LoudMax 1.12 released

[metalifuxx]

I use this plugin all the time if I have extreme problems with volume and dynamics and I just need to squash the hell out of something to see if that works for a quick fix until I get to the root of the problem.

[GeorgeZ]

I always have time for LoudMax. Does what it says on the tin, and that's a welcome change in today's day and age... and like RBR said, very under rated. No matter, it'll be our little secret

[Shifrin]

Being on a rather tight budget, this is my 'go to' limiter - very appreciated update

Shif.

[Agreed]

Maybe I mis-interpreted the comment, but I gathered from his comment that he really likes the plug-in, and that he feels like people here sometimes don't recognize/appreciate good quality plug-ins unless they have beautiful GUIs that look like hardware. I didn't find this too negative.....

I'm a little guilty of being that way myself--looking for beautiful GUIs, that is....

--Sean

I'm basing my harsher interpretation of his statement on what I've read in the past from him, where he has often portrayed a generally dismissive attitude toward a lot of developers, made some self-aggrandizing comments (though they could be tongue in cheek, to be fair), and on occasion has come across as sounding like everyone who doesn't love his (runbeerrun's) plugins, with their less accessible GUIs, are all a bunch of idiots who hear mainly with their eyes. It's entirely possible I'm taking him too seriously and he's just pushing buttons, but I kind of get the impression he really does think that many, perhaps most people here are ignorant and care about the wrong things.

I think that a nice GUI can really help with workflow in particular, but I don't think that it's at all fair to lump people who appreciate a nice usable GUI into a fabricated laity of visual-obsessed tin ears. Also, this plugin looks great, it's extremely straightforward in its presentation of its functionality and my preliminary experiences with it are really positive. I think it'll end up being on more tracks, I like how it handles distorted/bitcrushed stuff in a busy mix. Still working with it to try to feel it all the way out, but I definitely appreciate the developer's work on it, and he's done a good job of putting out a quality freeware product that isn't limited to Windows and does what it says on the tin, so to speak, quite nicely.

[futurefields]

Lol... if you just click RBR's post history you can see what he's all about (mostly harmless, i've learned... he enjoys making the random comment and they are often pretty funny/ironic)

He will most likely not respond to you directly, he enjoys being a sort of phantom apparition. I have to admit I'm kind of fascinated by the guy. His plugins are hideous.

[havran]

Nice to see all these recommendations! I'll add this to my magic kit.

[Agreed]

This is really good at treating an exceptionally distorted and processed mix without losing detail in the individual tracks.



This mix is SMASHED. On purpose. The stereo field exists because of the smashing, the panning of the drums, and some stereo effects that do a neat thing. Dynamic range is approximately ~0.1db or so.

Two things, EZdrummer twisted kit with Auraplugs freestortion GE Fuzz on it at a 40/60 mix, and my guitar into a Devi Ever Bit: Legend of Fuzz pedal direct into AT3 (amp and cab bypassed) with some carefully tuned effects and a multi-tap delay (two, in this case) to achieve a pretty precise sound. The limiting is really important to the track, because it has to very substantially control the interaction between the guitar track and its stereo effects and the drum track's panning. Without it, it wouldn't sound varied, it'd sound pretty samey - with the limiting smashing things right, the stereo field is much more complex, really turned out better than I could have hoped.

I'm posting the clip here because Loudmax kicked ass for me. I was having trouble getting my go-to limiter, T-Racks 3 Deluxe's Brickwall Limiter, to do the trick. It was wanting to pump in a way that obscured the drums more than I wanted even in the advanced and saturation modes. I knew that none of my other limiters would really do what I wanted (TBT Pocket Limiter and Tube Limiter are two I use a lot on individual tracks to catch peaks, but I don't like their behavior on a busy mix). So, I figured I'd try the new-to-me tool out to see how it would perform. I threw Loudmax on it and within about 30 seconds had it sounding exactly like I wanted it to just by adjusting the two sliders for a thorough crushing. Really had a kind of "magic button" effect, it just did exactly what I wanted right away. Very cool.

That said... It won't replace the T-Racks 3 Brickwall Limiter for most of my stuff because I usually want to preserve dynamics and just prevent any stray peaks, which the T-Racks 3 Limiter does exceptionally well. Even for less dynamic material that I want loud but not too crushed, I like how the Clean and Saturation modes do different but equally impressive things. The TR3 Deluxe Brickwall Limiter just kind of "handles" the limiting all on its own. So this isn't me saying "ditch commercial software, you'll only ever need this freeware tool!"

But there's something really, really cool going on with LoudMax and I definitely intend for it to be part of my tool kit in the future, especially when I am working with heavily distorted and crushed material and trying to achieve a specific sound. I like its behavior at the edge of what's advisable and beyond. I look forward to playing around with it more to see how it behaves when things are less slammed. I figure if it can handle abuse, it probably does well with "use."

[b-pole]

nice to see v1.0.9 as a AU PlugIn, too, really appreciated

[RunBeerRun]

Today's update is another winner, I find the attack/release parameter functions are pretty transparent. Of course, the actual effect isn't transparent, limiters are always obvious.

Thanks in this season!

[gmitch]

Where do i get 1.09???Thanx!!!

[gmitch]

Nevermind, got it(vers 1.10)

[futurefields]

Always nice to see my favorite limiter getting an update. Rock on, Thomas Mundt!

[audiojunkie]

Thanks for the update!!!

--Sean

[rifftrax]

Very interested to see how this compares to TSClip's most recent iteration... haven't found a freebie to top it yet so this will be a fun test. Downloaded.

[edit] well, I'll be damned. Something is going on here where it actually preserves very low-frequency energy of a mix I'm trying it on significantly better than TSClip. Even using them stacked and then removing TSClip it is very obvious that TSClip is stifling (to a small degree) the "punch" feeling of the mix. DAMN. No, this is definitely my new go to limiter!! I'll be trying this on more material soon.

And thank you very much to the developer! I also just realized I didn't even download the most updated version (oh sh*t!) This is exciting...

Wow yeah, this thing is king. Unbelievable.

So this isn't me saying "ditch commercial software, you'll only ever need this freeware tool!"

I dunno, this plugin is really happening for me.

[enroe]

Possible Overdrive without audible distortion: 740dB

Waaoooo! Never read something like this before: 740 dB! But ... according to the comments here this is true.

Thanks for the update!