Raèld Gain

Raèld Gain sets the right level on every track. Tell it what's on the track, play the loudest part and press ANALYZE: it measures the level the way your target is defined, proposes the gain that reaches the target, and applies it when you press APPLY. Nothing moves until you say so. It shows the level on clear meters, compares a chain of plugins before and after at the same loudness, lists every Raèld Gain in your session in one place, and can gently ride a vocal's level.

At 0 dB with every option off the output is the input, bit for bit, with no latency.

Installing

1. Close your DAW.
2. Unzip Raeld-Gain-1.0.0-Windows.zip from the download page or your purchase email, run Raeld-Gain-Setup.exe and follow the steps. The plugin goes into C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3, where every DAW looks; a standalone app can be installed too.
3. Open your DAW and rescan plugins. DAW plugin lists show it without the accent, as "Raeld Gain", so type "raeld" in the plugin browser.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) and any VST3 host, for example FL Studio, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper or Bitwig, or the standalone app. Sample rates 44.1 to 192 kHz, any buffer size. Mono, mono-to-stereo and stereo tracks, with an optional sidechain input (for the Gain Rider's music).

If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" when you run the installer, click More info → Run anyway.

Activating your license

1. Open the plugin. The activation screen appears; if it doesn't, click LICENCE in the toolbar under the unit.
2. Paste your key and click ACTIVATE: the Raèld Gain key from your purchase email, or your All Access key. You need an internet connection for this step.
3. That's it: Raèld Gain is unlocked on this computer.

Each key covers 3 computers. To move to a new one, open the license screen on the old one and click DEACTIVATE THIS PC first.

Without a key the plugin runs as a demo: the sound drops out briefly every 45 seconds. Everything else works.

Quick start: four steps

1. Put Raèld Gain first on the track, before any other plugin.
2. Choose the SOURCE: turn the SOURCE selector, or click it for the list (Lead Vocal, Kick, Bass, Mix Bus, Master...). It sets a starting target.
3. Play the loudest important part and press ANALYZE. Press STOP when it's done (or let it stop after the time set under ADVANCED).
4. Look at the proposed gain, then press APPLY. INPUT moves to it in about 10 ms. UNDO takes it back.

A guide in the toolbar walks you through these and rings the control each step needs. Targets are starting points, not rules: trust your ears.

The unit

Raèld Gain looks and works like a laboratory reference instrument in a rack. Left to right:

Source and target

• The source window shows the source chosen and its target.
• SOURCE: what's on the track. Each sets a starting target (table below); Custom keeps your own.
• TARGET TYPE: how the level is judged: VU, RMS, LUFS S (short-term loudness), LUFS I (integrated loudness), PEAK or TRUE PK.
• TARGET: the level wanted, in the type's own unit.

The meter

The large meter shows the output against the target: 0 is on target, the green band is within 1 dB, the red zone is more than 3 dB over. It reads the way the target type does (the card says which), so it answers the question gain staging asks: is this track where it should be? Under it, IN and OUT peak ladders from -48 to 0 dBFS, with hold markers, and RESET, which clears the held peaks, the overs, CLIP and the integrated loudness. Double-clicking the meter resets too.

Analysis

• OUT NOW: the output's level read like the target, in large digits, and how far it is from the target. Peak and true peak are held since RESET.
• PROPOSED INPUT: the INPUT setting that reaches the target, after an analysis. "GUARD" means PEAK GUARD held it down, so the true peak stays under its level. While ANALYZE listens, the window counts the seconds.
• ANALYZE / STOP and APPLY.
• The numbers window: peak and true peak, RMS, loudness momentary / short-term / integrated, and the headroom to 0 dBTP (CLIP when a sample went over). Click it for the history: the last 60 seconds of the output's level and of the gain applied.

Gain

• INPUT and OUTPUT: -60 to +36 dB. Drag up or down (0.1 dB steps; Shift for 0.01 dB), the mouse wheel, the arrow keys (Shift for fine), double-click for 0 dB. Changes glide, so they never click.
• BYPASS: the untouched sound, crossfaded in 20 ms. MONO: the output folded to mono, for listening (not saved in presets). RIDER: the Gain Rider on or off.

Every control explains itself when you hover over it, and so does every part of the meters.

