schismatic
Kintsugi is coming
I always meter with FreeG to makes sure I'm about -18dBFs, plus I always use a VU meter to make sure I don't get past 0VU regularly. I find that monitoring the VU signal to ensure that it's about right matters a lot with plugins like VCC and VTM, because you are simulating the sorts of signal levels analogue equipment would be using (which these sorts of plugins model).