Loud: loudness without squashing
Module 13 of 14 · Loudness
- One Move knobLoud
- Latency0 ms
- CPU, iPad Air M31.3 %
- Default position13 of 14, before Finish
Loud makes a vocal carry on phones and laptops. It shapes the tone that small speakers reproduce, adds harmonics they can play, and shaves the peaks so the voice can be louder without pumping. One knob moves all of it.
Hear it
Loud: maximum push
Loud on its own: dry, then Maximum Push, then Maximum Push with Stack harmonics. The level jump is the point: peaks are shaved so the voice comes out louder, and the harmonics add the same notes higher up for small speakers. Not level-matched: every version has the same playback gain.
"More Than 2 Sides (accapella)" by Colin Mutchler (ccmixter.org/files/commonsplice/2599), licensed CC BY 2.5 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5). Excerpt, processed by OneMove Vocal Console.
The One Move: Loud
Tilt and Body follow the knob, Presence rises to 30 % and Shave to 4.5 dB at the top.
Expert
| control | range | what it does |
|---|---|---|
| Tilt | 0–100 % | a gentle tilt toward the frequencies small speakers play well |
| Body | 0–100 % | low-mid weight, so the voice doesn't go thin on a phone |
| Presence | 0–30 % | forward upper mids for intelligibility |
| Shave | 0–6 dB | how hard the voice is pushed into the peak shaver |
| Ceiling | −6 to 0 dB | the highest level the shaver lets through |
| Speaker | Full, Laptop or Phone | tunes the tone for where it will be heard |
| Mix | 0–100 % | blends the dry voice back in |
| True Peak | on / off | in Studio, sets the final true-peak limiter's ceiling to Loud's ceiling |
Why it doesn't pump. The shaver is static: no attack, no release, so there is nothing to breathe or pump. Each decibel shaved makes the voice about a decibel louder, and it never goes above the Ceiling.
Harmonics
Small speakers can't play the low notes of a voice, but the ear fills them in if it hears their overtones. Harmonics adds the same notes higher up, and it is off until you turn up Amount. Pick the type:
| type | listens around | adds | use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octave | 450 Hz | one octave up | the simplest, cleanest lift |
| Stack | 450 Hz | octave, octave and a fifth, two octaves | a fuller, denser voice |
| Phone | 240 Hz | chest notes rewritten at 1–4 kHz | voices that vanish on a phone speaker |
| Bright | 2 kHz | sheen above 4 kHz | a brighter, more exciting top |
The presets Octave Lift, Harmonic Stack, Phone Harmonics and Bright Harmonics start from sensible amounts.
Specs
| Latency | 0 ms |
| CPU, iPad Air M3, only Loud on | 1.3 % of one core |
| Final safety (Studio) | a true-peak limiter with 4× oversampled detection and 1 ms look-ahead |
FAQ
Is Loud a limiter?
It contains a peak shaver, but its main job is tone: making the voice sound loud on small speakers. For hard limiting the Studio mode ends with a true-peak limiter; with Loud's True Peak switch on, that limiter uses Loud's ceiling.
Should I use Loud on every vocal?
Use it when the vocal will be heard on phones, laptops and earbuds, which today is most of the time. For a dynamic ballad or a mix that will be mastered, keep it low.