EasyMeter

EasyMeter 0.2.0 is a focused, resizable audio-metering suite for quick mix decisions. It runs as an analyzer effect in a DAW or as a standalone application, accepts mono or stereo audio, and leaves plug-in audio unchanged.

Screenshot by Given Peace. See the EasyMeter product page for the musician-facing overview.

At a glance

• Six real-time views: waveform, spectrogram, spectrum, oscilloscope, loudness, and stereo field
• AU and VST3 plug-ins plus a standalone application
• C++20 and JUCE 9 with reproducible CMake presets
• Mono and stereo pass-through behavior covered by processor smoke tests
• Clean macOS and Windows builds in GitHub Actions

Unsigned development builds for macOS and Windows are available from the latest release. Each release includes SHA-256 checksums and identifies the exact source revision. Checked-in binary archives are legacy snapshots and may not match the current source or version.

Meter views

• Waveform — dual, overlay, mono, and mid/side layouts with span presets, detail, RMS, visual normalization, freeze, and grid controls.
• Spectrogram — linear or logarithmic frequency scale, three palettes, one- or three-second windows, beat-aware grid, floor, contrast, and freeze controls.
• Spectrum — linear, logarithmic, or Mel scale with line, fill, bars, and overlay modes; smoothing, tilt, floor, legend, and peak hold.
• Oscilloscope — free, rising, or falling trigger; selectable window and time base; gain, persistence, fill, smoothing, grid, and freeze controls.
• Loudness — momentary, short-term, and integrated LUFS, loudness range, target presets, RMS comparison, and 20/60/120-second history views.
• Stereo Field — mid/side or left/right plots with line, dot, and trail modes plus correlation, width, balance, scale, and history controls.
• About — Given Peace links, including more free audio tools.

The editor also keeps up to ten seconds of recent audio available for export as a 24-bit WAV. Number keys 1 through 7 switch views. On open, the welcome card can be dismissed immediately with Continue, Return, Escape, or a click outside it; the Beatport link is entirely optional.

EasyMeter reports useful production measurements, but it is not certified as a delivery-compliance meter. Check final masters with the measurement tools required by your broadcaster, distributor, or delivery specification.

Formats and platform support

Platform	Plug-in formats	Standalone	Build target
macOS 12 or later	Audio Unit (AU), VST3	.app	Universal arm64 + x86_64 preset available
64-bit Windows	VST3	.exe	Native runner architecture

EasyMeter does not accept or produce MIDI. Plug-in builds support matching mono-to-mono and stereo-to-stereo bus layouts.

Build from source

Requirements

• CMake 3.22 or later
• Git and an internet connection for the first configure (CMake fetches the pinned JUCE 9.0.0 source)
• A C++20 toolchain:
  • macOS: Xcode and its command-line tools
  • Windows: Visual Studio 2022 with Desktop development with C++

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/bgivenb/EasyMeter.git
cd EasyMeter

macOS universal Release

cmake --preset release-universal
cmake --build --preset release-universal --parallel

Outputs are written below:

Build/release-universal/EasyMeter_artefacts/Release/AU/EasyMeter.component
Build/release-universal/EasyMeter_artefacts/Release/VST3/EasyMeter.vst3
Build/release-universal/EasyMeter_artefacts/Release/Standalone/EasyMeter.app

For a native-architecture macOS build, replace release-universal with release.

Windows Release

Run these commands from a Developer PowerShell or a terminal where the Visual Studio toolchain is available:

cmake --preset release
cmake --build Build/release --config Release --parallel

Outputs are written below:

Build/release/EasyMeter_artefacts/Release/VST3/EasyMeter.vst3
Build/release/EasyMeter_artefacts/Release/Standalone/EasyMeter.exe

The dev preset creates a Debug build in Build/dev.

Mac to PC handoff

Every push runs the same source through macOS and Windows builds. The Windows job uploads a commit-specific handoff containing the VST3, standalone executable, and a JSON manifest identifying the exact source revision.

See Mac to PC handoff for the no-toolchain download path, Windows installation steps, and the one-command local PowerShell build.

Install

Download the package for your format and platform from the latest release, verify it against SHA256SUMS.txt, and read Signing and distribution before running it. These are unsigned development builds; operating-system security controls may warn or block them.

Close the host before replacing an existing plug-in, extract the package, copy the bundle to the appropriate folder, then reopen the host and rescan plug-ins if needed.

macOS

• VST3: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/EasyMeter.vst3
• AU: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/EasyMeter.component
• Standalone: move EasyMeter.app to /Applications or another location you control

Use /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/... instead for an all-users plug-in install, which requires administrator access.

Windows

• VST3: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\VST3\EasyMeter.vst3
• Standalone: keep EasyMeter.exe in a folder you control or package it in an installer

Validate a build

Run the configured test suite after building:

ctest --test-dir Build/release --build-config Release --output-on-failure

For the macOS universal preset, use Build/release-universal as the test directory. Validate the AU registration with the case-sensitive manufacturer and subtype codes from the CMake project:

auval -v aufx EaMt GvPc

Before publishing a release, also check the following:

1. Open the standalone application and each plug-in format.
2. Insert EasyMeter on mono and stereo audio tracks and confirm audio passes through unchanged.
3. Feed silence, normal program audio, clipped audio, and anti-phase stereo material through every view.
4. Exercise view switching, resize limits, freeze/reset controls, session save/restore, and WAV export.
5. Rescan in at least one current VST3 host on each platform and one AU host on macOS.
6. Run the Steinberg VST3 validator or an equivalent plug-in validation tool used by your release process.

GitHub Actions performs clean Release builds and uploads packaged development artifacts for macOS and Windows. CI verifies configuration, compilation, tests, and packaging; it does not replace DAW compatibility or audio-behavior testing.

Signing and distribution

The GitHub Actions artifacts are intentionally not release-signed. No Apple Developer ID, notarization credentials, or Windows code-signing certificate is used in CI. JUCE or the macOS toolchain may apply an ad-hoc signature while building a bundle, but that signature does not identify the developer and is not a substitute for Developer ID signing or notarization. macOS Gatekeeper and Windows SmartScreen may therefore warn about or block downloaded CI builds.

Treat release and workflow artifacts as development builds. The source at the release tag remains authoritative. Before distributing EasyMeter to end users:

Configure production macOS builds with -DEASYMETER_ADHOC_SIGN=OFF, then apply the release identity after the bundles are complete.

• sign the macOS AU, VST3, and standalone bundles with an appropriate Developer ID certificate;
• notarize and staple the macOS deliverable, then verify it with codesign and spctl;
• Authenticode-sign the Windows VST3 bundle and standalone executable, then verify them with SignTool; and
• publish checksums alongside the final release assets.

License

EasyMeter is available under the MIT License.