TC Electronic Clarity M Stereo is a professional stereo audio meter with 7" high-resolution display and USB connectivity for seamless integration into your DAW. Despite its compact dimensions, the Clarity M Stereo provides all the information you need to correctly analyze and estimate the incoming audio signal. Also on board is the legendary LM6 Loudness Radar Meter, a True Peak Meter , Downmix Compliance, Stereo Correlation and a Real Time Analyzer - everything you need for modern audio production. The Stereo Audio Meter is also compliant with all major broadcast standards such as ITU BS.1770-4, ATSC A/85, EBU R128, TR-B32 and OP-59 and uses the USB connection for simple VST, audio units and AAX plug-in metering.
This stereo version is great value and works flawlessly. Quite heavy and very well built so it won't be easily pulled from your desktop or monitor bridge. One of those didn't-know-i-needed-it-til-i-got-it products. Wonderful to have an always-on real time display.
Couple of niggles. The quick-start manuals includes diagrams of the hook-up options. Despite there being plenty of white space the annotations are in ridiculously small type (4-5pt?). Really stupid when you're trying to determine the best way to connect. Secondly, the device lacks a straightforward coaxial SPDIF input meaning I had to connect > monitor controller SPDIF out > SPDIF to word clock adaptor > to Word clock lead > to Dsub 15 breakout cable > to Clarity M! Works though, just inelegant.
This is a very helpful tool to have to hand when needing to reference measurements such as loudness in LUFS, RMS, True Peaks etc. Also has (as it says in the description) vectorscopes and stereo balance meters so you can easily see if your L-R is getting out of phase anywhere, and the general spread of EQ across bands. Sure plugins can do this for less money, but sometimes having something that can be just sat next to your main display, always visible, is super helpful in this sort of application.
I compared it with iZotope's Ozone meter and it seems to match exactly within 0.1db or LUFS, so seems to be accurate.
My only irk is that is only accepts an AES/SPIDIF digital input, not a tos ADAT.
All in all, for the price, a really great little piece of kit! Will probably help your mixes or masters far more than that particular outboard compressor that you might use for 1% of your work ;)
Positives:
Solid build aluminium body with functional and professional feel.
Connection for all systems.
Visually bright and clear metering that’s customisable.
Vst works without a hitch.
Cons:
USB lead is short.
Information on set up options is limp.
Overall: Love it, it’s exactly what I need to catch my eye when working and as a solid point of reference when mixing, mastering and referencing. Now I have one, it seems essential.