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The Shure Level-Loc on your tracks
The Shure Level-Loc is a compressor/saturator that leaves a distinctive fingerprint on your tracks. Or perhaps it’s a footprint, because the Level-Loc stomps and crushes.
Our Level-Loc has the magic of the original hardware with an expanded feature set for the modern ITB production environment. And it’s the only Level-Loc plugin licensed by Shure and endorsed by Tchad Blake.
© 2025 Shure Corporation. Level-Loc is a trademark of Shure Incorporated or its affiliates and used under license. All rights reserved.
$79.99
- Windows, Mac and Linux Compatible
- VST3, AU, AAX, LV2
- Proprietary licensing system
- Licenses include all future upgrades—you purchase once, forever.
- Squash and mangle with compression for huge, punchy drums that jump out of the speakers.
- Overdrive transformers for warm saturation to enhance low-end and give your mixes some boom!
- Add a vintage glow to vocals and acoustic instruments.
- Get ratty, lo-fi guitar and keyboard sounds.
- Parallel process anything for a larger, analog sound.
- Add interest and quirky fun to anything. With a Level-Loc, there’s no such thing as lame.
Shure Level-Loc: 1969–1977
“Now available in your high school auditorium or the Knights of Columbus.”Shure developed the Level-Loc as an inexpensive solution to PA problems. In a school or a VFW hall, a dropped microphone could blow a speaker. The Level-Loc provided protection while at the same time riding the gain on microphones, because the school and the church didn’t have a soundman to do it.
The hardware used transformers and a lightning-fast FET limiting circuit. It was fire and forget: a simple setup, and then you left it alone. Turn it on, and the levels were locked.
It was a good eight years, but then…
Level-Loc in the wilderness
1977ish – 1990ishPA systems get more sophisticated, speakers more resilient. The little Level-Loc loses its reason for existence. Shure discontinues the product. They’re pulled out of installs and thrown away. Some beat-up examples wind up at garage sales, flea markets, and radio swap meets…
1991: Tchad Blake goes to a swap meet
“The Level-Loc changed my life.”Engineering and mixing superstar Tchad Blake was working with Tom Waits on Bone Machine. The two went to a radio swap meet. Tchad found an old Level-Loc and bought it for $5. They took it back to the studio and accidentally blew it up. Tom knew a guy, they got it fixed, and Tchad put it on drums.
It was a revelation. The box designed to control PA vocals proved to be a drum crusher and character compressor extraordinaire. Tchad incorporated it into his tracking and mixing signal chains, and the lowly Level-Loc became central to his distinctive sound.
As Tchad says, “The Level-Loc changed my life.”
The Tchad Blake résumé
Three Grammy wins: Sheryl Crow, The Globe Sessions, 1999. Suzanne Vega, Beauty & Crime, 2008. Peter Gabriel, i/o, 2025.
- Los Lobos — Kiko (1992)
- Crowded House — Together Alone (1993)
- Sheryl Crow — The Globe Sessions (1998)
- Pearl Jam — Binaural (2000)
- Peter Gabriel — Up (2002), i/o (2023)
- Suzanne Vega — Beauty & Crime (2007)
- The Black Keys — Brothers (2010), El Camino (2011)
- Arctic Monkeys — AM (2013)
- Beck — Morning Phase (2014), Colors (2017)
- Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020)
- Elvis Costello — various, 1990s–2000s
- Wilco, U2, Tracy Chapman, The Kills, The Pretenders, The Dandy Warhols — various credits
The era of the industry secret
1992–2025The little Level-Loc began to infiltrate studios as engineers chased the sonics of Tchad Blake. Prices on used Level-Locs climbed into the hundreds of dollars. Then a smart guy at Shure sent Korneff Audio an email…
2025: The Level-Loc unleashed
Shure + Tchad Blake + Korneff Audio
The hardware recreated
In partnership with Shure and Tchad Blake, we recreated the Shure Level-Loc. We component modeled the circuit and fine tuned it until Tchad Blake was delighted with the result. Ours is the only Level-Loc plug-in licensed by Shure and endorsed by Tchad.
The controls of the original unit, including all the subtle impedance matching, threshold settings and input and output choices, are on the plug-in. More importantly, the unique compression curves, saturation and general unpredictability of the hardware were captured. Our Level-Loc features three complete models of three different hardware units, including two used on countless records by Tchad Blake and one owned by Dan Korneff, a Level-Loc owner since the mid-2010s.
Modern extensions
Our Level-Loc has features which extend its usefulness in the studio. We wanted users to have more control, and to find creative uses for the Level-Loc beyond smashing drums.
With adjustable release times, battery drain, filtering, mixing, and sidechain equalization, the plug-in works wonders on bass, vocals, loops and synth pads, and makes an awesome addition to a parallel compression “rear bus.”
Best of all, you can add it to lots of tracks — try doing that with one or two hardware units.
