What is the Loudest Limiter on the market?

[BerryLaCroix]

The loudness war is over.

All music streaming services and broadcasters have loudness management in place. So go ahead, destroy all the dynamics in your track to make it louder, and see it scaled back to meet loudness requirements.

We can now finally have tracks again with proper dynamics and transient responses. Such a lovely world

And therefore the relevant question now is: what is the most transparent limiter?

[plexuss]

And therefore the relevant question now is: what is the most transparent limiter?

Nugen ILS2 for wide band, DMG Limitless for multi-band.

Here is the note on my soundcould page...

A NOTE ABOUT LOUDNESS
You might notice that our productions are quieter than a lot of other artists’ tracks on Soundcloud. Our productions are generally set with the peaks of the audio at their highest possible level. Same goes for the loud tracks from other artists on Soundcloud. So, why the difference in listening level? We both have our peaks maxed out however the loud tracks have all the quieter parts of the music turned up so the over-all level is quite a bit louder. But, in order to do this the depth of the range of levels is significantly reduced (sometimes referred to as dynamci range). Streaming media further distorts overly loud music, reducing quality and the potential for you to enjoy it. Our tracks are not loud and adhere to industry standard loudness levels that strike a balance between over-all loudness and maximizing "dynamic range" to provide the highest possible fidelity and prioritize your enjoyment of the music.

[v1o]

Maximum loudness is still a thing in 2019?

Apple Music (soundcheck on): -16LUFS
Spotify: -14LUFS
Tidal: -14LUFS

Anything over that is going to get turned down, so why bother trying to push past it?

The thing is. If your mix is loud to begin with, it still sounds loud even after it’s put down to -14lufs by streaming services. Just listen to the Billie Eilish records - its LOUD. There is no reason at all to aim for -14lufs when mastering.

[lwj]

Surprised the Softube Weiss suite isn't mentioned here. At least for my music I feel I can push it further than other limiters I've tried. I don't really use it that way, but if you set it right it can easily give you 4dB gain reduction on the compressor alone and then more on the limiter. There's something different about what happens when you push it, compared to Ozone or Fabfilter limiters... it sounds less plastic.

[Cinebient]

Limiter vs. maximizer vs. dynamic i don’t know.
I always have a limiter in the master but just for safety after i did a really hefty feedback peak.
But limiters works also for me on track.
Some tools do really great gain staging and saturation depends on them. There are often breakouts with +12db or more so i mainly use it to control some peaks.
Otherwise there is a loudness knob/slider when i listen to music.
There is so much bad overcompressed sound and distortion in commercial songs. Even in film scores, orchestral works.
All i care about are dynamic range. Loudness is just like with many default presets in synths. Play 3 note chords and some are already at +6-12 db in most DAWs. Great to impress at first but soon you realize its unusable in a mix.
So i prefer to use limiter to bring the loudness down

[Elektronisch]

Loudest limiter is Clipper.

Most of so called limiters/maximisers act like compressors with limiting until 0db. But if you really want to brickwall and make it loud, add some subtle compression and maximise the shit out with clippers. Here are some clippers that does the job well:

Ozone 5/6/7/8/9 when using IRC III Clipper & clipper down to 0.
Sir Audio StandardClip
Oxford Inflator
U-He Presswerk
T-Racks Classic Clipper
T-Racks Brickwall Limiter
T-Racks Stealth Limiter
Image-Line Maximus

[fb30]

I don't know whether it is the loudest, but one of the best is Waves L16.

[Ploki]

I don't know whether it is the loudest, but one of the best is Waves L16.

You don't know whether it's one of the best either tho.

Loudest limiter is Clipper.

Most of so called limiters/maximisers act like compressors with limiting until 0db. But if you really want to brickwall and make it loud, add some subtle compression and maximise the shit out with clippers. Here are some clippers that does the job well:

Ozone 5/6/7/8/9 when using IRC III Clipper & clipper down to 0.
Sir Audio StandardClip
Oxford Inflator
U-He Presswerk
T-Racks Classic Clipper
T-Racks Brickwall Limiter
T-Racks Stealth Limiter
Image-Line Maximus

Voxengo OVC-128 as far as I tested also stands its ground well - my fav right now.

[kenny saunders]

Sonnox Inflator

[JerGoertz]

I don't consider myself an expert in using limiters by any means. While mastering a track I was trying to boost its loudness by 2-3 dB, not to create a "brick sausage", but just to get things to acceptable loudness levels while retaining some dynamics. I tried IK Stealth Limiter, Goodhertz Faraday, and maybe some others, but couldn't there without audible distortion/clicks. Then I used TDR's Limiter 6 GE and it just nailed it. Don't know how, but it just worked.

[Hermetech Mastering]

Most professional mastering engineers have a collection of limiters and clippers in their arsenal, because there's no such thing as the best/loudest limiter for every use case. It's like saying "How long is a piece of string?" with no definitions. It's totally track dependent. What might sound best/loudest/cleanest on one track may not work for another.

I can usually get where I need to be with one of the following:

DMG Limitless
SIR StandardCLIP
Voxengo Elephant
PSP Xenon
TDR Limiter6 GE

But I wouldn't want to be without any of them...

[harryupbabble]

the musso linni SHH-a11 through a bullhorn
only 6.79 euro dollars