a little something posted elswhere, but probably of interest here - it turns out the led meters on the dcx2496 are indeed ‘rms’:
aprox -30db of pink noise with a 12db crest factor (aprox -18db peak):
-30db rms shows up on dcx 2496 as an ‘rms’ value 
not peak !
however, this old matrix 2u600 shows the drive level as (-18db) peak:
Edited by nineleaves - Today at 4:56pm
Hi,
Thanks for the post. I hadn’t thought of using RMS for audio monitoring. I usually just want to trim my levels by peak. I can see some use in monitoring RMS as well, just for an indication of power in the mix. Is there any other reason for this?
Cheers
rms is more useful when you are setting up soundsystems which are likely to often be pushed to their limits.
as this average value is more reprosentative of power dissapated at the driver. drivers can handle alot more peak power than rms, even if they dont reproduce all of it as sound 
this therefore allows you (in combination with the compression (uses rms tracking) and limiting tools) to set the drive levels within safe limits for the system & at a glance confirm average levels.
if done right, you can walk away and not worry about anyone blowing the rig with excess volume
Thanks for the explanation. I’ve not had to look at it from that perspective before.
Cheers
