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Pro studio recording equipment and music production/industry.

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Posted by b.l.zeebub on July 2, 2012 at 08:44:45:
Here is what wiki has to say on the subject:

"dBV
dB(1 VRMS) – voltage relative to 1 volt, regardless of impedance.[2]
dBu or dBv
RMS voltage relative to .[2] Originally dBv, it was changed to dBu to avoid confusion with dBV.[24] The "v" comes from "volt", while "u" comes from "unloaded". dBu can be used regardless of impedance, but is derived from a 600 Ω load dissipating 0 dBm (1 mW). The reference voltage comes from the computation
In professional audio, equipment may be calibrated to indicate a "0" on the VU meters some finite time after a signal has been applied at an amplitude of +4 dBu. Consumer equipment will more often use a much lower "nominal" signal level of -10 dBV.[25] Therefore, many devices offer dual voltage operation (with different gain or "trim" settings) for interoperability reasons. A switch or adjustment that covers at least the range between +4 dBu and -10 dBV is common in professional equipment."

Digital sources complicate things a bit further since 0dBFS can equate to all sorts of voltages.
With pro sources 0dBFS can quite easily be +18dBu (20Volts or so) because when digital audio started it was recommended that the rms output should be -18dBFS which was later revised to -12dBFS but in these days of the Loudness Wars an rms level of -6 to -3dBFS is quite common.

None of these settings are 'flat' per se as you adjust gain/headroom ie how far up you can turn your volume control before things start clipping.