Manual

01Start here

LOWTRACE draws level against the DAW timeline. Use it to see how the low end changes from hit to hit, capture before and after takes, and check where kick and bass may benefit from a polarity flip.

It is a meter, not a phase corrector, compressor or normalizer. With Listen: Full selected, it leaves the main audio unchanged once any audition crossfade has finished.

1. Put it on the kick + bass bus. Select Low end and On bus.
2. Route the final kick to Kick and final bass to Bass. Kick enables detected-hit measurements; both inputs are required for phase readings on a bus.
3. Play the section. Choose a range that covers the loop and use Grid Auto.
4. Snapshot, change, compare. Capture a before take, make your change, replay the same section and capture an after take.

02Install and update

Quit your DAW and extract the download before copying the plugin.

Windows · VST3

Copy the entire LOWTRACE.vst3 item to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\. Approve the Windows copy prompt if asked. Reopen your DAW and rescan VST3 plugins if needed.

Mac · Intel and Apple Silicon

The release Mac download is universal, signed and notarized. Double-click the ZIP on your Mac to extract it. Install the format your DAW uses; Logic Pro, GarageBand and MainStage use AU.

In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder, paste the destination including the ~, and press Return. These locations install for your user account. If a folder is missing, open ~/Library/ and create Audio, then Plug-Ins, then VST3 or Components as needed.

Copy each whole .vst3 or .component bundle as it appears in Finder. Do not open Show Package Contents or copy its internal files separately. Reopen your DAW and let it scan; rescan its plugins if needed. For an AU that still does not appear, restart the Mac.

Replacing an older version

With the DAW closed, replace the old bundle in its existing installation location. Avoid duplicate copies of the same format in different plugin folders. The release retains the plugin identity used by existing projects. Keep a backup of important projects before saving them with an update.

The standalone app is optional. On Mac, copy LOWTRACE.app to Applications. The plugin inside your DAW is the normal choice for the host-timeline workflows in this manual.

03On bus, On bass and routing

On bus and On bass tells LOWTRACE what is already in its main input. Set it to match where you inserted the plugin. It does not move the plugin, create a DAW send or add the sidechain to the audible output.

The Kick port is the first sidechain; Bass is the second. In On bus mode, both are required for phase readings. Use the host’s routing and plugin input mapping to connect them. The level trace still works without either sidechain.

In On bass, the main trace still adds the main bass input to the kick. A direct Bass sidechain is used for component diagnostics, so keep it matched to that same bass signal.

Input flip estimates the benefit of reversing kick polarity in that direct input pair. It does not predict the output of a nonlinear bus processor. Monitor the real bus to judge the finished result.

Check the connection

Play the kick and look for KICKS FROM THE KICK INPUT. ROUTE THE KICK IN means LOWTRACE has no active kick reference. A sidechain enabled in the host but silent for about two seconds is treated as absent.

In hosts with input pins, map the kick send to LOWTRACE’s Kick port, not the main input. For a stereo REAPER setup, channels 3/4 can feed Kick and 5/6 can feed Bass; verify the plugin’s pin mapping rather than relying on channel numbers alone.

If your host exposes only one sidechain source, On bus can still show kick positions and bus levels. For phase readings, use a host configuration that exposes both references, or insert LOWTRACE on the bass, choose On bass, and feed Kick.

LOWTRACE does not automatically link to LOWTUNA instances. Use DAW audio routing. If the kick is being corrected by LOWTUNA, take LOWTRACE’s kick reference after that correction so it matches the kick reaching the bus.

04Low end and Full mix

Low end

Measures the low band below CROSSOVER. The main trace uses the mono average of the low end, so stereo cancellation can lower the reading. Use it for the kick and bass relationship and low-end consistency.

Crossover spans 30–300 Hz and defaults to 120 Hz. Double-click it to reset. The filter is a fourth-order Linkwitz–Riley crossover, 24 dB per octave. It is a slope, not a brick wall.

Full mix

Measures average channel power across the full mix, or within the band you choose. Unlike Low end’s mono average, wide stereo content does not cancel merely because the channels oppose each other.

The two-thumb BAND control sets high-pass and low-pass edges from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Each active edge is 24 dB per octave. At the outer ends, that edge is Off, meaning bypassed—not a filter still cutting at 20 Hz or 20 kHz. Double-click to open the full band.

At low sample rates, active edges are limited to 0.49 × sample rate. The control shows the effective limit. The placement and kick and bass diagnostics belong to Low end; Full mix is for judging mix or band-level changes.

05Listen without guessing

Listen always auditions the main input. In On bass placement, the trace can represent kick + bass while Listen still auditions only the main bass track. The kick sidechain is not mixed into the output.

Listen changes crossfade over about 10 ms. Once Full has settled, the output is bit-exact with the main input. The filters continue running for analysis without being inserted into that Full audio path.

Low and High add with a flat magnitude response, but their combined phase is all-pass; do not expect their sum to null sample-for-sample against dry audio. The Full option avoids that filter path entirely.

06Range, grid and trace view

Range

Choose 1, 2, 4 or 8 bars for a repeating sweep. Fit loop makes a shorter DAW loop fill the view. LOWTRACE uses the host’s loop information when available, or learns the wrap from a backward playhead jump.

Timeline holds the played section by musical position. Replaying a section replaces the live trace there. Follow tracks the DAW playhead, playing or stopped; it does not follow your mouse pointer in the DAW.

