I recently received a copy of the LEVELS plugin made by Mastering the Mix. As a mixing engineer, I like all my tools to be simple and intuitive so I can stay focused on the music. The first impression of LEVELS was that the user interface is very user-friendly and looks very clean. It looks like a cool IOS app, very simple to use and self-explanatory.
I particularly like the fact this plugin is well designed from a user standpoint. In the “Headroom” section, it incorporates a few essential loudness units like LUFS, dBTP & dB. They are all 1 click away from each other, which makes it very easy to make sure your mixes or masters are following the loudness protocol.
“Stereo Field” is always essential to me in mixing, I used the “Mono”, “Left” or “Right” a lot to check how my mixes translate in a mono situation. The vectorscope is highly responsive, which I like. It helps me to check if my mix or any of the tracks are out of phase and the width of it. The low pass function comes in handy to check my low-end elements, e.g. kick and bass or synth, are focused in the center.
“Dynamic Range” is a very new concept to me and I don’t think I have come across any plugin that has this in it. I think it’s a great idea and it’s a highlight of this plugin for me.
LEVELS comes with a few well-designed mastering and mixing presets to be used it different situations.
Matthew Sim – Mix Engineer and Producer
