Some 24 years ago, my pal Craig Alvin [Tape Op #137] found out that one of Tchad Blake's [#133, #16] ubiquitous mix distortion devices was the Shure Level-Loc. Level-Locs were Shure's attempt at a dummy-proof limiter for podium speakers, even featuring a Distance Selector switch for how far the speaker was from the mic, and by all reports they didn't dummy-proof them enough. Craig found one and dropped it off at Jackpot! Recording, so I put it to immediate use on some songs I was tracking for Seattle's Sick Bees. The sounds were crazy, and the way I used it created far too many of the Level-Loc's slow-release compression artifacts. Phil Ek [#29] had to mix the resulting songs for the album (My Pleasure), and he probably still thinks I'm a shit engineer. I later figured out how to properly set up inputs, and how to overload it to get some insane, blown out, crunchy, limited sounds, but Craig (always the wheeler-dealer) came back to retrieve it one day. These days, original Level-Locs are overpriced for what they are; they are noisy, and you'll have to figure out how to get sound in and out properly.
In 2010, recording engineers Ian MacGregor and Thom Flowers [Tape Op #142] founded Standard Audio and started making a 500 Series version of a JFET limiter based on the Level-Loc, with ease of use, more controls, and some faster release times. In Tape Op #78, Eli Crews [#88] favorably reviewed the original Level-Or, describing it as "a piece of gear to help you make bold sonic statements." The new Level-Or Mk2 DUAL is essentially two of the later Mk2 [#129] type units in a 19-inch rack with an internal power supply. New features include stereo compressor detector circuit linking, Mix (wet/dry) knobs, GR (gain reduction) and THD (total harmonic distortion) metering, and Cascade, which awesomely sends the output of CH1 to CH2's input for gloriously destructive overdrive tones. It's been a long time since Eli's review, and all Level-Or units are Mk2 now, and include the bypass switch Eli wished for!
I'd never owned or used a Level-Or, and I was excited to get to try the new Mk2 DUAL. As it's a stereo limiter (among other functions), my first thought was, "Parallel drum bus, now!" My usual limiters for this use are the Chandler Limited TG1 [Tape Op #37], which I push hard to add some breakup, and the M House Studios 5020 FET Limiter [#137], an amazing unit that is seemingly no longer in production. I patched the DUAL in on my console, fed it from pre-fader auxes and returned it to two channels, then went to work. Finding the right settings, with the Level-Or soloed, was fun. It was easy to go too far for the stripped-down drum sound I was working with, but when I switched from Crunch to Level mode, engaged the S/C Link, and relaxed the Input levels, I was able to get the right bite and snap on the drums (kick, snare, and toms tracks only) that I use in order to keep the energy up in a rock mix. It definitely added excitement to the drums in a different way – maybe more dangerous sounding – than my other standbys.
The Level-Or has two modes: Level or Crunch. Level is the crazy Shure-style JFET limiter, and Crunch is transistor distortion without compression. The metering, mentioned above, switches depending on mode, and the "speed" switch changes release times in Level and can add in a LPF (low-pass filter) at 15 kHz or 8 kHz in Crunch mode. The LPF can help tame scratchy overtones when blending wet and dry sounds to add textures, like when messing with keyboard parts.
A crazy thing one can do is use the Cascade mode to Crunch a sound, and then Level it with the second channel. Drum room mics exploded, and bass guitar made crazy clicks and fuzz in a fun way. Speaking of that, the DI input is pretty cool. Bass in Cascade, as noted above, was wild sounding, and could be used in interesting ways. If you have a lifeless stereo keyboard part, such as a Casio, plug it into the DI, and you can track with a ton of sonic character choices.
As noted, drum room mics can offer up a new range of over-the-top sounds in the Level-Or, either in Crunch or Level modes. It was amazing how cymbals got 20 feet closer, but toms thundered in the room on some settings. Close kick mics took to Crunch better than Level, and fast snare fills became machine-like blasts in an exciting way. Mixing some dull rhythm guitars? Toss them in Level-Or. The overt distortion can get a bit sizzly/broken radio-sounding if pushed too hard in either mode, but when carefully dialed back, it adds some grit and tonal shift that could help when mixing. On vocals, it's been fun to hype them up and get some stressy-sounding limiting, but you'll likely need to clean up any click-y mouth noises and turn down breaths as they become way louder!
Beyond the M House and TG1 limiters, we have several outboard "harmonic generating" units at Jackpot!, including Thermionic Culture's The Culture Vulture [Tape Op #45], a custom Hamptone dual JFET overdrive, and an often abused vintage Spectra Sonics 610 Complimiter. It's telling that staff here asked, "Can we keep it?" within weeks of the Level-Or Mk2 DUAL's arrival. It works, it's fun, and it offers a versatile way to achieve a wide variety of highly useable sonic mutations quickly. I think it's staying in the rack.
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