Zen Stage
Zen Stage. One-button gain staging.
Zen Stage
Zen Stage. One-button gain staging.
Zen Stage sets the level of any track to the optimal input for your plugins with one press. Two modes, a four-second measurement, a safety limiter. Gain staging under control.
Gain Staging Is Finally Quick and Easy.
One click sets the level going into your plugins.
Zen Stage listens to a loud section of your track for four seconds and sets the gain to a consistent starting level for processing. Insert it before your plugins, choose a mode, press GAIN STAGE.
Choose a Mode. Press Gain Stage.
Two targets for two kinds of material.
SUSTAINED · −18 dBFS RMS, the 0 VU reference. For vocals, bass, guitars, keys, synths, and most groups. PERCUSSIVE · −25 dBFS RMS. For drums, percussion, and loops. The lower target leaves more headroom for transients. A −18 dBFS sine is the common 0 VU reference that many analog-modeled plugins are calibrated to. Both modes measure the average (RMS) level of the section you play, in the AES17 convention.
Set the Gain. Keep the Performance.
Start every chain at the right level.
Many analog-modeled plugins are calibrated around a specific input level. Zen Stage brings every track to a consistent starting level, so your compressors and saturators always start from a predictable level. Fixed gain, not auto-volume. Quiet parts stay quiet, loud parts stay loud. Only the safety limiter can trim the highest peaks. The setting saves with your session. Safety limiter. Catches sample peaks above −0.3 dBFS. With typical material it rarely engages, and red LEDs show when it does. Hidden option: click the top right screw to switch the limiter off. Light on CPU. About 1% of one CPU core per instance (Apple M1 Max, 48 kHz, 512-sample buffer). Put it on every track and bus, or between processors to reset the level mid-chain.
How to Use It
Three steps, then mix with your faders.
1. Insert Zen Stage first in the chain, on any track or bus, before your processing. 2. Choose a mode: PERCUSSIVE for drums, SUSTAINED for everything else. 3. Play a loud, representative section without long pauses and click GAIN STAGE. Keep it playing while Zen Stage measures. macOS & Windows · VST3, AU, AAX · Three activations included.
AAX, AU, VST3 versions
64-bit only
Ableton Live 11+ (Mac & PC: AU, VST3)
Bitwig 4+ (Mac & PC: AU, VST3)
Cubase 13+ (Mac & PC: VST3)
Digital Performer 11+ (Mac & PC: AU, VST3)
FL Studio 23+ (Mac & PC: VST3)
Garageband 10+ (AU)
Logic Pro 10+ (AU)
Pro Tools 12+ (Mac & PC: AAX)
Presonus Studio One 5+ / Fender Studio (Mac & PC: AU, VST3)
Reaper 6+ (Mac & PC: VST3)
Cakewalk Next by BandLab (PC: VST3)
AAX is a trademark and software of Avid Technology. Audio Units is a trademark and software of Apple Inc. VST3 is a trademark and software of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
AAX, VST3, AU versions included
64-bit only (Mac / PC)
Mac OS X 10.15 or higher (Intel native | ARM native)
Windows 10
At least 4GB of RAM, 16GB is recommended
At least 200MB of free drive space (OS drive)
Customer reviews
Own this product? Sign in to write a review
No reviews yet. Only people who bought this product can write one.
More from Styx Audio
by Styx Audio
Dirty, but mix-ready. Two complementary springs give this reverb a wide, lively stereo image, while tube and tape saturation add grit. Built-in ducking keeps it out of the way of the dry signal, and wet-only autopanning adds movement without extra routing. Turn Width to zero for classic mono.
by Styx Audio
Slap Happy delivers the classic slapback echo, tuned to sit in the mix from the first knob turn. Width opens the repeat into stereo, Ambience adds short reflections for a deep stereo image, and built-in sidechain compression ducks the echo while the dry signal is playing. The result is instant vintage depth — without clutter, mud, or endless tweaking.
by Styx Audio
A premium stereo hall reverb designed to sound right from the start. Instead of endless parameters, Hall of Fame gives you a simple, intuitive workflow with a carefully pre-shaped sound. Built-in saturation, compression, and resonance control let it sit effortlessly in the mix while preserving the attack and clarity of the source. The result is a rich, spacious hall reverb without harshness, mud, or endless tweaking.
by Styx Audio
SpeakMix is a one-click voice processor for narration - podcasts, YouTube, voice-overs and video editing. It balances the tone of a spoken recording, adds gentle de-essing and light saturation, and sets a consistent loudness of -16 LUFS. A built-in limiter at -1 dB keeps the output from clipping. Two controls shape the result: the Voice Timber slider (darker < brighter) and the CLEAN knob, which tames room reverb and background noise.
Similar products
by Gilder Audio
What if you could dial in a killer vocal tone in a matter of seconds? GilderVox takes the guesswork out of mixing vocals. (It's hard to make this thing sound bad.)
by Sage Audio
Sage Velvet may be the first plugin to fully capture the nuances of Analog Equipment. Full of detail and nonlinearities, Sage Velvet is a near-perfect recreation of the hardware that inspired it.
by JVAL Audio
Effortlessly add more punch, energy, and consistency to your kick drums.
by Mixdown Online
A complete sonic finisher for your instrument buses and master channel. Analog drive, precise compression, and a musical EQ in one intuitive plugin. From subtle glue to aggressive energy, get your mixes sounding huge, fast.