The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection is a plug-in with three different loudness monitors. Included in the bundle are the Model 280-D, Model 380-D, and Model 40-AES/EBU plug-ins, each of which just gives you a different look on the same loudness meter. Each has stereo 'LED' levelers and a series of buttons for controlling exactly what you're monitoring. You can buy this plug-in individually or within a bundle, and also comes in a Surround Edition. It's not hard to use these plug-ins at all, as once you find the settings you like or need, it'll pretty much do the work for you. There are a good amount of mode buttons to work with, so a manual should help with identifying exactly what everything will do for you.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The studio I work at has the Waves Dorrough Meter Collection running on all of our systems. The plug-ins do get used a good amount as they really are great meter monitoring tools. All our systems are Pro Tools HD based, but it should run well either way since you're mostly going to be running just a single instance of it on the master fader, or at least that's how I use it. Performance should definitely not be much of a problem with the Dorrough Meter Collection.

OVERALL OPINION

The Waves Dorrough Meter Collection is one of the best ways to monitor your loudness levels inside the box. They're designed for use beyond just mixing and mastering audio, but also for post production and just about any audio application you can think of. It's cool that they also have the Surround Edition, which would of course be best suited for mixing to film. I haven't used this version, but I'd imagine it's pretty comparable and just has more meters to check out. It's not one of Waves' more expensive plug-ins, which is good for anyone who wants it! It's available in both Native and TDM formats, so definitely look into this if you're after a well designed loudness meter!