Starting targets

0 VU is a sine whose peak is -18 dBFS, unless you change it under ADVANCED (-24 to -12 dBFS).

The toolbar

The software keys live in a quiet rail under the unit: PRESET (the list; save your own from it), UNDO / REDO (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y), A / B (two complete settings, saved with the session) and A > B, COPY / PASTE (every setting, to another Raèld Gain), GUIDE, ADVANCED, RIDER, SESSION, LICENCE and SIZE (85 to 300 %, or drag the corner; remembered for new windows). The rail also shows the guide's step, a short note after a key, or the gain applied in all.

ADVANCED, RIDER and SESSION open in a window of their own beside the plugin.

ADVANCED

• Channels: stereo, mono, left only or right only; polarity per side; swap; WIDTH (0 to 200 %); BALANCE; a DC filter (off by default, so the sound passes bit for bit).
• How ANALYZE works: how long it listens (until you stop it, or 5 to 60 s), AUTO APPLY, the 0 VU reference, PEAK GUARD and its level, and whether new instances show the first-use guide.
• Pre / post match: below.

Comparing a chain at the same loudness

1. Put one Raèld Gain before the plugins you want to judge, and set its link (under ADVANCED) to PRE.
2. Put another after them, set it to POST, and give both the same group (a name or number).
3. On the POST choose how to match: Hold (MATCH NOW sets the trim once), Learn (measures for a while, then sets it) or Continuous (follows slowly, at most 1 dB a second).
4. Turn on COMPARE on the POST to hear the sound before the chain, lined up to the sample and at the same loudness. Turn it off to hear the chain.

Several pairs can run at once, each in its own group. A copied track's copies move to a group of their own ("name copy"), so they never take over the original pair. It works across processes too: in FL Studio a plugin set to "Make bridged" still finds its partner.

SESSION

Every Raèld Gain open on this computer, by name (the name you type, or the track's): its link, level, gain applied, target, headroom and analysis. Select rows to ANALYZE, STOP, APPLY or reset their meters from one place. If the instances can't reach each other, the view says why.

The Gain Rider

Off unless you turn it on. It rides a vocal or an instrument toward its TARGET, within a RANGE each way, and leaves breaths, noise and silence where they are. SPEED, SENSITIVITY, ATTACK, RELEASE and HOLD shape how it moves. With the beat on the plugin's sidechain and MUSIC turned up, the target follows the song's sections (a louder chorus lifts the vocal with it) without pumping on single hits. LOOK-AHEAD (10, 20 or 50 ms) lets the gain move just before a phrase; the plugin reports that delay to your DAW, which lines the track up. RIDE AUTOMATION can write the rider's moves to your DAW (WRITE) and play them back (READ).

Presets

Init and eleven starting points: Vocal: Gentle Rider, Close Rider, Rider With the Beat, Rider Ahead of the Phrase; Rap Vocal: Tight Rider; Backing Vocal: Even Stack; Speech: Steady Voice; Guitar: Gentle Rider; Drum Bus: Peak Headroom; Mix Bus: Room for Mastering; Master: Streaming Reference. Presets never change INPUT or OUTPUT, so loading one never undoes an APPLY.

What we measured

On synthetic test material, through the plugin as a DAW loads it.

Where it's weaker: with digital silence every couple of seconds in the material, short-term loudness readings move about 0.2 dB and integrated loudness about 0.5 dB, because the loudness standard counts the edges of each gap.

Troubleshooting

The plugin doesn't show up

Rescan plugins in your DAW. Check that C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Raeld Gain.vst3 exists. Raèld Gain is 64-bit VST3 only.

APPLY is greyed out

There's no proposal yet: press ANALYZE, play the loudest part, then STOP. With only silence or a very short sound there's nothing to propose.

The POST says "not linked"

Check that one Raèld Gain is set to PRE and one to POST, with exactly the same group, and that the PRE is playing audio. Two PREs in one group can't pair: give each pair its own group.

The track is late with the rider on

LOOK-AHEAD adds 10 to 50 ms of latency, which your DAW makes up for when its plugin delay compensation is on. Turn LOOK-AHEAD off for tracking.

"Couldn't reach the license server"

Check your internet connection and any firewall that might block your DAW. Activation needs to reach api.lemonsqueezy.com.

Uninstalling

Settings → Apps → Raèld Gain → Uninstall. Deactivate your license first if you're retiring the computer.

Support

Email info@raeldaudio.com with your order number.

Raèld Gain is an original design and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any other manufacturer.