Need 2 plugins

[BuddhaMaster]

1) Any kind of limiter which keeps signal under 0dB while maintain the sound of the distorted (clipped) sound. If anyone understands what this means.
Sometimes the clipped sound creates a nice warmth that will go away with a limiter. I want to keep that sound without digitally clipping the signal!

2) A multi-band flanger that allows modulating custom small frequency band(s) without affecting anything of the other signal.
I.e. flanger hihat content (3-5kHz) of drums without touching lowend (<3Hz = kick, snare)

That would be a quick and dirty way to give drums some natural feeling.


UPDATE
1) I found that MFlanger is able to do just that. It allows setting up basic and advanced flanger settings and then min-max frequency. Very useful

[chokehold]

1) You're probably not looking for a Limiter, but for a clipper. IK Mulitmedia's T-RackS Clipper does that, but it's supposed to sound analog. IK also have a brickwall limiter that has several "analog" and "saturation" settings, but also a digital "clipping" mode. Maybe that's what you're looking for?
Other than that, have a look at GVST's GClip.

2) No idea. ^^
Melda Production have one, maybe that's what you want? If not, just send (or copy) the track's audio to another track, use a filter on it to isolate the frequency range you wish to "effectify", and then put a simple one-band flanger on it.

[BuddhaMaster]

1) You're probably not looking for a Limiter, but for a clipper. IK Mulitmedia's T-RackS Clipper does that, but it's supposed to sound analog. IK also have a brickwall limiter that has several "analog" and "saturation" settings, but also a digital "clipping" mode. Maybe that's what you're looking for?
Other than that, have a look at GVST's GClip.

2) No idea. ^^
Melda Production have one, maybe that's what you want? If not, just send (or copy) the track's audio to another track, use a filter on it to isolate the frequency range you wish to "effectify", and then put a simple one-band flanger on it.

Hey there, you probably just meant the MFlanger I already had but forgot its functionality, this is indeed an awesome flanger which does just what I needed. resolved. You're method would work indeed, but MFlanger is just doing it the right way and reducing the hassle.

A Clipper you say?
Hmm, yes basically I want to leave the signal untouched, just avoiding the signal to digitally clip the output, so it would stay as dirty but not clipping when played back on any hardware. I didn't know thats called clipper. But I would still like some sort of controls

EDIT: I just figured out that one way to go is probably as simple as putting the release time of any limiter to 0ms. That way it will maintain the original sound without clipping. But there will still be the problem of a treshed peak. Thats the equilevant to censorship (leaving the whole picture, but censoring the dirt)

[V'ger]

Have a look at Lincomp from DDMF, it has a very nice clipper you could use separately.

[zerocrossing]

UPDATE
1) I found that MFlanger is able to do just that. It allows setting up basic and advanced flanger settings and then min-max frequency. Very useful

Hm, I didn't know that. I should look into that plug...

[BuddhaMaster]

Have a look at Lincomp from DDMF, it has a very nice clipper you could use separately.

Hey V'ger, as in V'ger is the one that seeks the creator.
Cool. I will try that. The flanger problem was solved with MFlanger, really useful

[chokehold]

If you set a Limiter to 0ms Attack and 0ms Release, that won't "shape" the signal if it breaks out, there's no time for soft curves within 0ms.

So basically you'll just clip the signal off, as well.

But most Limiters will probably try and make a curve out of it, that's why Limiters with really fast settings usually sound zippy and scratchy and not pleasant at all.

Also, don't forget that Limiters are actually Compressors with a very high Ratio. So if you start Limiting, that might automatically introduce a boost of the lower volume range, which would then involve slight distortion and new harmonics.

A Clipper OTOH will just leave the signal as it is and will only affect it when the volume comes very close to the max level.

EDIT:

The term "Limiter" as used in VSTs and mixing/mastering CAN be a little misleading, if you're coming from the P.A. world, where Limiters actually do act after their name and just limit the signal to a certain volume ceiling if it tries to go over.

In the mixing/mastering world, a "Limiter" is actually a "Compressor with harsh settings", usually they're not used as a "tops off", but they boost and drive a quiet-ish signal into being louder by raising the overall volume and heavily compressing the loudest parts.

