yes | no | yes | yes |
| Custom Meters | no | no | yes | no | yes | no |
| Configurations | no | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| Templates | no | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| Meter Groups | no | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| Meter Linking | no | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| Meter Focus | no | control | control | no | yes | yes |
| Meter Fold Down | no | control | control | no | yes | yes |
| Meter Windows | no | no | no | no | yes | no |
| Universe View | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| Counter (MTC/LTC/HUI) | no | no | no | no | yes | no |
| Screening Mode | no | no | no | no | yes | no |
| Meter Editor | no | no | no | no | yes | no |
| Meter Delay | no | no | yes | no | no | no |
| Track Override (VCA) | no | no | yes | no | no | no |
| Custom Track Name | Yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Follow Track Color | No | Yes | yes | no | no | no |
7.4 File Locations
The following table shows where settings files are stored.
| Contents | Location |
|---|---|
| Audio device settings | ~/Documents/Meter Bridge Pro Settings/Audio Device/ |
| Screening Mode files | ~/Documents/Meter Bridge Pro Settings/Screening Mode/ |
| Meter Editor layouts | ~/Documents/Meter Bridge Pro Settings/Layout/ |
| Meter Editor colors | ~/Documents/Meter Bridge Pro Settings/Color/ |
| Meter Editor scales | ~/Documents/Meter Bridge Pro Settings/Scale/ |
| Application preferences | ~/Library/Preferences/Meter Bridge Pro.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Meter Bridge.settings |
| AAX plugins | ~/Library/Preferences/Mini-Meter-AAX.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Massive-Meter-AAX.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Massive-Meter-Pro-AAX.settings |
| VST3 plugins | ~/Library/Preferences/Mini-Meter-VST.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Massive-Meter-VST.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Massive-Meter-Pro-VST.settings |
| AU components | ~/Library/Preferences/Mini-Meter-AU.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Massive-Meter-AU.settings ~/Library/Preferences/Massive-Meter-AU-VST.settings |
8. About Us
The Evergreen Audio Design Group was founded by Bob Brown who is the designer and software architect of the Meter Bridge and Massive Meter.
Bob Brown is a long time media industry software engineer. He worked as a team member of the Digidesign and Avid software engineering team. As part of the Pro Tools software team, he worked on many features including Avid Satellite, audio/video synchronization, collaboration, file interoperability, and many other features. He was also part of the DTS (Xperi) immersive audio software team developing DTS|X content creation tools including the MDA Creator Suite.