Which brickwall mastering limiter?

[Liero]

There are some ridiculously talented people around the world who deliver absolutely 100% perfect mixes on very limited equipment and listening environments (like a crappy pair of consumer headphones).

I've always been very sceptical about this, very often the guys who in the interview say that they did a record on laptop and earbuds have a big mastering studio doing the finishing touches. I wonder how much rescuing they've had to do to bring the end product up to par.

[Ah_Dziz]

gclip and limiter6oth free. and can get you an obscenely loud transparent sound.

The clipper in LNo6 is heads and shoulders above GClip tbh.

I actually use both in series usually. I trim off the errant peaks with gclip usually like 1 dB or so. Then use limiter 6 to compress slightly and get my squash on if needed. I like to clip slightly first so I can have more predictable results with the compressor and the g clip waveform view makes this extremely easy.

[oneshotdeal]

gclip and limiter6oth free. and can get you an obscenely loud transparent sound.

The clipper in LNo6 is heads and shoulders above GClip tbh.

I actually use both in series usually. I trim off the errant peaks with gclip usually like 1 dB or so. Then use limiter 6 to compress slightly and get my squash on if needed. I like to clip slightly first so I can have more predictable results with the compressor and the g clip waveform view makes this extremely easy.

Good point about the waveform view, although you should really trust your ears more. I'd use 2 instances of L6. One with just the clipper to trim the peaks followed by one with whatever else you want. I actually use it as a clipper exclusively, as I find I have better tools for its other respective functions (TDR/DC8C for compression and Barricade for limiting, to stay on topic!).

[Brother Charles]

+1000

TB Barricade.

[bmanic]

There are some ridiculously talented people around the world who deliver absolutely 100% perfect mixes on very limited equipment and listening environments (like a crappy pair of consumer headphones).

I've always been very sceptical about this, very often the guys who in the interview say that they did a record on laptop and earbuds have a big mastering studio doing the finishing touches. I wonder how much rescuing they've had to do to bring the end product up to par.

Well over the years I've received some pretty awesome mixes for mastering from clients who had very limited tools (mostly laptop + consumer headphones). These are very rare but they do happen.

It just takes a lot of time and patience to learn your system and play your mixes in as many places as possible before committing to the final result.

Cheers!
bManic

[sadkin]

Well thank you all for your varying input. Many of the responses have been quite helpful, particularly from Aiynzahev, Brok Landers and bmanic. I appreciate Brok's "Philip Newell" style of approach. I 'get it', and yes, I wish I had a better monitoring environment, I wish I had better monitors. But as bmanic pointed out, in so many words, not all of us have the resources to have Mr. Newell stop by our home basement and build out the perfect monitoring environment and then drop $5k on midsize monitors. What is more, you could add $10k AD/DA converters to the list, especially as a reply in this case since I am given to understand it is these caliber of converters which are used during this mastering stage in high end mastering suites which contribute a significant part of the equation in achieving a modicum of transparent, un-squished apparent loudness.

But alas, I am a canvas maker by day who loves to write, record and mix my little songs at night. Brok asked what musical style I am working with. I would describe my style as indie-pop with an obvious overture towards early 80's synth laden pop like Roxy Music (circa Avalon), Duran.

Yes, of course I have a regard for good equipment and feel that I am working with some the best equipment available in the price ranges which I can afford; and fit into my space all setup in a reasonably optimum manner - that said, I use a pair of JBL LSR 2300's, they are pulled away from the cedar tongue & groove wall as much as I can get away with in a space that doubles as a living room for my family. The room is 'L' shaped and so the parallel walls are, luckily, kept somewhat to a minimum. The speakers are positioned at ear height and form an equilateral triangle between my melon and the two speakers. I have an Apollo Quad interface and sometimes differ to my Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones. Sure, I recognize there are much, much better monitors but it is simply what I can afford.

I know my method of using both a clipper and a limiter in a series has been questioned but I know it is done as a sort of poor man's substitute in cases where those high end mastering converters aren't, um, available (even mentioned by others using alternate plug-ins in this thread, see: ah_dziz).

All told, I launched demos for fabfilters Pro-L, Sonnox limiter and Inflator, Izotope 5 & the AOM limiter. I had TB Barricade. Dollar for dollar, barricade was preferable, imo, over Izotope, but I am nearly done with Izotope's 10 day demo and the learning curve is fairly steep just because there is just sooo much. I was only keying in on the limiter as Ozone is clearly an entire mastering chain in one...I just found it tended to impart some uninvited brightness, almost a harshness while Barricade more instantly just sounded better to me. Pro-L was very impressive too as was the very simple AOM limiter (darn the intermittent silence!). I found the best results were combining the AOM limiter with Sonnox's Limiter...but only using a touch of the 'enhance' function on the Sonnox. The subscription at AOM is a curious route...oh well.

Anyways, for those especially curious, here is a link to my reverbnation page. I have uploaded mp3's of the raw mix, and then the current 'master' which included the AOM limiter and Sonnox 'enhancement'. The track is called 'Birds of Paradise'. http://www.reverbnation.com/sadkin

Thanks again for all the replies, ideas and tips!

[Laurend]

No limiter on the market is perfect.

