The Levelator 3.0.2
Despite its developers saying they had no plans for future updates years ago (see “The Levelator 2.1.2 Works in El Capitan,” 1 December 2015), The Levelator audio utility from Singular Software has been updated to version 3 and made available in the Mac App Store. A tool used heavily by TidBITS staff in the past (see “PodBOT Improves TidBITS Audio,” 7 May 2012), The Levelator evens out the variations in audio levels within a podcast or other audio file. Drag and drop a WAV or AIFF audio file onto the app’s simple user interface, and The Levelator creates a new file alongside the original with a “-leveled” suffix. Version 3.0.2 comes with miscellaneous unspecified bug fixes. (Free, 2.1 MB, release notes, macOS 10.9+)
Terrific. This has proven itself time and time again.
I have hoped for this for many years. I feared that the old version would be obsolete, but now,
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Great find. Levelator goes back a long way…
This announcement reminded me of Marco’s blog article about Voice Boost 2 for his iOS app Overcast. VB2 increases the listenability for podcasts that have poor audio production value and/or for users who are listening in a high-noise environment (e.g., mowing a lawn). That blog article gives a nice analysis of what leveling software is doing, and why it’s a relatively difficult computational problem.
While both are providing a similar function, there’s little overlap between what Levelator and Overcast’s VB2 are doing. Overcast would be cumbersome to use on the podcast production side – even when iOS apps can run on Apple Silicon Macs.
One question for @agen: does Rogue Amoeba provide this kind of leveling preprocessing for any of their Mac apps? I didn’t see anything when I looked on their website. TIA.
Let’s go to the horse’s mouth and ask @paul1 directly.
I’ve been summoned, and so I appear (Note, may not always work, the best way to get answers is right here: https://rogueamoeba.com/support/supportRequest.php)
We do basic normalization in Fission, our audio editor, but that’s it. The Levelator is free, and works well - use it alongside audio made with our products!
Thanks, Paul! Nice to know the Amoebat Signal works, and we’ll be sure to restrict its use for when it’s best to get the official word in public.
I adopted the Kafasis-approved approach for my most recent podcast. I recorded in Rogue Amoeba, leveled with The Levelator (but edited with Ferrite).
Great news! Love this app. Hope they eventually add the ability to work with more audio formats besides Aiff and Wav. Personally, I wish they would charge for the app, so that it’s as sustainable as possible.
This shows up under Mojave as a 32bit app. I expect that means it won’t run under Catalina (which I need to upgrade to). Can anyone confirm that?
I have Levelator 3.0.2 downloaded for free from the Mac App Store and it runs fine on my 2019 MacBook Air running Big Sur 11.6.2. Note that it only works on wav or aiff files, but it stilll works fine (I just tested it).
Sorry for the late thank you. That is good to know.
How does one currently get their hands on v. 3.0.2 of The Levelator (for macOS)??
Does not appear to be in the app store anymore.
If anyone has the app and is willing to share it with me, please feel free to reach out…
me [at] imav [dot] org
Looks like I have v2.1.2 only, but I’m happy to send that along if need be. It’s a 32-bit app, though.
If v3.0.2 was available only in the Mac App Store, it won’t be possible to share because it would be connected with the user’s Apple ID.
It is my hope that it wasn’t “App Store only” and that someone archived a copy.
Otherwise, does anyone have a copy of the last 2.x release for Windows and/or Linux?
Little bit of Google reveals The Levelator 2.1.1 Free Download - VideoHelp
A little bit more googling found this self-contained DMG (not app store dependent)!!!
https://singsoft-levelator3.s3.amazonaws.com/Levelator3.0.2.dmg
That was posted on Reddit so not sure how safe it is unless someone is familiar with the poster: