Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I see the audio my computer is playing?

Windows:

Open Preferences within MiniMeters. Under the section titled "Audio Device:" select "Default Output Capture."

This selects the default output device on your PC and attempts to capture your full system audio. 

NOTE: If you use a Digital Audio Workstation or media player with ASIO drivers this will most likely not work.

macOS:

Apple does not provide a native way to monitor an audio output. But luckily, there are many 3rd party tools that allow you to do so!

eqMac (Free)

Official Website
Instructions:
  • Install & launch eqMac.
  • Choose eqMac as your output device on macOS & in the DAW you are using.
  • Then, simply select eqMac as the input in MiniMeters by going to Preferences within MiniMeters and selecting eqMac under the Audio Device: section.

Rogue Ameoba SoundSource (Paid)

Official Website
Instructions:
  • Install & launch SoundSource.
  • From within SoundSource: Add the MiniMetersServer plugin to your system output.
  • From within MiniMeters navigate to Preferences and select MiniMetersPlugin under the Audio Device: section.

Sonarworks Systemwide (Paid)

Official Website

If you are already using Sonarworks Systemwide to EQ your monitors or headphones you're in luck!

  • Install & launch Sonarworks Systemwide.
  • Choose Sonarworks Systemwide as your output device on macOS & in the DAW you are using.
  • Then, simply select Sonarworks Systemwide as the input in MiniMeters by going to Preferences within MiniMeters and selecting Sonarworks Systemwide under the Audio Device: section.

Static Z Sound Siphon (Paid)

Official Website
Instructions:
  • Install & launch Static Z Sound Siphon.
  • Click the + sign at the bottom left of the Sound Siphon window.
  • Name the device as you wish. This will be the device you choose in MiniMeters.
  • Inside the Device tab click the + sign and add All Audio.
  • From within MiniMeters navigate to Preferences and select the name of the device you made under the Audio Device: section.

Rogue Ameoba AudioHijack (Paid)

Official Website
Option 1:
  • Install & launch Audio Hijack.
  • Click New Session from the bottom left and choose New Blank Session.
  • Select System Audio from the Sources pane on the right of the window.
  • Drag in Output Device and choose the audio device you'd like to use to within MiniMeters.
  • On the right hand side of the window: scroll down to the Audio Unit Effects pane.
  • Drag MiniMetersServer into the audio graph inside Audio Hijack.
  • From within MiniMeters navigate to Preferences and select MiniMetersPlugin under the Audio Device: section.
Option 2:
Advanced, but lower latency & lower CPU.

Using a loopback driver such as BlackHole, or Rogue Amoeba's Loopback in conjunction with Audio Hijack.

  • Install & launch Audio Hijack.
  • Click New Session from the bottom left and choose New Blank Session.>
  • Select System Audio from the Sources pane on the right of the window.
  • Drag in Output Device and choose the audio device you'd like to use to within MiniMeters.
    • --
  • Insert a second output device and select the loopback driver of your choice.
  • Navigate to Applications/Utilities in Finder and open Audio Midi Setup.
  • Click the Window menu and choose Audio Devices if it is not shown.
  • Ensure that the Input and Output volume of your chosen loopback device is set to 1. Otherwise, MiniMeters may not show an accurate display of the audio on your system.
  • Return to Audio Hijack and insert a second Output Device and route your System Audio to it. Select the loopback driver you'd like to use.

For advanced users:

BlackHole - Follow the instructions to "Record System Audio"

Loopback

Specific Audio Interfaces:

Many audio interface manufacturers support a creation of a loopback device.

UAD Interfaces:

Follow the instructions in this tutorial.

MiniMeters is not behaving correctly.

Windows:

Navigate to the following folders and move the contents to the trash:

"%AppData%/MiniMeters/"
macOS:

Navigate to the following folders and move the contents to the trash:

"~/Library/Preferences/MiniMeters/"

If MiniMeters is still having issues please contact me on the MiniMeters Discord, the comments on MiniMeters itch.io page, or messaging me on Twitter

The MiniMetersServer plugin is not showing up in my DAW.

On Windows: MiniMetersServer is only included as a VST3. Ensure that your DAW supports VST3 Plugins.

On macOS: MiniMeters is included as an Audio Unit & a VST3. Ensure your DAW supports VST3/AU and they are enabled in Preferences.

Ableton Live

Windows:

Navigate to Preferences within Live and ensure that VST3 plugins are enabled.

macOS:

Navigate to Preferences within Live and ensure that VST3 or Audio Unit plugins are enabled.

Logic Pro

If you recently installed MiniMeters please first restart your computer before attempting to use the MiniMetersServer plugin within Logic.

Why does the plugin not show the meters?

Simply put: MiniMeters is not designed to be a plugin. Instead, MiniMeters is a standalone app that can accept various audio sources including a DAW with the included MiniMetersServer plugin.

Why?

There are many advantages to MiniMeters being a standalone app. Primarily removing the window borders, automatically restoring the position at launch, and being persistent between projects.

Ideally MiniMeters should be used with a loopback device such as an audio interface that supports loopback, a program that sets up a software loopback (on macOS mainly), or with an audio output capture (on Windows).

The advantage to these methods is the ability to not only monitor your DAWs audio but also everything that is coming out of your speakers. This can help build insight to what you are seeing on your own productions.

Why is there no VST2 version?

Unfortunately Steinberg has ceased allowing new software developers from legally making VST2 plugins. There is nothing I can do about that.

How do I make a theme?

You can also manually navigate to the themes folder by going to %AppData%\MiniMeters\themes\ on Windows or ~/Library/Preferences/MiniMeters/themes on macOS.

Inside the newly created file is all of the information on how to create a theme.

NOTE: Keep MiniMeters Preferences open while editing the theme file you just created. Every time you save the file MiniMeters will instantly update.

If you create a theme and wish to share please post it in the #themes channel in the MiniMeters Discord.

MiniMeters is using quite a bit of CPU.

MiniMeters needs to display audio as it comes in which does require a bit of CPU usage. That being said, there are a few things to check to ensure that MiniMeters isn't running amok.

Checking VSync:

Open Preferences from within MiniMeters and choose "60" from the FPS Limit: pane. If this corrects the issue then you should continue to use MiniMeters with this setting on.

You may also set MiniMeters to lock to 30fps to reduce CPU usage further albeit with less visual smoothness.

Windows Specific issues:

Sometimes your graphics card will reject MiniMeters's request for VSync. This is often due to VSync being disabled globally.

NVIDIA Graphics Cards

Open the NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings make sure that you select "Use the 3D application setting."

AMD Graphics Cards

Open the AMD Radeon Software > Gaming > Global Graphics > Wait for Vertical Refresh. Set this setting to "Off, unless application specifies", "On, unless application specifies", or "Always on."

Advanced Tips and Debugging:

If you are still running into issues and want to be a nerd you're welcome to turn on debug mode.

Enable Debug Mode:

  • Close MiniMeters.
  • Navigate to MiniMeters's Settings folder: %AppData%\MiniMeters\ on Windows or ~/Library/Preferences/MiniMeters on macOS.
  • Open settings.json in your text editor of choice.
  • Scroll down to find the line that begins with debug
  • Change the value from false or null to true
  • The final line should read "debug": true,

This should create a new overlay on the right side of the main MiniMeters window. This will show the resulting FPS per frame, a graph of the frame time, and information about your graphics card.