Rob Jackson has released SimplEQ, available for $0.99 and LeVLr2, available for $1.99.
SimplEQ
SimplEQ is a very simple EQ – the clue is in the title! For those times when you don’t need “surgical precision” and seemingly endless parameter options to tweak, SimplEQ might be just the thing for “broader brushstroke” EQ tweaks. SimplEQ is also very kind to your CPU. The frequency bands have been tuned so that they overlap and interact slightly, giving a surprisingly flexible range of tonal sculpting. Whether you’re doing a quick rock mix master, or simply want to warm-up or add presence to a track, SimplEQ might get you there – fast and simple!
For a super-simple lightweight “mastering suite” you could partner SimplEQ with the LevLr2 dynamics processor.
The controls:
- Active – Toggles the EQ On or Off. You can use this control to A/B your settings with the original signal and this will fade gradually between the two with no distracting pops or clicks!
- Each of the frequency bands can be cut or boosted by +/-6dB and because they overlap, they are very interactive, so use your ears, and dial-in to taste!
- Sub – Adjusts extremely low frequencies centred around 50Hz.
- Bass – Adjusts low frequencies centred around 100Hz.
- Lo Mid – Adjusts low midrange frequencies centred around 250Hz.
- Hi Mid – Adjusts high midrange frequencies centred around 1KHz.
- Treble – Adjusts high frequencies centred around 5KHz.
- Presence – Adjusts very high frequencies centred around 10KHz.
- Out – Applies a final stage gain trim to the output at the very end of the internal signal chain, between -24dB and +6dB.
LeVLr2
The LevLr2 “leveller” is a dual stage compression and limiting processor with optional clipping stage. I created LevLr2 after receiving messages from people who really liked the simplicity of LevLr, but wanted a bit more control over its internal workings. LevLr2 combines two dynamics processors and has options to select ratios for both compression and limiting, and adds “parallel compression” plus hard and soft clipping functions.
While LevLr2 isn’t intended to replace your favourite mastering signal chain, it’s relatively much lighter on CPU and adds virtually zero latency, so is also suitable for live use. The super fast attack times under the hood also makes LevLr2 great on drums, especially when using parallel compression.
For a super-simple lightweight “mastering suite” you could partner LevLr2 with SimplEQ.
LevLr2 can make things VERY LOUD, so please be careful with extreme / high values or when using the Randomize function!
The controls:
- Active – Toggles the effect On or Off. You can use this control to A/B your settings with the original signal and this will fade gradually between the two with no distracting pops or clicks!
- Comp – Activates the compressor stage by selecting a compression ratio. Typically lower values are more subtle.
- In – Determines how hard you drive the compressor. You can also think of this as the compressor threshold, so for example, at 6dB on the In slider, the threshold of the compressor will be -6dB. The compressor also applies makeup gain automatically based on restoring a 0dB level signal after it has been compressed.
- Mix – Sets the balance between the incoming and compressed audio. At zero, this will be the same as if the compressor was bypassed, and at 100% is the compressed signal only. A good parallel compression effect can be achieved by setting the Comp ratio and In high and the Mix to around 50%.
- Limit – Activates the limiter stage by selecting a limiter ratio. Typically lower values are more subtle and the highest value is close to “brick wall” limiting.
- In – Determines how hard you drive the limiter. You can also think of this as the limiter threshold, so for example, at 3dB on the In slider, the threshold of the limiter will be -3dB. The limiter also applies makeup gain automatically based on restoring a 0dB level signal after it has been limited.
- Clip – Adds an optional Soft or Hard clipper after compression and limiting. The clipping will be more noticeable once you’ve applied some compression and limiting and depending on the settings, can add subtle warmth to aggressive crunch!
- Out – Applies a final stage gain trim to the output at the very end of the internal signal chain. In theory, the LevLr2 output should never exceed 0dB, but if you’re driving levels really hard, you may want to back this off to around -0.2dB to avoid inter-sample peaks (ISPs) further downstream when recording or mixing-down for example.
Watch the demo video HERE.
Watch Doug’s demo HERE.
SimplEQ and LeVLr2 are available to iOS and MacOS users and have AUv3 support.
For more information on each, click here:
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