Denis Shumilov wrote in to share about a utility built to strip loudness out of A/B comparisons.
sndwch works as a pair of instances placed around the plugin or chain being judged: the first adds gain, the second takes the exact same amount back out. The two instances find each other automatically once inserted, with no manual routing required, and a whole processing chain sandwiched between them is covered the same way.
sndwch solves one specific problem: when you drive a compressor or a saturator harder, the output gets louder, and louder always sounds better – so you never really hear what the plugin is doing. sndwch is a linked pair of VST3 instances: one before the plugin (or a whole chain) adds gain, one after removes exactly the same amount, automatically. The two find each other and stay in sync on their own. You can push the processing as hard as you want and the level never moves.
sndwch features
- Automatic pairing between instances, with support for multiple independent pairs in one session via selectable groups.
- Separate gain control for left, right, mid, and side, with link buttons to move channel pairs together or independently.
- An L/R to M/S button to reorder which processing block the signal meets first.
- Synced mode to keep the gain pair exact, or Local mode to set each end independently.
- Peak and RMS metering on both ends of the chain, showing per-channel and combined levels.
- A and B snapshot slots for storing and comparing two setups.
Currently available as a VST3 plugin for Windows, sndwch is priced $19 USD. A 7-day free version is available to try the plugin, and a macOS version is in development.
More information: shmlv.
