Manual
Alice 828 Mk3
User Handbook and
Operating Notes
The standard metering on the 828 is VU meters. These are true
moving-coil meters specifically manufactured for Ted Fletcher’s
TFPRO company.
Meters
pg | 18
The VU meters fitted to the Alice 828 Mk3 are nominally
VU dynamics but unlike original USA VU meters, which were
seriously inaccurate when measuring audio also creating audio
distortion, these Alice meters are pseudo-peak meters with
separate amplifier electronics.
They are set up so that 0VU represents an audio output of 0dBu or
0.775v RMS measured across pins 2 and 3 of the audio output XLR.
The level set-up of the VU meters can be adjusted with pre-sets on
the VU amplifier sub-board on the monitor module. This is accessible
once the base panel is removed.
Most meters demonstrate an element of under-read when the meter
is reading human speech, a VU meter normally underreads by up to
10dB, but the Alice 828 Mk3 meter has a very much faster attack time
and shows little or no underread (compared to the standard BBC PPM
meter) and therefore can be relied upon for accurate levels.
Audio metering