As Tchad Blake puts it: “I’ve had so much fun with the Shure Level-Loc over the years. Today I’m pinching myself watching the Korneff Audio plugin appear on my monitor and hearing the magic.”
Filtering
Use the pass filters to focus on exactly the frequencies you want to process, and remove excessive lows and highs to better seat your tracks in the mix.
Battery Drain
Mimic the effect of old, dying batteries. Lower the voltage to change the saturation and the “bloom” of the Level-Loc.
Impedance
Experiment with impedance settings to change the gain structure, and the effect of transformer saturation and lag.
Release
Sculpt the Level-Loc to fit the dynamics of your track with adjustable release times. And do it without a soldering iron.
Sidechain
Target the compression using a fully adjustable sweepable sidechain EQ. Pick out what to emphasize, or what to ignore.
Gain & Mix
Gain stage the Level-Loc to precisely the sound you want, and decide how much flavor you keep. A little taste? A big gulp? Too much?
Pros talking about the Shure Level-Loc
I’ve been listening to the Level-Loc on Tchad Blake records for year, and now there’s a thing that does that thing. It’s going into my mix template.
I’ve had so much fun with the Shure Level-Loc over the years. Today I’m pinching myself watching the Korneff Audio plugin appear on my monitor and hearing the magic.
I’ve been using the Level-Loc all over my mixes. It nails the sound of the hardware but it’s even more useful.
The Shure Level-Loc works with all DAWs
Real customer reviews Shure Level-Loc
The Shure Level-Loc is a unique tool. It allows me to place a sound at distance in a room, giving me a feeling of something real and ballsy. A perfect tool for making digital sound more analog. Thank you Korneff !
It’s complex enough to add nuance and variety to the results, yet intuitive enough to get the sound I’m after quickly. I really loved how it handled vocals—something rare enough to be worth noting. My bongos sound better than ever. I also tested it on a solid metal-style VST drum kit: I put the Level Loc on the drum bus and crushed the signal until it was heavily compressed and saturated (100% wet), then dialed it back to 15%. The result was fantastic—far from transparent, but exactly what I was looking for!
In short, as a fan of albums by Tom Waits, The Black Keys, and Soul Coughing mixed by Tchad Blake, I had a clear idea of what I wanted… and I found it. I couldn’t be happier!
Put this on an aux and just send various amounts of everything to it. Amazingness is your reward.
Somehow this thing levels it all just right!!
On my fast jazz and funky drums – wow.
Even on vintage strings and pianos.
One of my favorite “tone box” plugins. It can go everywhere.
As soon as I threw this into a mix it found a unique place for itself. I’ve been a pro mixer for decades & only use the very best plugins, this & my other Korneff plugs get used in every mix I do, they always deliver & are a joy to use. The tweakability, sonic quality & the creative ethos of Dan & the crew is a mixer’s dream come true.
Did not figure out how to achieve this inspiring, characterful distorted and punchy sound with any other distorsion plugins… so I bought it after demoing it. Well done Korneff !
Many will say, “Thank you for your service.” Korneff actually thanked me, LITERALLY. Nothing says thank you for your service louder than $FREE.99. If I could thank you louder I absolutely would. Big souljahs gratitude to Korneff! If you have ever served, there is something for you here.
Love this bit of kit, it’s been glued to my bass chain since Day 1. Level-Loc is a joy to mix with, get the sounds in my head out into the world. And some I didn’t even suspect until stumbling onto them, that back panel is boss. Kudos to Korneff, keep up the good work!
This is a nasty beast. It’ll make the prettiest sound snarl and bit like a rabid dog.
This is never far from my drum channels and sees regular appearances on all sorts of tracks.
Awesome Tool, exactly what I was looking for 😉
I’ve been trying to find one of these for years. This plugin might be more fun than the real deal!
Well, I admit I used the other plugin because there was nothing else available. But since SLL came out, that other one is no longer present. Does that say enough?
Keep up the good work, Merry Christmas 🙂
Andreas Schmid-Martelle, Frankfurt/Germany
I cannot thank this company enough, as a military member for 16 years, people always say thank you for service. Korneff Audio went above and beyond and gave the greatest discount a Soldier could ask for. And quality is really mind blowing and should be spread more to get people to use and enjoy this plugins. All have been great, now it’s just operator level. Time to learn how to use them. Thank you so much, Korneff! Happy Holidays!
There’s compression and then there’s the Level-Loc! Say goodbye to whatever plugin you’re using to smash your room mics because they don’t do it like this. Don’t forget to click on the Korneff logo at the top and mess with the battery life. Yes, you can actually do that. Amazing!
The Level Loc is the best way I’ve experienced to getting a unique quality (on vocals especially) to your tracks. If you want something to stand out from the rest of the mix, push the input and starve the battery, and you have something that carves through in crafty way. It’s brilliant.
Been a fan of the original for years and used the ”red devil” a lot but this is truly something else. Extremely close to the original hardware unit. Great job on this one!
Absolutely love the Level-Loc, been using it on everything!
