I will always use the compressor section as a mastering compressor in my two track!!

That was money so well spent.. i wouldn't have been so happy paying $250 but the audiodeluxe 24 hrs member deal was just too good to pass up.

I recently sold pro-l cause as amazing as it is it's just that tad too complicated with tweaking to get the best result, as with "one tweak more" it sounds better each time and i could never stop, wanted something more simple.

Anyway the FG-X let's way too many ISP's through, bouncing to an mp3 with it had 6,000 clips

bouncing to an mp3 with barricade had 200 clips..

sonnox was about 800

ISP;s on all were insane.. BUT...

using barricade.. bouncing to wav, there are no isp's, same with sonnox...

so i have decided due to overall performance and ease of use, i will now exclusively use barricade and sonnox for my master limiting, and

the slate for my master compression. It's one of the nicest most transparent compressors i ever heard and i really like the A/R characterstics, it seems to work on my pop stuff brilliantly, as well as my ambient cinematic stuff..

The thing is if it didn't have latency i'd use it on the master bus too. it is REALLY good.

So what is really doing my head in is how a 15 Euro limiter (barricade) is one of the best, if not the best on the market. Seriously.. this thing is BRILLIANT.. and the audition tool let's you know exactly if you are ruining your music.

It is so transparent when needed (with sat set to zero), and amazing with the isp's for guys with old school consumer audio equipment in their home (like me).. sonnox is a great contrast when i want that slightly distorted edge (with the inflator type extra control)

Anyway the main point of the topic is - Barricade is incredible as a limiter, and so is the FG-X compressor section as a mastering comp.

Love to hear other's thoughts

I wonder if the ISPs you're seeing when bouncing straight to mp3 are a result of the WAV to mp3 conversion that happens after the limiter? Are you giving yourself a little headroom (-0.3dB seems to be the standard)?

In any case it's probably best to mix to WAV or AIF at the same sample rate/bit depth as your project and then do the conversion to mp3/etc. later.

I don't own barricade. I'll have to try it out.

I don't do much mastering myself these days, but when I do I use the FG-X. At first I thought it's not so juicy for electronic dance music, seemed to distort very easily with heavy kick drums. The trick was to turn the ITP slider right down to 'smooth' .. Then it suddenly opened up!

hey re the isp's i mean when i bounce to wav or aiff and use a true peak meter..

when i bounce to mp3 i am talking about 6000 HARD clips...literal clips above 0

slate is the worst of them all.. of course i always have the ceiling at -0.3

regardless the compressor is stunning.

i thought there would be more talk about the compressor to be honest

This reminded me of this guy:

http://memegenerator.net/The-Most-Interesting-Man-In-The-Wor ld

I have bx-XL seems very good so far but i'm still slowly getting to grips with it.Anyone else have this? How does it compare to Pro-L etc?

bx-xl is my least favorite limiter in existence. it's ugly, a pain to use and distorts like all hell. I mean it's really not a nice one, and the price is the highest of them ALL.

a joke, in the otherwise fine selection of brainworx/spl/alliance stuff, if i may say so myself.

When a product is as bad as the BX XL is, i had to double check myself because i love so many of the other alliance plugins (and own about 60% of them, with the next on my list to be vertigo, which is now my very favorite plug in compressor in existence!)

I had to start questioning myself whether i was just imagining that the other plugins were that good, or if it was all in my head.. as i couldn't understand how anyone programming the bx xl who obviously thought it sounded good, could code ACTUAL good plugins if he/she coded such a bad one. It really throws a whole dark cloud over the entire line to be honest.. they should juts kill it off.

Did i say i don't like it?

I have the Big Four bundle of bx-XL,SPL Passeq,Elysia Alpha and Vertigo VSC-2.

VSC-2 is great and i'm liking Alpha and Passeq but bx-XL does seem difficult to get to grips with.I thought it was just my lack of skill with the plug-in,but maybe it's not just that.It can sound great but seems hard work to get it right.

it can't match the others for gain reduction before it distorts noticeably and harshly.

Not a patch on the ancient sonnox, elephant, or the newish Pro-L and barricade.

Barricade makes BX XL look like something from the 90's, a first try on the genre, and a bad one.. and barricade is 15 euros!

Ask Bmanic, he and i usually agree but i know his opinion is far more respected than mine especially with dynamics processors (i admit the guy is a bit of a guru in that department)

ask him about barricade and see what he says

Oh, SPL pass eq is the fines equaliser plugin for boosting i have ever had the pleasure of using, Alpha is a great mastering comp and VSC-2 is just a great everything comp..

in other words.. that bundle is still overall, exceptional

There's an interesting thread on Gearslutz forum about bx-XL.They mention it distorting.One guy says the following:

I've learned how to use it without distorting the signal and it does wonders that neither F-GX, Pro-L, nor Elephant can do, and I luv me Elephant, it's a kickarse limiter but XL is King. It has its weakness, that is distortion which can be circumvented by the correct use of Gain/Threshold relationship. In fact I would go as far to say as its magic is unmistakable. I believe when it reaches V2 and the stars are right that time around the distortion will be gone and all ye squash headz be happy.

It'll be interesting if there is a version 2 whether they will have sorted the distortion thing out.Maybe they'll get it right in V2

Stay dynamic my friends.

I've heard other good things about the Slate comp. Even at $100 or whatever I think I'd pass though, but that's just me. I have plenty of compressors. I have plenty of compressors. I have plenty of compressors. Hey, I think it's working.

How good is it for cuts? I think to remember that you are using DMG EQs now for this.

Haha you guys crack me up

Pro-L is very transparent & also great for tracking, I find it very easy to dial in.
FG-X isn't well suited for softer material, I also like the comp, nice on the 2-buss when needed.
Barricade is also a great choice for general purpose & brickwall.