What it measures
Broadcast-grade loudness, on your desktop
The same BS.1770 math behind ffmpeg's ebur128
filter,
wrapped in a real-time meter you can actually watch while you play.
EBU R128 loudness
Integrated (gated), Short-term (3 s), and Momentary (400 ms) loudness in LUFS, plus Loudness Range (LRA).
Loudness bar meters
Vertical bars for True Peak, Momentary, Short-term, and Integrated, with markers that hold the recent peak so you can read your level at a glance. A stereo input gets left and right true-peak bars.
EBU loudness scales
Switch the bars to the EBU +9 or EBU +18 scale, centered on a -23 LUFS target, or use the same ranges around a target of your own. Bars turn green, yellow, and red as you approach and pass it.
Live spectrum analyzer
Switch on a log-frequency FFT spectrum with peak-hold, max-hold, and pink/brown noise guide curves calibrated to your target loudness. Freeze any curve as a reference and point anywhere to read the exact frequency and level.
Leveling target & suggested gain
Set a leveling target in LUFS and MeterMaid shows the suggested gain to hit it. It's the fastest way to match two patches.
True Peak & clip ceiling
True-peak readout in dBTP for each channel, with a configurable clip ceiling, so you can keep levels honest without clipping.
Cross-platform & signed
Native builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux. macOS builds are signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized, with no Gatekeeper warnings.
Free, open & self-updating
MIT-licensed and free. It remembers your device and settings between launches and updates itself in place when a new release ships.
Compact view
Press C to shrink MeterMaid down to just the meters, so it sits beside your DAW or tiles across a display.
Download
Get MeterMaid v0.7.0
Pick your platform below. On first launch MeterMaid asks for microphone access. It needs that to read any audio input device, including USB interfaces.
Windows
Unsigned, so SmartScreen may warn; choose More
info → Run anyway. .msi in all assets.
Looking for checksums, signatures, or older versions? Browse all releases on GitHub.
Getting started
From download to dialed-in tone
You'll be reading real loudness in under a minute. No account, no config files, and no manual to read.
-
1
Install and open
Grab the build for your platform above and launch it. macOS builds are notarized, so they open without warnings.
-
2
Pick your input
Connect your interface or modeler over USB, or route playback through a virtual device like BlackHole, then choose it in the device dropdown.
-
3
Press Start
Click Start and allow microphone access when asked. The readouts and the bar meters come alive right away.
-
4
Match your loudness
Set a leveling target, play a few seconds, and read the Suggested gain. To level a patch, make a change, click Reset or press Space, and play again until Suggested gain settles.
Keyboard shortcuts
Keep your hands close to your instrument. Use these keys with the MeterMaid window active.
- S
- Start / stop capture.
- Space
- Reset the measurement while capturing, keeping the audio device running.
- M
- Toggle spectrum Max Hold.
- C
- Toggle compact view.
S and M work any time you are not typing in a field, so they stay live right after you pick a device. Close the About window first. No modifier keys, and holding the letter down does not repeat the action.
Updates
What's new
MeterMaid gains features and fixes regularly, and it updates itself in place, so you're always current. The current version is v0.7.0.
Latest highlights
v0.7.0 · October 7, 2026A new look built around loudness bar meters. True Peak, Momentary, Short-term, and Integrated each get a vertical bar under their number, so you can read your level at a glance while you play.
- True Peak shows separate left and right bars when you meter a stereo pair.
- Markers on the bars hold the most recent peak for a moment before falling back, and the numbers above them hold too, so they are easy to read.
- New loudness scales in Settings, including the EBU +9 and EBU +18 scales used in broadcast and live sound, which set the target to -23 LUFS for you. Bars turn green, yellow, and red around the target.
- A compact view (press C) shrinks MeterMaid down to just the meters, so it fits beside your DAW or other apps.
- A new Settings panel gathers the options in one place. You can hide the numbers you do not need, or the suggested gain.
- The spectrum analyzer is now optional. Turn it on in Settings if you want it.
- The default leveling target is now -23 LUFS. If you already set your own target, it is kept.
Feedback
Found a bug? Want a feature?
MeterMaid is built in the open. The best way to report a problem, request a feature, or ask a question is on GitHub. It keeps everything in one place and lets others chime in.
New to leveling tone? Read Level Guitar Patches with MeterMaid.
Support
Buy me a coffee
MeterMaid is free and open source. No ads, no account, no tracking, and no upsell. If it has earned a place in your music gear, a one-time tip helps cover the signing certificates and hardware that keep the builds working on every platform.
Buy me a coffeeEntirely optional. MeterMaid stays free and fully featured either way.