GigaStudio: DSP Station Metering
Metering the audio output level in GigaStudio from your sound card
GigaStudio's DSP Station does offer metering next to each mixer input, which approximates the post-fader level of each virtual mixer channel.
However, this graphic display is necessarily reliable. A sustained tone, such as 1 kHz sine wave, gives a meter level that constantly modulates up and down. This is not reflected in what is metered (or heard) at the output.
Figure 1 - Click to englarge
In this screenshot (figure 1), we are sending a 1kHz sine wave at -10 dBFS to each mixer channel. The DSP Station meters show a different level on each channel - since this is only a screenshot, it does not show the meters visibly modulating up and down. The RME sound card's metering displays the accurate level, both on the meter graphic, and with the text peak level display.
The DSP Station display also lacks accurate peak metering.
Figure 2 - Click to englarge
In this screenshot (figure 2), multiple 1kHz sine waves at full scale are being routed to Mixer Inputs 1 & 2. The DSP Station does not show the output signal is clipping - in fact, it does not even show the meter hitting "0". Meanwhile, the RME sound card meter bridge confirms the digital distortion, as do our ears at the sound card's output.
Using your sound card for accurate metering is your best bet (see "GigaStudio / GVI: Output metering").
GigaStudio / GVI: Output metering
The ideal way to meter the audio output level of GigaStudio or GVI is via your sound card. GigaStudio does have limited metering on the DSP Station tab (see "GigaStudio: DSP Station Metering")
Echo Audio has metering built into the control panel for many of its cards. The Montana/Dakota and WaveStation PCI cards from Frontier Designs are very reliable, but unfortunately do not include a metering window.
RME has a variety of excellent options for its sound cards. The TotalMix application, included with almost all of its sound card drivers (including Mac OS X) offers individual metering for each input and output channel. The latest drivers also include MIDI Control Change fader control, for MIDI control surfaces and other uses (which is also possible with GigaStudio's DSP Station tab).
RME also offers Meter Bridge and DIGICheck as free downloads for its sound cards running under Windows or Vista. Meter Bridge offers a "Global Level View" with basic, accurate view of each sound card's output signals. You can customize the level meter to your taste with Peak/RMS metering, release speed, peak-hold time, and other parameters:
Figure 3 - Click to englarge
DIGICheck goes a step further, offering a variety of customizable views, including
Spectral Analyzer and Correlation Meter views.
Best of all, these utilities do not place any significant load on the CPU, so your
GigaStudio performance remains unaffected. I use MeterBridge on my RME
HDSP MADI cards in every live performance, as the ability to visually monitor
GigaStudio's activity is of paramount importance. 
Author
Gavin Whiteley, president
of Major Scale Audio, is the Music Playback Engineer for The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil, at The Mirage in Las Vegas. Working closely with Sir George, Gavin installed, programmed, and now operates a series of digital audio workstations, exclusively using the original recordings of The Beatles.