About
LEVELS is a powerful audio metering and mix analysis plugin from Mastering The Mix, built for music producers, mixing engineers, and mastering professionals who want their mixes to sound great everywhere. The plugin consolidates the most critical metering tools into a single, visually intuitive interface, eliminating the need to juggle multiple meters across different windows. At its core, LEVELS monitors integrated loudness (LUFS), true peak levels, dynamic range, stereo width, and low-end correlation simultaneously — giving you a real-time, holistic view of your mix health. Platform-specific presets (for Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, and more) make it easy to check your mix against the loudness normalization standards used by each service, so your track always hits at the right level. The stereo field visualizer highlights mono compatibility issues and identifies excessive stereo widening, while the dynamic range meter warns when over-compression is killing your transients. Color-coded alerts instantly draw your attention to any reading that falls outside safe parameters, letting you make corrections before the damage is done. LEVELS works as a VST, AU, and AAX plugin inside all major DAWs including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, FL Studio, and Cubase. It's equally valuable for music production, podcast mastering, post-production audio, and broadcast work. Whether you're a bedroom producer or a seasoned studio engineer, LEVELS makes the technical side of mixing faster, more reliable, and more confident.
Key Features
- All-in-One Metering Dashboard: Displays loudness (LUFS), true peak, dynamic range, stereo width, and low-end correlation in a single, unified interface.
- Platform Presets: Built-in presets for Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, and other major platforms let you instantly check compliance with streaming loudness standards.
- Real-Time Visual Alerts: Color-coded alerts flag any readings that fall outside safe parameters, so you can identify and fix problems before export.
- Stereo Field Visualizer: Highlights mono compatibility issues and excessive stereo widening to ensure your mix sounds great on every playback system, including mono speakers.
- Dynamic Range Monitoring: Tracks the dynamic range of your mix to prevent over-compression and preserve natural transient energy throughout the mixing and mastering process.
Use Cases
- Music producers checking their mix loudness against Spotify and Apple Music streaming standards before release.
- Mixing engineers monitoring stereo width and mono compatibility to ensure a mix sounds great on both headphones and mono speakers.
- Mastering engineers verifying true peak levels and dynamic range to meet professional delivery specifications.
- Podcast producers ensuring consistent loudness levels across episodes for compliance with podcast platform standards.
- Post-production audio engineers analyzing dialogue and music bed levels for broadcast or YouTube delivery.
Pros
- Saves Time with Consolidated Metering: Replaces multiple separate meter plugins with one comprehensive tool, streamlining the technical checking workflow inside any DAW.
- Streaming Platform Presets: Ready-to-use loudness targets for all major streaming services remove the guesswork from preparing release-ready mixes.
- Highly Visual and Intuitive: Color-coded feedback and clean visual design make complex metering data easy to read at a glance, even for less experienced engineers.
- Wide DAW Compatibility: Supports VST, AU, and AAX formats, making it compatible with virtually every professional DAW on Mac and Windows.
Cons
- Paid Only — No Free Tier: LEVELS is a premium paid plugin with no ongoing free version, which may be a barrier for hobbyist producers on a tight budget.
- Not an AI-Powered Tool: Unlike newer smart mixing tools, LEVELS provides metering data but does not offer automated corrections or AI-driven mix suggestions.
- Desktop DAW Required: As a plugin (VST/AU/AAX), LEVELS requires a compatible DAW and is not available as a standalone web or mobile app.
Frequently Asked Questions
What DAWs is LEVELS compatible with?
LEVELS supports VST, AU, and AAX plugin formats and is compatible with all major DAWs including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Cubase, Studio One, and more.
Does LEVELS work on both Mac and Windows?
Yes, LEVELS is available for both macOS and Windows operating systems as a DAW plugin.
What streaming platforms does LEVELS have presets for?
LEVELS includes presets for major streaming and distribution platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Tidal, and broadcast standards like EBU R128.
Can LEVELS fix mix problems automatically?
No — LEVELS is a metering and analysis plugin. It identifies and visualizes technical issues in real time, but corrections must be made manually by the engineer using other processing tools.
Is LEVELS suitable for podcast and video audio work?
Yes, LEVELS is well-suited for podcast mastering, video post-production, and broadcast audio, especially given its LUFS metering and platform-specific loudness presets.
