Blue Cat Audio DP Meter Pro

What Blue Cat DP Meter Pro Is For

Blue Cat DP Meter Pro is an audio analysis plug-in designed to measure, understand, and control the level and dynamics of a signal during mixing and mastering. It is aimed at producers, sound engineers, and audio editors as well as content creators who want to secure their levels, control transients, and validate the overall balance of a track.

Beyond simple metering, DP Meter Pro stands out for its ability to transform measurements into control signals (automation/MIDI). You can thus trigger musical or technical actions based on the signal's energy: voice-over ducking, sidechain compression, effect animation, or control of external MIDI devices.

Main Features

Peak, RMS, and Crest Factor Measurement with Advanced Customization

DP Meter Pro combines several measurement types (peak, RMS, crest factor) and lets you shape envelope behavior to fit your workflow. Attack, release, curve, and measurement characteristics can be adjusted to obtain a display that is both readable and representative of musical reality (transients, sustain, dynamic variations).

K-System Scales and Custom Scale Creation

The plug-in includes several ready-to-use scales, including Bob Katz's K-System (K-12, K-14, K-20). You can also create your own scales to tailor the display to specific requirements (broadcast, streaming, post-production, studio calibration), while maintaining coherent reading thanks to statistics and visual markers.

Histograms, Statistics, and Graphs for True Dynamic Reading

Going beyond an instantaneous VU meter, DP Meter Pro offers instantaneous, average, and maximum statistics, as well as histograms allowing a reliable measurement of dynamic range. Graphs display envelope evolution over time, useful for spotting an overly dense chorus, a too-quiet verse, or transients triggering a limiter irregularly.

Mid-Side Control, "Stereoness," and Phase Checking

The mid-side mode and dedicated indicators facilitate detection of mono compatibility issues and verification of stereo width. DP Meter Pro helps quickly identify an overly widened image, risky correlation, or possible phase cancellations, whether you're working on a stereo take, effect buses, or a master.

Reusable Envelopes: Automation and MIDI CC for Sidechain

All measured envelopes (peak, RMS, crest factor, clip, etc.) can be reused as control sources. You can combine them, invert them, adjust their amplitude and offset, then save them as automation curves or send them as MIDI CC. The result: a creative and precise sidechain, not solely dependent on a compressor, with possibilities ranging from clean ducking to effect animation.

DAW Integration and User Comfort

Designed for easy integration with most audio workstations, DP Meter Pro includes MIDI Learn, full automation, smooth bypass (activation/deactivation without noise), as well as a preset system and copy/paste state functions between instances. Its processing stops during silence to optimize CPU usage, and it supports all sample rates.

Technical specifications

Type

Full software

Downloadable

Yes

Included scales	K-System (K-12 / K-14 / K-20) + custom scales	Windows	Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, or 10
Output envelope shape management	inversion, amount adjustment, and offset	Windows Processor	SSE2 compatible (Pentium 4 or newer)
Typical applications	ducking, sidechain compression, multitrack monitoring, dynamic stereo enhancement, control of audio/video effects or lighting systems via audio signal	AAX Surround version	multichannel format support in Pro Tools up to 16 channels
Available formats (Mac)	VST-2, VST-3, AU, AAX	Smooth Bypass	activation/deactivation without noise
Available formats (Windows)	VST-2, VST-3, AAX	Version	4.4
Optimized processing	no CPU load at idle (processing stops during silence)	VST/VST3	fixed DSP usage issues under heavy CPU load when writing output parameter automation in some hosts
Mac	OS X Mac OS 10.9 or later	Fix	missing dB values on the interface ruler
Mac Processor	Intel or Apple Silicon