Shapes the frequency balance of the target to match the reference. SUB and AIR are shelf filters; the 5 middle bands are bell-shaped (±12 dB).

SUB — 50 Hz (shelf)

Sub-bass weight and rumble. Boost adds depth; cut cleans up low-end mud.

BASS — 100 Hz

Body and punch. The warmth foundation of the mix.

LO-MID — 300 Hz

Warmth vs. muddiness zone. Often cut slightly for clarity.

MID — 1 kHz

Presence and forward character. Defines attack and intelligibility.

HI-MID — 3 kHz

Clarity, edge, and harshness. Use with care — very audible range.

PRESENCE — 8 kHz

Brilliance, definition, and consonant detail.

AIR — 16 kHz (shelf)

Open, airy shimmer. Subtle boost lifts the top end.

Feed-forward compressor that reduces the dynamic range to match the reference crest factor and perceived density.

Threshold

Level above which gain reduction begins. Lower = more compression starts earlier.

Ratio

Compression intensity. 2:1 = gentle; 8:1 = heavy; 20:1 = near-limiting.

Attack

How fast compression kicks in after a transient. Slow = punchy transients pass through.

Release

How fast gain returns after the signal drops. Too fast causes audible pumping.

Makeup Gain

Compensates the volume lost through compression. Keep the output around 0 dBFS.

High-pass filter removes low-frequency rumble. Saturation adds harmonic coloration. Both run before the dynamics stage.

HPF Frequency

Cutoff point. Everything below is rolled off at 24 dB/oct (4th-order — twice as steep as typical). Derived from sub-bass energy delta vs. reference.

HPF Resonance (Q)

Slight resonant emphasis just before the cutoff. At Q > 1 you hear a subtle bump — useful to compensate for the filter's energy loss.

Saturation

Soft-clip waveshaper at 4× oversampling. Adds even + odd harmonics for analog warmth. 0 % = transparent; 100 % = heavy coloration. Derived from spectral flatness difference.

M/S matrix adjusts stereo image width and phase balance. Limiter ensures the signal never exceeds the ceiling. Output Gain sets the final export level.

Mid Gain

Adjusts the center (mono-compatible) component — kick, bass, lead vocals. Boost to push center elements forward.

Side Gain

Adjusts stereo width. Boost to widen; cut to focus the image. Negative values narrow toward mono.

Limiter Ceiling

Absolute peak ceiling (brick wall, 20:1, 1 ms attack, 150 ms release). No sample can exceed this value after processing.

Output Gain

Final level trim applied after the limiter, before export. Use to match target loudness or create headroom.