The display above is a simplified drawing of the plugin's own display, running in the page.
The first minute
| Do | What happens |
|---|---|
| Put it first on the channel | Before anything else in the chain. Its default state is numerically transparent, tested at 1e-7, so inserting it changes nothing until you move a control. |
| Play the loudest part of the track | The readout fills in: peak, RMS and the distance to your target. Give it a few seconds of real material, not a single hit. |
| Type the target you want | The tool shows the gain you need. Apply it and the difference goes to zero. |
| Flip polarity if two mics share a source | Listen to the low end. The one that sounds fuller is the one to keep. |
| Check the stereo image before you fold it | Read CORR first: near +1 the channels share most of their content. Then drag ST and watch the two circles of its handle slide into one; MONO lights when they meet. |
| Centre a source that leans | If the bright line on BAL sits off the centre notch, drag the handle until it meets it. The reading moves as you drag, because it is measured after the trim. |
Reading the screen
Three numbers and one difference, then the stereo strip. Peak is the highest sample seen, RMS is the average energy over the window, and the difference is what to add or remove to land on your target. The strip below them reports the stereo side: how the two channels compare and how much they share.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| PEAK | The highest sample since the last reset. Clipping lives here, not in RMS. |
| RMS | Average energy over the window. This is what people mean by how loud something feels. |
| TARGET | The level you type. Everything else is measured against it. |
| DIFFERENCE | What to apply. When it reads zero you are there. |
| L AND R | Each channel has its own bar and hold line, so a louder side shows instead of averaging away. |
| BAL LINE | The measured balance. On the centre notch both sides are equally loud; the handle on the same track is your correction. |
| CORR | How much the two channels share. Near +1 a fold to mono costs little; toward minus one, content cancels. |
The controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| GAIN | The gain applied, in decibels. Smoothed, so moving it during playback does not click. |
| TARGET | The level you are aiming for, in RMS or LUFS. It can also be another Gain Stage in the session. |
| MONO | The shortcut to a full ST fold, for checking a mix in mono. It lights whenever the sound is mono. |
| ST | Folds the stereo image toward mono, from 0 to 100 percent. At 0 the signal is untouched. |
| BAL | Trims left against right, up to 12 dB. Drag until the bright line sits on the centre notch. |
| ZOOM | The two magnifiers step the fader window: 6, 12 or 24 dB either side of zero, or the full range. |
| POLARITY | Inverts the signal. Useful on the second mic of a pair. |
| RESET | Clears the meter's memory and starts measuring again. |
How to work with it
Set the level once, at the top of the chain, and every plugin after it sees the same signal every time. The stereo strip does the same for width and balance: fold and centre here, and the rest of the chain starts from it. Below, the ST handle moving between stereo and mono, and the balance line finding the centre.