User manual

Less Gain Stage

Gain, polarity, and a readout that turns level setting into arithmetic.

macOS: AU and VST3, Apple silicon · Windows: VST3, 64 bit
mixlessaudio.com · [email protected]

Overview

Type the level you want. Less Gain Stage measures what you have and shows the difference, so setting gain becomes a subtraction instead of a guess.

Installation

Run the installer for your platform. On macOS the AU and VST3 versions install for all users; on Windows the VST3 installs under Common Files. Factory presets install into your user preset folder and are never overwritten: presets you save land in the same folder and stay yours.

macOS presets	~/Library/Application Support/MixLess/Presets/Less Gain Stage
Windows presets	%APPDATA%\MixLess\Presets\Less Gain Stage

The interface

The screenshot is the shipping interface, rendered by the shipping code. Press I in the plugin to toggle the same control descriptions as cursor tooltips.

Controls

GAIN	Gain: click-free ramped trim. Double-click returns to 0 dB
POLARITY	Polarity: invert the waveform (phase flip)
MONO	MONO: sum left and right to check mono compatibility
APPLY	APPLY: set the gain to hit the RMS target
RESET	RESET: restart the RMS measurement
TARGET	Target RMS level for the APPLY suggestion
IN METER	Input level. Click the clip light to clear it
OUT METER	Output level after gain. Click the clip light to clear it

Workflows

Stage a channel

Insert Less Gain Stage first in the chain. Type your target level and adjust Gain until the meter's distance readout reaches zero; every plugin after it now works in its sweet spot.

Check polarity

On multi-mic sources, flip POLARITY and listen: if the body comes back, the phase was the problem.

Trim without touching the fader

Use Gain for static level moves and keep the DAW fader for automation; the two jobs stay separate and the mix stays readable.

Tips

The default state is numerically transparent, tested at a tolerance of 0.0000001.

Gain staging is arithmetic here: the readout shows the distance to your target in dB.

Polarity is a free diagnosis: one click answers the phase question.

Specifications

Formats	AU, VST3
Latency	0 samples
Default state	numerically transparent, tested at 1e-7

Support

Questions and problems: [email protected]. Legal notices, the privacy notice and third-party licences: mixlessaudio.com.