THE_SPICE 2 Manual

What it does: The one knob. Drives the entire engine — multiband up/down compression, punch, warmth, body, air and width rise together along a single voiced curve. Range/units: 0–200% (default 100%). Drag vertically; Shift-drag for fine moves; mouse wheel steps; double-click resets to 100%. Automatable in your DAW. In your music: 0% is a true bypass — your audio passes through completely untouched. Up to 100% you're in "always sounds right" territory — the classic voicing. Past 100% the engine digs progressively deeper into density and excitement, up to full send at 200%. Pro tip: Find your setting with your eyes closed, then run GAIN MATCH and A/B with bypass. If the matched version still sounds better, keep it. Higher settings also get louder — never judge without matching.

What it does: The multiband heart — 3-band upward/downward compression plus the punch, warmth and body stages. Lifts quiet detail per band, tames peaks per band, adds transient snap, analog-style colour and dynamic low-end weight. Range/units: On/off (default on). At least one of SPICE/SPARK always stays on. In your music: Density, loudness-feel, punch and warmth. This is the "make it a record" half. Pro tip: SPARK off, SPICE only: a thickener for drums, bass and full mixes when the top end is already where you want it.

What it does: The air — a smooth top-end lift plus two dynamic high-frequency paths that lift top-end detail only when the program is dull and duck themselves when it's already bright. The pill is also the SPARK amount: its fill is a liquid level showing how much of the voiced spark is applied. Range/units: Click = on/off (default on; at least one of SPICE/SPARK always stays on). Amount: drag the pill vertically, 0–100% (default 100%); Shift-drag for fine moves; mouse wheel steps; double-click refills to 100%. The amount is relative — it scales the spark the engine would add at your current INTENSITY, so it tracks the dial instead of fighting it. In your music: Sheen, openness, presence — without the fatigue of a static high boost, because it self-regulates against the program. Love the SPICE at your setting but the added air is a touch much? Drain the pill a little instead of touching INTENSITY. Pro tip: SPICE off, SPARK only: a de-dulling treatment for vocals, acoustic instruments and buses that need light, not weight — and the amount sets exactly how much light.

What it does: Trims the level feeding the engine — everything inside reacts to the level you set here. It behaves like a channel trim, never a drive control. Range/units: -24 to +24 dB (default 0). Double-click resets. In your music: The engine's voicing is anchored around peaks hitting -6 dB. Staging into that pocket makes every INTENSITY setting land the way it was designed. Pro tip: Don't guess — use CALIBRATE. Or watch the IN rail and nudge the trim until the held-peak readout sits near the -6 marker.

What it does: One-click input staging. Click, play your loop; after 2 seconds of audio (silence doesn't count — the fill visibly stalls) the IN trim is set so your incoming peaks land on the -6 dB sweet spot. Click again to cancel. Range/units: One click — sets the IN knob for you. Undoable. In your music: Perfect staging in one gesture, on any source, at any gain. Pro tip: Make it a habit: insert → CALIBRATE → play → then reach for INTENSITY. Two seconds of loop and the whole plugin is calibrated to your track.

What it does: Parallel blend between the untouched signal and the enhanced signal. The dry signal stays perfectly aligned with the processed signal, so any blend stays free of hollow, phasey artifacts. Range/units: 0–100% (default 100%). In your music: Classic parallel enhancement — run INTENSITY hot and blend back for density that keeps the original's dynamics on top. Pro tip: For drum buses try INTENSITY around 150–200% with MIX at 40–60%: deep multiband action underneath, natural transients on top.

What it does: One-click output leveling with two modes, selected on the pill's lower row. RESTORE sets the OUT trim so the output loudness matches the incoming signal — the honest-A/B mode. -6 sets the OUT trim so output peaks land on the -6 dB sweet spot — the gain-staging mode, ideal for feeding the next processor in a calibrated chain. Click the upper part of the pill, play your loop; after 2 seconds of audio the OUT knob is set. Click again to cancel. Range/units: One click — sets the OUT knob for you. Undoable. Mode toggle: RESTORE (default) or -6. In your music: RESTORE for judging what INTENSITY is really doing; -6 for building console-style chains where every stage sees a predictable level. Pro tip: The OUT rail readout follows the mode — in RESTORE aim for the OUT and IN numbers to match, in -6 aim the held output peak at -6. When the readout brightens, you're there.

What it does: Final level trim after the engine. Range/units: -24 to +24 dB (default 0). Double-click resets. In your music: Manual make-up or attenuation — usually written for you by GAIN MATCH. Pro tip: However hard you push the engine, its internal soft ceiling keeps the pre-OUT signal at or below 0 dB — so OUT is genuinely the last word on level, and a safety clip catches manual boosts.

What it does: Twin-ladder meters on both edges. In each rail the dim left column is the raw incoming signal (the untouched reference); the bright right column is the signal that matters there — IN rail: post-trim (what the engine sees, with the -6 marker); OUT rail: the processed output. Bright dashes are peak-hold lines; the readout on top shows the held value. Range/units: -60 to 0 dB grid; peak-hold with slow decay; the IN readout brightens when the held peak sits in the -9…-3 pocket. In your music: Same grid left and right — volume matched means equal bar heights. Staging and honesty at a glance. Pro tip: The readouts hold long enough to fine-tune against: trim IN to put its number on -6, then let GAIN MATCH handle the OUT side.

What it does: Click-free bypass for true A/B, undo/redo of your moves (including applied CALIBRATE/GAIN MATCH results), settings (language, tooltips, default view), the in-app AI assistant and the built-in docs. Pro tip: Bypass + GAIN MATCH (RESTORE) is the only honest test of an enhancer. If matched-on doesn't beat bypass, turn INTENSITY down until it does.

1. Insert THE_SPICE 2. Click CALIBRATE, play your loop for 2 seconds.
2. Turn INTENSITY until it feels exciting (start around 100%).
3. Click GAIN MATCH (RESTORE), let it listen, then A/B with Bypass.
4. Keep the setting only if matched-on wins. Done.

1. CALIBRATE, then push INTENSITY to 150–200% — deep multiband lift and punch.
2. Pull MIX back to ~50% for parallel weight with the dry transients on top.
3. SPARK off — or just drag its amount down — if the cymbals are already bright. GAIN MATCH, A/B, done.

1. CALIBRATE on the vocal. Keep SPICE + SPARK both on, INTENSITY 80–120%.
2. The air paths self-duck on bright sibilant moments — push until presence appears, back off if you hear the top working.
3. GAIN MATCH in RESTORE mode before you judge anything.

1. CALIBRATE the input, set INTENSITY modestly (60–100%).
2. Switch GAIN MATCH to -6 and run it: the output now peaks at the -6 sweet spot — the perfect level for the next calibrated processor.
3. Chain the next stage and repeat the same staging discipline there.

1. INTENSITY to 200%, MIX 100%. The engine digs as deep as it goes and the soft ceiling keeps it dense but controlled.
2. Automate INTENSITY from your DAW for builds and drops — 0% is completely untouched, so sweeping up from zero is a true "effect on" gesture.