I can repro this audio meter issue (also for the track meters) and will forward to the dev team.
Probably the closest you can get to the VP 13 look is to choose the Light Interface Type (Options > Preferences > Display) and customize with the "hamburger" button ( 3 vertical lines) on the event header .
Thanks, both. Much appreciated.
First thing I noticed missing.
This issue is fixed in VEGAS Pro 16 Update 2 (build 307).
Cheers Nick, much appreciated.