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any P.A.-like Limiter plugins, that really only compress the tops fast. I think the MixControl channel strip has one, but to get a complete channel strip just for a "tops off"... :/

[BuddhaMaster]

If you set a Limiter to 0ms Attack and 0ms Release, that won't "shape" the signal if it breaks out, there's no time for soft curves within 0ms.

So basically you'll just clip the signal off, as well.

But most Limiters will probably try and make a curve out of it, that's why Limiters with really fast settings usually sound zippy and scratchy and not pleasant at all.

Also, don't forget that Limiters are actually Compressors with a very high Ratio. So if you start Limiting, that might automatically introduce a boost of the lower volume range, which would then involve slight distortion and new harmonics.

A Clipper OTOH will just leave the signal as it is and will only affect it when the volume comes very close to the max level.

Thanks for those words.
Yes, most Limiters I tried are actually limited to a minimum timing (i.e. 40ms attack or similar).

The suggestion according to your tips would probably require a timing of 0ms attack and release and a ratio of 1:1. Would that be the same as digitally limiting the signal? I wonder if a plugin is able to do that.

But the magic word remains on "clipper" thats probably all the help I needed to get the task done as needed. There should be plenty around and I will soon get one

[DaveGamble]

Hey,

Sorry for self-plug, but if you want something that's somewhere between a clipper and a limiter, and gives you a bunch of interesting controls, you might find that the clip-limiter (which is designed to do almost exactly what you describe) in Compassion is useful.

Then you'd have a limiter, which you could morph into a clipper (limit control), with adjustable release time that goes down to nothing, and a soft-knee/saturation.

Granted, it might be just slightly overkill, but I wanted that same effect too, so I threw it into compassion.

Cheers!

Dave.

[pheeleep]

MMultibandFlanger has many bands.

MFlanger also?

I own all the multiband plugins so I never use the "regular" ones. I sometimes set MMultibandFlanger to 1 band, which I thought was the same as MFlanger. I'll have to check out MFlanger as I am curious (I have it as well).

Edit: reread your post. Yup, MFlanger does that, but MMultibandFlanger allows you to control separate bands differently, using different settings for each frequency band, which is more than what you are looking for. Your use of the term "multiband" threw me off. You want a single band plugin with adjustable frequencies

[BuddhaMaster]

MMultibandFlanger has many bands.

MFlanger also?

I own all the multiband plugins so I never use the "regular" ones. I sometimes set MMultibandFlanger to 1 band, which I thought was the same as MFlanger. I'll have to check out MFlanger as I am curious (I have it as well).

Edit: reread your post. Yup, MFlanger does that, but MMultibandFlanger allows you to control separate bands differently, using different settings for each frequency band, which is more than what you are looking for. Your use of the term "multiband" threw me off. You want a single band plugin with adjustable frequencies

MFlanger is a freebie, I don't think Multi-MFlanger is.
I was looking for a multi-band flanger being able to only adjust hi-frequencys. Since a single-band flanger allows modification of a limited frequency degree is also ok = MFlanger (freebie)

Thanks anyway. Flanger is solved.

What I still need is a clipper (!) that allows simply keeping output signal under 0dB to avoid digital clipping, without affecting the overall sound. Maybe a impossible task, since each DAW is outputting it's different signal. But then again, digital clipping should always sound the same in a way. Because the distortion is created by your hardware and not the software.
I'm looking for freebies. There should be a clipper with no options, expect maybe a treshold or drive knob.

[SuperFly76]

There have been several good clippers mentioned already. GVST gclip get's my vote. It's free, easy to use, and sounds good. There really isn't too much to a clipper so it's hard to get wrong. All of them sound the same to me, unless they add some additional saturation or soft clipping controls. If you want strait hard clipping, which is what you're describing, gclip will do you well.

[BuddhaMaster]

There have been several good clippers mentioned already. GVST gclip get's my vote. It's free, easy to use, and sounds good. There really isn't too much to a clipper so it's hard to get wrong. All of them sound the same to me, unless they add some additional saturation or soft clipping controls. If you want strait hard clipping, which is what you're describing, gclip will do you well.

Ok thanks, over and out