- Publisher: Metric Halo
- Product: CGII – Chris Gehringer Loudness Processor
- Release: R2R
- Version: 4.0.71.235
- Format: VST3
- Requirements: Windows 7 or higher
In today’s demanding audio landscape, achieving a master that’s both competitively loud and dynamically rich can feel like chasing an elusive ideal. Tracks need to stand up commercially, yet sacrificing clarity, punch, and musicality for sheer volume is a compromise no serious engineer wants to make. What if you could have it all? Introducing Metric Halo CGII, the mastering dynamics finishing toolkit designed in collaboration with a true industry titan, Chris Gehringer, Senior Mastering Engineer & Partner at Sterling Sound. This is your new secret weapon to make your masters “Impossibly Loud. Impossibly Good.”
Chris Gehringer’s philosophy drove this project: “I wanted to release something that would help engineers master in today’s modern environment. So with that being said, we’ve created my plug-in (CGII) which helps you gain level to loud tracks and simultaneously add character. Our intention going forward is to create tools that I have always wanted to make amazing sounding masters – tools that are necessary for today’s music.”
The result is CGII – a meticulously crafted plugin that empowers you to elevate your tracks with professional polish, impact, and that elusive combination of loudness and sonic integrity.
Beyond Brute Force: The Art of Loudness with Character
Traditional approaches to loudness often come at a cost – crushed transients, a diminished stereo field, and a track that feels lifeless. CGII redefines what’s possible by offering a sophisticated, two-pronged approach to dynamic enhancement, coupled with pristine limiting and essential finishing utilities.
At the heart of CGII are two uniquely complementary dynamics sections:
- Density Processor: This is where the magic begins for uncovering hidden detail. The Density process intelligently increases the perceived level of your program material by bringing up previously masked, lower-level information. Crucially, it achieves this without squashing your high-level peak dynamics. Imagine revealing the subtle bloom of a reverb tail, the intricate breath of a vocal, or the nuanced decay of a snare, all while maintaining the punch and impact of your transients. It adds weight and definition, making your mix feel fuller and more immersive.
- Loudness Processor: When you need that transparent and impactful increase in overall RMS level, the Loudness process delivers. It allows you to achieve significant perceived loudness while expertly keeping peak levels below full-scale. This section is engineered for musicality, exciting harmonics and adding energy without introducing the harshness or distortion often associated with aggressive loudness maximization. Even if you’re working with a mix that’s already pushing levels, CGII can impart that extra touch of polish and perceived power, without flattening the material or sucking the life out of your low end.
These two processors work in concert, allowing you to sculpt the dynamic character and perceived loudness of your master with unprecedented control and musicality.
The Complete Finishing Toolkit: Precision and Polish
CGII isn’t just about enhancement; it’s a comprehensive solution for the final stage of your mastering chain.
- New True Peak Limiting Stage: Say goodbye to inter-sample overs. CGII features an incredibly transparent true-peak lookahead limiter. This ensures that your output levels never exceed your specified ceiling, safeguarding your audio for all playback systems and distribution platforms. Its transparency means you can control peaks effectively without audibly altering the character of your mix.
- DC Blocking: A crucial utility, the built-in DC-block filter removes any residual DC offset from your audio signal, ensuring clean, professional output and preventing potential issues downstream.
- Professional Dither: Prepare your masters for any target bit depth. CGII includes high-quality dither, allowing you to seamlessly convert your high-resolution audio to 16 through 24-bit formats with minimal noise and artifacting.
- Comprehensive Metering: Keep a precise eye on your levels with CGII’s intuitive metering. Featuring spiffy tube filament displays, you get clear readouts of LUFS (Integrated, Short Term, Momentary with hold options) and True Peak (or TP Hold). This ensures you’re meeting industry loudness standards and maintaining optimal headroom.
- User-Selectable Over-sampling: Tailor the processing quality to your needs. CGII offers up to 16x over-sampling for the highest fidelity, reducing aliasing and ensuring pristine audio quality. You can also choose lower settings or disable it entirely, depending on your CPU resources and sonic preference.
More Than Mastering: A Versatile Creative Tool
While CGII was conceived as the ultimate mastering finishing plugin, its powerful and transparent processing makes it an invaluable asset in various stages of your production workflow:
- Mix Bus Enhancement: Add cohesion, punch, and clarity to your stereo bus during the mixing phase.
- Individual Track Processing: Use the Loudness processor to subtly excite harmonics on a vocal or instrument. Employ the Density processor to bring out low-level detail in drum room mics or delicate acoustic performances.
- Transparent Limiting Anywhere: Need a high-quality, transparent limiter on a subgroup or individual track? CGII’s True Peak Limiter is ready for duty.
CGII is designed for ease of use without sacrificing depth. Its intuitive interface, coupled with a robust selection of presets crafted by industry professionals (including Chris Gehringer himself), means you can achieve exceptional results quickly. The adjustable UI size and MH Preset Manager further enhance your workflow, providing cross-platform preset compatibility.
Key Features at a Glance:
- World-Class Signal Processing: Developed with Metric Halo’s renowned audio quality and insights from mastering legend Chris Gehringer.
- Density Process: Increases perceived loudness and low-level detail without impacting peak dynamics.
- Loudness Process: Transparently boosts RMS level while preserving peaks, adding energy and character.
- True Peak Limiter: Crystal-clear lookahead limiting ensures no inter-sample overs.
- User-Selectable Over-sampling: Up to 16x for pristine audio fidelity.
- DC-Block Filter: Removes unwanted DC offset.
- Professional Dither: Output to 16, 20, or 24 bits.
- Comprehensive LUFS/True Peak Metering: Vintage-style Nixie tube displays for precise level monitoring.
- Extensive Presets: Get started quickly with professionally designed presets.
- Adjustable UI Size: Customize the plugin window to fit your screen.
- MH Preset Manager: Easy cross-platform preset management.
Technical Specifications:
System Requirements:
- Mac:
- OS X 10.10 or newer
- Intel Processor or Apple Silicon
- AU, VST 2 & 3, or AAX (Pro Tools 11 & newer Native) host
- 64-bit
- Windows:
- Windows 7 or newer
- Intel Processor
- VST or AAX (Pro Tools 10, 11 & 12 & Native) host
- 64-bit
Elevate Your Masters: Experience CGII Today
Stop settling for masters that are just loud, or just good. With Metric Halo CGII, you have the power to achieve both, effortlessly. This is more than a plugin; it’s a new standard in mastering dynamics, bringing the expertise of Sterling Sound’s Chris Gehringer directly into your studio.
Give your tracks the loudness, character, and professional finish they deserve.
Ready to transform your sound? Free Download Metric Halo CGII Now!
R2R
* iLok License Manager isn’t required to run.
* Our release loads faster and uses less memory than legit version.
