It’s amazing to me that some gear that we disregarded back way back when has come back to become the secret weapon of mixers today. One such example is the Shure M62 Level Loc that first introduced in 1967. This FET limiter was meant for PA systems or broadcast situations of the day, and while it passed what was thought of as a clean audio signal for its time, today we know of the distinct color and saturation that it posses. While there has been some recent attempts in both hardware and software to emulate the ancient unit, perhaps the closest to the real thing is the new Level-Loc plugin from Korneff Audio.
The original unit itself is pretty simple, with only an input control and a three-way switch on the front panel. The switch is a “Distance Selector” that sets the threshold according to how far away the speaker was from the microphone: 6″ or less, 12″, or 18″ or more. Remember that this was mostly meant for high school PA systems or broadcast studios to protect the microphone inputs from being overloaded if someone happened to get excited and raised their voice significantly.
Extra Parameters
Dan Korneff spent 25 years as a record producer and knows not only how things should sound, but also what little tweaks can be added that engineers might find useful. That’s why on his plugin you’ll fine an input selector for Mic and Line, Sidechain for stereo or dual mono operation, and Sidechain EQ on or off. Drill down another level and you have a Microphone Impedance selector, Output Impedance selector, Release Time, and Power Supply selector, since the original unit worked on either AC or batteries, and each affected the sound differently.
Below the main panel there are Pre-Filters (high and low pass), Post-Filters (high and low pass), and an Output Amplifier control. Off course there are master Input and Output controls, as well as a Dry/Wet control.
To make it even better, since each of the original units sounded somewhat different, you get three models to choose from – one modeled on Dan’s unit, and two of engineer TChad Blake’s units. By the way, TChad was almost single-handedly responsible for reviving interest in the unit as his secret weapon on records he’s worked since the late 90s.
All this is to say that although you’ll get plenty of sonic variations from just the main controls, the extra parameters allow you to tweak the sound in ways the original never could.
This is a unique plugin with a great sound, but the best part is that Level-Loc has an introductory 50% off price of just $74.99. The plugin is available for all platforms and plugin formats as well.
You can find out more here, or watch the video below.
