The Stereo Image mode offers a slightly different approach to evaluating the left and right content of your mix versus a reference track, with vertically-oriented displays showing the left-right gain of the entire frequency spectrum. While I'm placing less emphasis on Correlation meters than I used to, this view is nonetheless a really powerful tool for ensuring that there aren't areas of my mix that will disappear when the mix is collapsed to mono on certain playback systems. In dual mode, Correlation view offers a multiband look at both your DAW and reference track's stereo correlation across the entire frequency spectrum, allowing you to spot specific frequency ranges that may be out of phase. Metric A/B's Correlation mode offers one of the more advanced stereo correlation analysis tools I've found to date. Spectrum mode is particularly effective if you can track down stems for a reference mix you like, as it allows you to A/B the constituent elements of a track (say, your drum buss vs the reference mix drum buss) for more precise reverse engineering. While it seems counterintuitive to rely on a visual meter instead of your ears, always bear in mind that if your room isn't treated well or has odd dimensions, a visual meter is likely a more accurate way to dial in the right amount of low-end in your mix. For producers working in small or poorly treated rooms, this is particularly essential. In doing so, it's easy to figure out areas of the spectrum where your track either has too much or too little frequency content compared to your desired reference mix. In Spectrum mode, I found Layered to be by far the most useful: rather than trying to discern areas of frequency differences in Dual mode, which is fairly imprecise, Layered mode allows you to view the two tracks' frequency curves directly overlaid on one another. Cue mode can be useful if, for example, you want to A/B the first bar or two of your drop with a reference file in contrast to Latch mode, which will simply resume playback from wherever Metric A/B left off, Cue mode will always start playback from the same point, making it easy to compare how the first bar of a section is hitting compared to a reference.

Cue mode is also quite handy: it operates similarly to Latch, with playback start and stop tied to your DAW, but it starts playback from one of four assignable cue points each time your playback engine is restarted. The default mode, Latch, was the one I most frequently turned to, as I find it to be the easiest to use in most situations: Latch simply ties the start and stop of the Metric A/B playback engine to the start/stop of your DAW. If you're used to Magic A/B, you'll feel most at home in the Playback tab, which offers similar but more robust controls that allow you to select which parts of your reference track you want to play back, and control how you wish to do so.

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