BuzMaxi3 Limiter - The only really transparent one I tested

[mauseoleum]

if you are stopping the peaks on the channel / buss you are just giving more headroom to the summing engine and not stuffing it with junk peaks/transients. anything bad with that?

make a poll and start a flamewar.

[greendoor]

I find the concept of worrying about 'overloading' a digital summing engine or mix bus to be very odd. Is this carry-over thinking from analog engineers? With digital - bigger numbers means greater resolution, and if it doesn't clip, it doesn't clip. So how can a digital bus ever "overload"? I mix in Cubase SX - I used to set my master bus a 0dB, and mix the channels accordingly. That mean't I couldn't really use the top 6dB of most channels - where all the fader movement and metering takes place. Now - I mix the channels as hot as I like - exceed 0 if I want to. I move the master fader down as much as I need to avoid clipping.

In fact - if I will be mastering myself for non critical stuff - I see no reason to lower the master fader. I create 32but files that - although they clip my 24bit converters - are not clipped at all. Then, when I master it with compression, don't have to add empty make up gain that has no resolution. I compress DOWN to 0dB - not down FROM 0dB, and then adding empty make up gain. Obviously can't be done with certain plugins - but I would be interested in comments ...

[mandolarian]

Yes, greendoor, that makes great sense. We've been indoctrinated into the no-headroom digital 0dB thing. But that's just the ADC side. With 32 bit mixing we have 192dB of dynamic range to play with. With 64 bit mix engines it's 384dB!!! But, what if you had a 32 bit DAC and say a desktop-fusion powered monitoring array that would produce 192dB peaks at 1 meter, once, uh, if you regained consciousness which limiter would you choose?

[AKJ]

You're proving my point. The concept of gain staging with regard to full scale digital applies to an individual track as well. If you are having "nasty pop noises" you need to turn down the output of your analog source so you do not clip digitally.

- jon

sorry for being impolite but to me it appear that you are not understanding what I am saying. I do turn down the volume in order to have no clipping. but then, in order to make the track as loud as desired in my mix I use, as a quick fix, a limiter to boost the volume of the track. I cannot see why this is a poor recording technique.

and as pointed out: it is not a regular pactice of mine to boost stuff by 12 db but in some situatiions it might be necessary as a preliminary solution. in such a situation I discovered that buzmaxi does a great job on this, to my eras better than the commercial plugins which I own. and I also believe that diefferences in trancparanecy can become more abvious at extreme settings.

So this thread was actually not intended to be a discussion of recording techniques but just to appreciate the work of buzzroom and to point others to it.

akj

[mauseoleum]

yo, greendor, ever heard of floatpoint rounding errors? mix sounds cleaner without excessive peaks (on tracks), to my ears tbh. (which isn't an absolutist measure by any means), because most of hosts use float point summing. there are 3 exceptions to this rule (vendors), correct me if I'm wrong. which I may be, and would like to be corrected if so.

[cymatics]

sorry for being impolite but to me it appear that you are not understanding what I am saying. I do turn down the volume in order to have no clipping. but then, in order to make the track as loud as desired in my mix I use, as a quick fix, a limiter to boost the volume of the track. I cannot see why this is a poor recording technique.

You're absolutely right. I thought you were saying something completely different... I too use & abuse compression and limiting all the time in the same manner you described.

And by the way, you weren't being impolite (I don't get ruffled that easy )

So this thread was actually not intended to be a discussion of recording techniques but just to appreciate the work of buzzroom and to point others to it.

So in an attempt to get the thread back on track...

I regularly use almost all the freeware buzzroom stuff and love it.

I'm chomping at the bit in anticipation of the BuzComp CL bundle.

Big ups to Señor Buzz!!!

[kritikon]

Any method is OK if it works and sounds good. But it's still dodgy to use a limiter on many channels. Limiting is waveshaping - the more of it you do, the more the distortion builds up and can become noticeable. Personally I quite like limiters on drums sometimes, but I never use them on instrument channels - you shouldn't need to. Even if you're only limiting by a few dBs, several tracks can build up the mulch. Limiters seem to be used as compressors nowadays - OK if you can get away with it, but it's no wonder some music is begining to sound harsh nowadays.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use limiters on channels, but I really don't think it's healthy to use them unless where absolutely necessary. Why risk adding distortion when there are so many lovely soft and gentle compressors around? Even heavy compression is likely to be far more sonically pleasing than limiting.

If you want to know how bad limiting can be - load up cynanide and do a heavy distortion where you make a square wave from a round one - then see if you think limiting is so good. Because that's exactly what a limiter does to a lesser extreme.

[AKJ]

hi kritikon

for sure it is true what you are saying but buzmaxi is exactly great for not distorting the sound

[anti-banausic]

I just started using this, and I can't believe that I somehow overlooked this great limiter for so long.

I have been using TBT's, but these two are definitely different, and this has found it's place....quickly I may add.

Thanks guys.

[Funkybot]

Limiters have been used as compressors for at least 40 years now. I mean the Fairchild's a limiter and the Beatles were using it on just about every drum track after 65 as well as in several other applications. I love what TLS does to an electric bass as well, and it sounds fantastic on room mics for some super compressed Dave Fridman-esque drums. Now I wouldn't use them anywhere one would want dynamics, but sometimes you just need to squash the hell out of things, and some tasteful limiter use can do amazing things.

I still haven't checked out Buzmaxi 3 yet, but after this thread I'll be sure to.

[RNr]

I've not read this thread, but Thank you all fans of BuzMaxi3 and buzzroom plug-ins:)

I recommend LT1(BuzComp) to all the people who are using BuzMaxi3 now.
http://www.x-buz.com/BuzComp.html
LT1 is the expansion version of BuzMaxi3.

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[ermi]

Hi!

I like BuzMaxi3 very much too.

But some time ago I was A/Bing some (esp. free) limiters and I noticed that they don't add gain (the make-up volume) in the same amount. Or: mostly they do, but BuzMaxi3 (esp. on certain high levels) did add less gain than some others at the same settings (TbT, Kjaerhus...). I mean, that on the same dB setting, with BuzMaxi3 you get less RMS volume.

That was some time ago and I'm not really 100% about this, so please be reasonable.

I still think that it's a great plugin, maybe it just works in a different way.

[AKJ]

I thnik was buzmaxi V2 then which is a different thing

[ermi]

No it was v3. Maybe a month ago.
Will do more tests when I can.