leONE

leONE is a super lightweight limiter with multi-stage tonal shaping options to add body, character, and controlled grit with minimal CPU cost.

It is built around a simple idea: shape the tone first, control the level with CLAMP, then let the final limiter catch the last peaks and keep the output under control.

MAIN INTERFACE

Multiple analogue-inspired stages can be blended to taste: WARM, TRAFO, TUBE, CLARA, GRIT, and FX. Use them for anything from subtle musical glue to aggressive character.

• TRAFO is a transformer-like output stage. It adds subtle iron-style density, a firmer low end, and a more grounded hardware-like finish. Useful when the signal needs more weight, mass, and attitude without becoming messy.
• TUBE adds rich even-harmonic saturation for musical rounding.
• WARM is a one-knob bass-frequency enhancer. The two modes make it behave differently, making it useful on bass, drums, and mix-bus duties.
• CLARA adds clarity and presence to the signal.
• GRIT is a dual-mono, detector-driven sag stage for aggressive colour and character. It rounds transients in a very unique way.
• FX toggles a sculpting HPF/LPF pair to create the classic radio-style effect.
• IN / OUT set the input and output levels.
• CLAMP sets the hard ceiling for the primary limiter.
• RELEASE (ms) controls the CLAMP limiter release behaviour. Slower settings are smoother.
• MODE offers two global flavours: MODERN for a cleaner, HPF-based warmth, and VINTAGE for shelf and tape-head coloration with more character.

ADVANCED PANEL

• MONO / DUAL MONO / STEREO changes behaviour based on the track format. On a mono instance, the MONO button is shown but disabled. On a stereo instance, DUAL MONO processes the left and right channels independently, while STEREO links both channels so the limiter applies the same gain reduction and helps keep the stereo image stable.
• MODERN is a cleaner and more transparent voicing with a tighter low end, less harmonic push, and a more invisible limiter feel that preserves transient snap and stereo detail. It prioritises clarity and control.
• VINTAGE is a thicker and more coloured voicing with more harmonic density, a touch more glue, and softer peak behaviour, with a slightly more forward and forgiving feel when driving into the character stages. It prioritises tone, weight, and attitude when pushed.
• LIMITER MODE (OFF / SAFE / AGGRO) controls the final output limiter, designed to prevent clipping at the end of the chain with a fixed final ceiling of -0.003 dB. Use SAFE for cleaner, more transparent peak control, or AGGRO for faster, more assertive limiting.
• OUTPUT HPF/LPF are two independent high-pass and low-pass filters on the output of the plugin, right before the limiter in the wet path.

SIGNAL FLOW

Input level -> WARM / CLARA / TUBE / TRAFO / FX -> CLAMP -> output filtering -> output level -> final limiter