[Simon Morrison]

In the 64-bit AU (Audio Units) space there is a great selection of "mastering" limiters:

A.O.M. Invisible Limiter • Brainworx bx_limiter • Brainworx bx_XL V2 • DDMF NoLimits • FabFilter Pro-L • iZotope Ozone • Kuassa Kratos Maximizer • McDSP ML4000 • MeldaProduction MMultiBandLimiter • Mellowmuse LM1V • PSP Xenon • Sonnox Oxford Limiter • ToneBoosters Barricade • vladg/sound Limiter No6 • Voxengo Elephant • Waves L2 • Waves L3-16

The technique of using a soft clipper before the limiter is useful for increasing RMS levels. In addition to IK's T-RackS Clipper, I am getting great results with LVC-Audio's ClipShifter.

[AC222]

TB Barricade, Kuassa KratosMaximizer

How good is Kratos? Nobody talks about it. I know the developer is Aradaz but this never seem to get a lot of buzz, which is surprising to me given the fact that a few years back everybody talked about how great his free limiters were.

[Simon Morrison]

In the 64-bit AU (Audio Units) space there is a great selection of "mastering" limiters:

A.O.M. Invisible Limiter • Brainworx bx_limiter • Brainworx bx_XL V2 • DDMF NoLimits • FabFilter Pro-L • iZotope Ozone • Kuassa Kratos Maximizer • McDSP ML4000 • MeldaProduction MMultiBandLimiter • Mellowmuse LM1V • PSP Xenon • Sonnox Oxford Limiter • ToneBoosters Barricade • vladg/sound Limiter No6 • Voxengo Elephant • Waves L2 • Waves L3-16

The technique of using a soft clipper before the limiter is useful for increasing RMS levels. In addition to IK's T-RackS Clipper, I am getting great results with LVC-Audio's ClipShifter.

Add NuGen Audio ISL to the list - this is a "True Peak" limiter. Very transparent even when pushed hard.

[Beatworld]

In the 64-bit AU (Audio Units) space there is a great selection of "mastering" limiters:

A.O.M. Invisible Limiter • Brainworx bx_limiter • Brainworx bx_XL V2 • DDMF NoLimits • FabFilter Pro-L • iZotope Ozone • Kuassa Kratos Maximizer • McDSP ML4000 • MeldaProduction MMultiBandLimiter • Mellowmuse LM1V • PSP Xenon • Sonnox Oxford Limiter • ToneBoosters Barricade • vladg/sound Limiter No6 • Voxengo Elephant • Waves L2 • Waves L3-16

The technique of using a soft clipper before the limiter is useful for increasing RMS levels. In addition to IK's T-RackS Clipper, I am getting great results with LVC-Audio's ClipShifter.

Add NuGen Audio ISL to the list - this is a "True Peak" limiter. Very transparent even when pushed hard.

And to that list can be added Flux Elixir v3.
True Peak and very transparent.

[Brother Charles]

Another VERY worthy contender that is often overlooked, is Blue Cat Audio's excellent "Audio Protector".

LINK HERE

[AC222]

In the 64-bit AU (Audio Units) space there is a great selection of "mastering" limiters:

A.O.M. Invisible Limiter • Brainworx bx_limiter • Brainworx bx_XL V2 • DDMF NoLimits • FabFilter Pro-L • iZotope Ozone • Kuassa Kratos Maximizer • McDSP ML4000 • MeldaProduction MMultiBandLimiter • Mellowmuse LM1V • PSP Xenon • Sonnox Oxford Limiter • ToneBoosters Barricade • vladg/sound Limiter No6 • Voxengo Elephant • Waves L2 • Waves L3-16

The technique of using a soft clipper before the limiter is useful for increasing RMS levels. In addition to IK's T-RackS Clipper, I am getting great results with LVC-Audio's ClipShifter.

Add NuGen Audio ISL to the list - this is a "True Peak" limiter. Very transparent even when pushed hard.

And to that list can be added Flux Elixir v3.
True Peak and very transparent.

I have Flux Elixir. How do you like that versus the others? I found it to be more transparent than others I have tried. I also like Ammunition by Sascha/now owned by Magix.

[Beatworld]

I have Flux Elixir. How do you like that versus the others? I found it to be more transparent than others I have tried. I also like Ammunition by Sascha/now owned by Magix.

I have Elixir v3 to be accurate
Before v3 the CPU load was horrendous.

I'm VERY impressed by its transparency.
I like the GUI/meters, love the TP feature.
It is very simple.

It is currently my weapon of choice for mastering type activities.
I'm using Vladg Limiter No 6 HF Limiter before it because I like what the HF Limiter does.

I've not used Ammunition.
But I also own the following Limiters:
Pro-L, Sonnox, Xenon, Barricade (best value), NuGen ISL, Elephant, Limiter No 6
They're all good, let's get real.

But right now, on the projects I'm working on, Elixir gets the gig.

10.8.3
9.1.8

[AC222]

I have Flux Elixir. How do you like that versus the others? I found it to be more transparent than others I have tried. I also like Ammunition by Sascha/now owned by Magix.

I have Elixir v3 to be accurate
Before v3 the CPU load was horrendous.

I'm VERY impressed by its transparency.
I like the GUI/meters, love the TP feature.
It is very simple.

It is currently my weapon of choice for mastering type activities.
I'm using Vladg Limiter No 6 HF Limiter before it because I like what the HF Limiter does.

I've not used Ammunition.
But I also own the following Limiters:
Pro-L, Sonnox, Xenon, Barricade (best value), NuGen ISL, Elephant, Limiter No 6
They're all good, let's get real.

But right now, on the projects I'm working on, Elixir gets the gig.

10.8.3
9.1.8

Cool! Thanks for the insight. I also have the Vladg and that is amazing quality, especially for a free plug but that is most certainly not transparent. I like transparent so I like Elixir! Just hate the dongle;