VU meters to measure what an app is sending out? [SOLVED]

[MIDI Life Crisis]

What I am looking for is an app that will simply tell me what levels a specific app is sending out. In other words, in the current situation, I want to audit what level Powerpoint is sending out on each slide, but it could just as easily be iTunes or any other app.

There are a couple of really lousy "VU" meter app in the Apple app store but they only measure INPUT levels and the few I've tried don't really work for that. The closest I've gotten is to monitor the mic ion the webcam, but even then, it's dependent on how the output levels to the speakers are set.

what I want is to know what the level the app in question is sending on an ABSOLUTE, not a RELATIVE level.

Audio HiJack and CueMix also show the level relative to the speaker level, not what the apps themselves are sending out.

Any thoughts?

FYI - here's the app I bought for $5 from Apple. Grrrrr!


http://www.katsurashareware.com/pgs/prolevel.html

Thanks.

[cuttime]

I think you're going to have to use some kind of audio server like Jack or Soundflower, and route the outputs to some other meter. I have only had success with Jack. I'll try it later to see if I can get the desired results.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I think I can do it with log Bidule, but I was looking for a simpler solution. DOn't really want to start messing with a complicated structure. Thanks, man!

[mikehalloran]

what I want is to know what the level the app in question is sending on an ABSOLUTE, not a RELATIVE level.

Hmmmm... that's interesting. I have a number of metering plugs – I'll have to play with them and see if any can monitor the sound out bus like that.

[billf]

Can AudioHijack 3 be used for this somehow? I thought I saw in the demo that it has built in VU meters (as well as the ability to choose AU plugins) that can be selected when setting up sessions, and that any app can be used as the sound source.

[Michael Canavan]

Audio HiJack and CueMix also show the level relative to the speaker level, not what the apps themselves are sending out.

If you (Audio) Highjack Powerpoint, then you will be able to get a reading on what level Powerpoint is sending out by adding the VU plug in to the chain after Powerpoint. PSP make a suite here http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/too ... iplemeter/

[mikehalloran]

Audio HiJack and CueMix also show the level relative to the speaker level, not what the apps themselves are sending out.

If you (Audio) Highjack Powerpoint, then you will be able to get a reading on what level Powerpoint is sending out by adding the VU plug in to the chain after Powerpoint. PSP make a suite here http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/too ... iplemeter/

That was along the lines of what I was thinking. I have the PSP TripleMeter from an old freebie offer plus a few others.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Thank you gentlemen... (and Mike). j/k!

[mikehalloran]

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Audio HiJack saves the day, but as the included v/u meters are too small to be used in a pro setting, I thought that a third party AU or VST plugin might be available and PSP did not let me down...

http://pspaudioware.com/plugins/tools_a ... iplemeter/

$25 for a meter may sound a bit steep, but not really if that's what you need. Anyway, it works as a great plugin (only tried it in ver. 3.0.5) and the meters are easy to read. Just what the Dr. ordered!

Thanks Michael(s) and BillF for the leads.