TC Electronic Clarity M Meter Firmware Issue

[stormymondays]

2.1.3 has been out for a few months, fortunately. I’m reviving this thread to ask how you guys use it. I think Hugh could write an article about how to use the vector scope

I find it invaluable for loudness metering, but the RTA is not much use, which it’s a shame. Maybe the display is too fast? I’ve tried using it to compare the tonal balances of mixes and I can’t really “see” anything of what I can hear.

[ConcertinaChap]

I haven't been looking, does 2.1.3 fix the issue Hugh had noted, do you know?

Like the Elf, mine mainly resides on the loudness page which I've tailored to my taste. A tutorial on the vector scope would be useful, I have to say.

Cheers,

CC

[Hugh Robjohns]

2.1.3 has been out for a few months

Ah, thanks for that -- I haven't looked for an update in a while. I'll check it out.

I’m reviving this thread to ask how you guys use it. I think Hugh could write an article about how to use the vector scope

The more you use the vectorscope, the more sense it makes! It's a case of learning to interpret and correlate what you see with what you hear.

As a general rule, you want a round ball of string with no (large) holes. That's 'perfect' stereo.

If it's a vertical sausage the source is narrow, tending towards mono. True mono is a vertical line.

If the ball is flattened, so it's wider than it is high, you have a significant 'out-of-phase' element and it will sound super-wide, but mono compatibility may be compromised.

If the image becomes diamond shaped with hard edges there is significant limiting going on.

If it leans towards one side you have a left/right imbalance.

And if you have big holes in the ball of string there are substantial time-of-arrival differences between the channels -- such as when using a spaced mic array -- which, again, may compromise mono compatibility.

... the RTA is not much use, which it’s a shame. Maybe the display is too fast? I’ve tried using it to compare the tonal balances of mixes and I can’t really “see” anything of what I can hear.

The RTA is quite a crude tool in comparison to the FFT displays which are increasingly available in DAWs and EQ plugins. It really comes into its own for system alignment with pink noise, and identifying howlround frequencies in PAs! But you're not going to see subtle tonal differences with it.

I presume the Clarity M doesn't have the processing power to provide a real-time high-res FFT display.

I'll check out the firmware and report back.

[stormymondays]

Very useful! I think this should at least make it into a Q&A feature in SOS...

[ConcertinaChap]

The more you use the vectorscope, the more sense it makes! It's a case of learning to interpret and correlate what you see with what you hear.

As a general rule, you want a round ball of string with no (large) holes. That's 'perfect' stereo.

If it's a vertical sausage the source is narrow, tending towards mono. True mono is a vertical line.

If the ball is flattened, so it's wider than it is high, you have a significant 'out-of-phase' element and it will sound super-wide, but mono compatibility may be compromised.

If the image becomes diamond shaped with hard edges there is significant limiting going on.

If it leans towards one side you have a left/right imbalance.

And if you have big holes in the ball of string there are substantial time-of-arrival differences between the channels -- such as when using a spaced mic array -- which, again, may compromise mono compatibility.

Thanks for that, Hugh.

CC

[Martin Walker]

Indeed - that's a handy résumé.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Yay!

V2.1.3 has fixed the vectorscope L/R swap introduced accidentally in V2.1.2.

Given the range of minor but worthwhile tweaks added in V2.1.2 (and obviously carried over into V2.1.3 I would say it is now worthwhile updating to 2.1.3 if you're still running V2.0.3

To perform the update:

1. Download the file from the TC website and then extract it from the zip file. (After extraction there are three files: the firmware, install process notes, and a revision list. Only the firmware file is needed.)

2. Connect the Clarity M to your PC or Mac via the USB port.

3. Select the USB Disc Drive mode in the Clarity M settings. (SYS > USB Mode > Disk Drive.) The Clarity should now appear as an external disk drive on the computer.

4. Open the Clarity M disk drive and locate a folder labelled "Firmware".

5. Copy/move the downloaded firmware file into the firmware folder.

6. Reboot the Clarity M to install the new firmware.

7. You can confirm success by opening the SYS page on the Clarity M and looking at the System Information which should now state V2.1.3 (or whichever version you've installed).

It takes longer to describe/read than to do!