I’m getting close to the end of my first album mix using Korneff plugs and I gotta say, I feel like I’ve leveled up! Level-Loc is part of the basic drum sound (on a send) for the whole record… I learned from the master (wink wink)! AIP and Puff Puff also, I don’t know how I lived without these things!?! Intuitive and fun GUI’s and results that make me smile. Thanks So Much!
Can go from Subtle to extreme. Would be very nice to have it on ilok.
Really really good.
This little magic box can give you stereo mix dimension, your vocals attitude and your drums a smack in the face. Always a character builder on anything!
This ia a dream plugin, a huge fan of Tchad’s work & philosophy,,,, fits tight with Dan’s… it’s brilliant, a tone sculpting harmonic mashing monster, from so subtle to crushing …. love it.
Really excellent and analogue sounding distortion!
I have only been using the Shure Level-Loc for about 2 weeks now, and I’m finding myself grabbing for it for every project! In fact, I just added it to my “Mix Start” template. This is a really easy and useful plugin for adding much-desired fatness and attitude! When I use it on a parallel bus, it adds instant character to bass parts, synths, and even vocals. The party really starts when you start putting it on drums!! 🥁💥 You can instantly make your beats dirty, messy, and thicc!! 🍑 Quickly becoming an essential piece! 🏆 Thanks to the team @ KORNEFF!
This fucking rocks.
Retired my original hardware unit for this guy!! Thanks guys and gals!!!!
Awesome. I had been dreaming about this since forever and the additional perks given by the virtuality of the plugin are so well thought and executed! Kudos
It’s a great plugin, it shapes the sound in a very musical and warm way.
Great product and amazing company! Love all at Korneff!
Adds a nice crisp PUNCH to vocals !!!!
I’ve owned 5 units, down to 2. I’ll likely sell the two due to this plug in. It’s great and the additional features are excellent.
There are very few magic plugins. This is one of them. What are you waiting for?
It’s a great tool, parallel comp/dist. Really great on drums, bass and mix bus.
Bongo Recordings
Great compressor (and I have them all. Almost…). The compression can reach insane levels and more, but it’s easy to dial in a civilized compression for, e.g., electric bass. My new go-to compressor for that.
Have yet to try the extreme settings on drums and vocals.
An absolute game changer!
I’ve had a blast with Korneff Audio’s Shure Level-Loc so far, and I’ve barely scratched the surface! I’ve explored a few of the Shure presets along with some of the Korneff and Tchad Blake ones. I’ve mainly been using them for parallel processing, adding high-end sheen and sparkle to vocals and snares. I’m really looking forward to experimenting further, diving deeper into the knobs, and creating my own custom presets. Another stellar release from the talented team at Korneff!
Another great tool for creating audio!!!
This plugin is so great! Not just on drums or bass either. Tried it on vocals in parallel, and what a sound! Adds a shiny bigness to the signal without being harsh. And solved a head-scratching issue on my drum bus for a Latin-influenced track I mixed recently.
Two thumbs way up, Korneff! Take a bow. Big props to the greatest of all time and my hero, Mr. Tchad Blake! -Swang Stewart
Absolutely love the plugin! The whole Korneff team deserves major props for this. Special shout out to the greatest of all time, Mr. Tchad Blake (hello, Tchad!). Two enthusiastic thumbs up! -Swang Stewart
The best thing since sliced bread. My drum bus has never been happier!
Korneff plugins are top notch and the Level-Loc is definitely a special one! Great tool to saturate drums and make them pop. I love that I can also tinker with the backend of the plugin. Sounds great, it’s intuitive and easy to dial!
Very useful on almost everything. Love that plugin.
Henryk Lipp
I’ve been using the Talkback plug to crunch up my drum tracks since it was released…and nothing I’ve tried since then was better…well…I’m happy to say that the Shure Level-Loc has entered the party! I’m now using it on drums and a few other things…the overall flexibility of it allows a wide variety of tone and texture. Now I just have to stop myself from wanting to put it on everything!
A very useful plugin, among a plethora of plugins which are “good”, but not necessarily useful.
Software Requirements Shure Level-Loc
Current Version: 1.0.2
Minimum System
Requirements
- Intel, AMD or Apple Silicon i5 quad core processor
- 4GB of RAM
- Mac OSX 10.14 or later
- Windows 7 & Above
- Linux minimum: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or equivalent (x86-64)
- Linux recommended: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later, Debian 11+, Fedora 36+, or any modern distribution using glibc ≥ 2.28
- Screen res: 1024 x 768 or higher
Supported Plugin
Formats
- Mac 64bit: VST3, AU, AAX
- Windows 64bit: VST3, AAX
- Linux 64bit: VST3, LV2
Korneff Plugin Licensing
Software Based
Korneff Audio uses a software-based licensing system. No USB or hardware dongles, no special drivers are needed.
Four Activations
Our plugins can be activated on up to four (4) machines at the same time.
Connections
An internet connection is required to activate our software. Internet connection required for all demos.