Grid

Move around

• Wheel: zoom around the pointer, or around the cursor while following.
• Drag, Shift + wheel or horizontal scroll: pan.
• Double-click: reset the view to show the full range.

Trails shows faint previous passes. These are not saved takes. Clear clears live measurements without deleting the saved A–D takes.

Scale and averaging

Open the trace’s dB-scale menu for a 12, 24, 36 or 48 dB vertical span, Follow the level, and a 30, 50, 100 or 400 ms averaging setting. A short setting follows changes more closely; a long setting smooths them more.

Nothing new is recorded while the DAW is stopped. Use a complete pass after changing settings. A partially drawn loop is not a complete before and after comparison.

07What the numbers mean

The Readings panel follows the selected target, not an average of every visible line. With a valid reference, comparison figures show target minus reference.

The activity gate excludes points below the higher of High − 48 dB and −80 dB. That keeps silence from dominating Low, Average and Dyn range. A missing value means there is not enough valid data; it does not mean zero.

The level scale

Levels use sine-referenced mean-square measurement: a full-scale sine reads 0 dB. The selected averaging time drives three cascaded smoothing windows, each half that length; total support is about 1.5 times the setting. This is not LUFS or true-peak measurement.

Hit levels are measured within guarded parts of each slot to reduce contamination from neighbouring attacks and tails. They describe the smoothed low-end result, not the highest raw sample of the kick.

Sub is stereo

This warning appears when low-band Side energy is within 12 dB of Mid. It is a cue to check mono compatibility. It does not mean stereo bass is always wrong, or that every stereo sub will disappear in mono.

08Per-kick verdicts

In Low end with Grid Auto, LOWTRACE detects hits from the Kick input. Phase and component verdicts also need a usable bass reference: the Bass input in On bus mode, or the main bass signal in On bass mode. Hover a hit for its explanation.

PHASE is a hypothetical flip estimate, not a phase angle. LOWTRACE does not apply the flip. It does not estimate every possible all-pass or FIR correction or guarantee LOWTUNA will choose the same result.

The estimate compares the direct low-band kick + bass sum with the same pair after a hypothetical kick polarity flip, over a window of up to 150 ms ending at the next detected kick. The Readings summary calls this input flip. In On bus mode, the processed bus energy is used for levels, not for this phase estimate. Very deep cancellation is shown as a finite bound of at least 60 dB rather than an infinite number.

These are prompts for an engineering decision. Do not flatten intentional accents or bass movement just to make every hit match.

09Snapshots and comparison

Snapshot stores the current trace and analysis in one of four slots, A–D. It stores measurement data, not an audio recording. Live remains a separate trace.

1. Play the entire section with the processing you want to compare bypassed or in its before state.
2. Stop and click Snapshot. Rename the take so you know what it represents.
3. Change only the processing being tested. Replay the same complete section and make another snapshot.
4. Set the after take as target and the before take as reference. Turn Compare on.

The first snapshot becomes the reference; later snapshots become the target. With Compare enabled, the second snapshot therefore gives B versus A. You can change that pairing afterward.

In Compare, a green filled gap means the target is higher; a red gap means it is lower. These colours do not mean “good” and “bad”. They are also separate from the red PHASE flags.

Keep the comparison valid

Use matching mode, band and crossover, averaging, routing and sample rate. Incompatible data can remain visible where the view allows it, but numerical comparisons are withheld. Recapture older takes that lack the metadata needed for comparison.

Saved bar and loop takes retain their musical origin when the range or loop start changes. Shorter takes repeat; longer takes crop at the matching musical position. This is not time-warping or automatic audio alignment. For a straightforward comparison, capture the same section at the same positions.

The DAW project saves the takes and their measurement settings. Snapshot is disabled when there is no valid data or all four slots are occupied; delete an unwanted take to free a slot.

The live ROUTE THE KICK IN hint can appear while playback is stopped even when saved takes contain valid kick measurements. It describes the current input, not whether the snapshots originally had a kick feed.

10Compare a LOWTUNA correction

1. Put LOWTRACE on the kick + bass bus. Choose Low end → On bus.
2. Send the kick after LOWTUNA to LOWTRACE’s Kick input. Keep this feed matched to the kick reaching the bus.
3. Send the final bass, including any bass-channel processing or ducking, to LOWTRACE’s Bass input. Match its timing and gain to the bass feeding the bus.
4. Set the crossover, range, averaging and Auto grid. Keep them unchanged for both passes.
5. Turn LOWTUNA’s Correction off, play the complete section, then Snapshot A.
6. Turn Correction on, wait for LOWTUNA to be ready, replay the same section, then Snapshot B.
7. Compare B against A. Check the trace, spread, component levels and flip flags, then listen in context.

Use LOWTUNA’s Correction switch for the comparison so its compensated dry path stays in place. Do not change the bus gain between passes. LOWTRACE’s crossover band and LOWTUNA’s scoring bands differ, so their dB figures need not match.

11Menu and image export

Click the LOWTRACE wordmark to open its main menu.

LOWTRACE has no separate Glow effects menu item. Theme and size are display preferences, not measurement settings.

The top-right transport indicator shows whether LOWTRACE is following the DAW or stopped. Without a host clock, the standalone view is free-running at 120 BPM in 4/4; do not mistake that for a detected song tempo.

12If something looks wrong