Read the output level meter on the Tube applet¶

The Output Level Meter inside the Tube applet shows the peak signal level after the tube saturation stage. Use it to confirm your output is loud enough to be useful and to catch levels that are close to clipping.

Before you start¶

The Tube applet must be visible. It appears as "Aetherial Mic-PreAmp" (TX) or "Aetherial Dynamic Tube" (RX) inside the Aetherial Audio (TXDSP) parent container. If the applet is hidden, enable the Tube stage via the CHAIN widget on the matching side.
No radio connection is required to read the meter.

Steps¶

Locate the Tube applet for the side you want to monitor — "Aetherial Mic-PreAmp" for TX or "Aetherial Dynamic Tube" for RX.
Double-click the TUBE stage in the CHAIN widget to open the frameless editor titled "Aetherial Tube — TX" or "Aetherial Tube — RX".
Find the vertical meter labelled OUT at the far right of the editor, to the right of the knob columns.
Pass audio through the stage (transmit, or receive a signal). The colored bar rises and falls with the peak output level.
Read the color and relative position of the bar to judge the operating level. See the tables below for color thresholds.

What each control does¶

Element	What it shows	Range	Notes
OUT (header label)	Identifies the meter as the post-saturation output	—	Static label; set by the Tube applet.
Level bar	Peak fill, color-coded by level	−60 dB (bottom) to 0 dB (top)	Fast-attack / slow-release ballistics.
dB scale ticks	Static reference lines at 0, −6, −12, −20, and −40 dB	—	Tick lines extend from the label column onto the bar.

Color meaning¶

Bar color	Level range	Meaning
Green	−60 to −12 dB	Well clear of clipping.
Lime	−12 to −6 dB	Approaching moderate levels.
Amber	−6 to −3 dB	Getting close to clipping; watch the Output knob.
Red	Above −3 dB	Within 3 dB of clipping. Reduce Drive or Output.

Tips¶

The meter uses fast-attack / slow-release ballistics — brief transient peaks are caught quickly but the bar does not drop instantly. Brief excursions into red may represent short peaks even if the bar lingers there momentarily.
The meter is only visible in the floating editor ("Aetherial Tube — TX" or "Aetherial Tube — RX"). It does not appear on the docked applet tile.
If the bar sits in the red regularly, reduce the Output knob (range −24.0 to 12.0 dB, default 0.00 dB) to bring the post-saturation level down without changing the saturation character.
If the bar barely moves off the bottom, increase Drive (range 0.0 to 24.0 dB, default 0.00 dB) to push more signal into the tube stage and raise the output reading.