#goodhertz

Goodhertz has released a free loudness analyzer plug-in, 'Loudness'. This plugin is part of the Goodhertz Free Series (which means it’s completely free).

Why is this better than my DAW volume control or trim?

It sounds better.

This might sound like marketing hyperbole: how can a digital volume control possibly sound different?! But in a number of measurable ways, digital volume controls are imperfect and are often poorly implemented. A quick example: a simple sine tone faded out with a standard DAW trim plugin vs Goodhertz Loudness: The stock trim plugin is full of tiny digital clicks — small discontinuities in the audio — almost like a scratchy potentiometer but digital. Loudness, on the other hand, is completely clean. Nearly every DAW we tested caused clicks & pops when automating Mute, Solo, Polarity, or Mono Summing switches — all of which are performed clicklessly in Loudness. With fully 64-bit processing throughout, you can trust that Loudness is the finest volume control available: no clicks, pops, or added distortion — just clean, smooth volume ramping.

It has really nice metering.

With LUFS, RMS, Peak, & True Peak meters and three different time windows (Momentary, Short, & Long Term), you’ll always know exactly what’s happening in your track (and what’s already happened). Fader rides are quicker & easier because you can easily see where things might need adjustment. The Summary page provides a comprehensive numeric summary of all metering types simultaneously and can easily be copied to clipboard to share with collaborators, added to a track log, etc.

Advanced options help you work faster.

Customizable fader glide times allow you to spend less time smoothing automation points manually — let Loudness take care of it for you! Up and down glide times can be set separately, which can be useful for manually automating drum hits, etc.

It helps you hit the target.

Set a target loudness level, hit “Apply,” and the fader snaps to the correct position, taking the guesswork (and the calculator) out of hitting a target reference level. Open up the advanced page and hit “Apply Balance” and Loudness automatically adjusts the fine trims to perfectly balance the stereo field.

It has extensive stereo controls & metering.