Voxengo Elephant 4.0 mastering limiter plugin released

[bmanic]

Any opinions of Pro-L vs Elephant? I've been ABing then for a while now and having a hard time deciding. I noticed that Pro-L is louder at the same input gain setting as Elephant, but also produces more distortion. When comparing RMS-normalized clips I think that Pro-L tends to sound punchier, but also a bit more distorted.

I'm using bmaniac's preset on Elephant and also bmaniac's preset "Hard Rock - Fast Release" on Pro-L.

It's important to note that the "Hard Rock - Fast Release" preset in Pro-L uses the 'Dynamic' algorithm which is not just a pure limiter algorithm. It artificially enhances the transients before chopping them off, hence the added "punch". The side effect / compromise here is that it will produce quite a bit more distortion than any other purely limiter algorithm and can mess with the overall dynamics of a track though it was carefully fine tuned for a long time to be as transparent as possible but it still does do some "damage" (or "enhancing" depending on material and taste).

So in essence you are not entirely comparing apples to apples. The 'dynamic' algorithm is there to compete with Slate's FG-X processor and is most suitable for typical heavy rock applications where everything is already at full tilt thus masking the distortion quite a bit.

If you do like the punch that you get from the added transient enhancing then you can always use Voxengo Transgainer feeding into Elephant to reach similar results. Also make sure you set Elephant to really aggressive short transient times (0.2 or even less if you feel adventurous and don't mind distortion).

Cheers!
bManic

[Tapehead]

Thanks for the suggestion about reduced Elephant. I however, do not think it's a great idea, because making a single fixed algorithm setting like L2 will reduces uses of the limiter. Moreover, I can't tell which single setting would suit a majority of users.

That is the whole point. The reduced functionality but with a deeper/lower threshold would make it more usable as a track limiter. Good example would be the bx_limiter (as a reduced, track limiter) and bx_xl limiter (as a master, full blown limiter) from Plug-in Alliance. You might say well there is already a plethora of other track limiters but in my opinion none as transparent as Elephant.

This is your masterpiece and I think you could milk it much better if you'd offer it as an "Elephant Family" suite, or as separate pieces. As some users suggested you can call it: Baby Elephant, Mini Elephant, Orphan Elephant, Tiny Elephant, Daddy Elephant etc...

However, if you're totally unwilling to go that route then perhaps you could implement a much lower ceiling/output settings in the full featured Elephant ?! It would significantly simplify the workflow when dealing with super quiet parts.

[Eleventh]

So in essence you are not entirely comparing apples to apples. The 'dynamic' algorithm is there to compete with Slate's FG-X processor and is most suitable for typical heavy rock applications where everything is already at full tilt thus masking the distortion quite a bit.

Ah ok, thanks for the clarification. Initially I liked the Pro-L sound more, as it seemed to fit the source material well (full tilt heavy rock actually, also the loudest passage). One thing I didn't like about it is that it mushed lower level transients like tom hits, where Elephant preserved those nicely. After a bit of tuning I think I managed to get the Elephant rocking quite well too. Also, it has that EVAL button , so I think I'm gonna have to go with this one.

Cheers

[themossinator]

In Elephant 3 you used to be able to dial the Input Gain whilst right clicking - this would simultaneously reduce the Output gain - cant seem to get this to work in Elephant 4???

[Tp3]

Elephant is awesome, I've been on board since the version 1 days.

IMO it's also the best named Voxengo plugin

Sorry to interrupt, boys, but are you aware some other known company chose to compete DIRECTLY with the Voxengo's plug name by taking Elephant's initial and giving it a "Pro" tag...
(I'm talking about Pro-L[ephant] )

[Hermetech Mastering]

I avoid any gear with "Pro" in the title (hard or soft) like the plague, as it's invariably not.

[Agreed]

I avoid any gear with "Pro" in the title (hard or soft) like the plague, as it's invariably not.

Yeah, who in the world uses ProTools anyway? Ridiculous piece of junk.

[Aleksey Vaneev]

In Elephant 3 you used to be able to dial the Input Gain whilst right clicking - this would simultaneously reduce the Output gain - cant seem to get this to work in Elephant 4???

This feature was removed, because you can now use EVAL to perform comparison at the same loudness level. This mode uses equal loudness contour filtering for 80 dB SPL.

[Hermetech Mastering]

I avoid any gear with "Pro" in the title (hard or soft) like the plague, as it's invariably not.

Yeah, who in the world uses ProTools anyway? Ridiculous piece of junk.

Exactly, been a ProTools hater since around 98!

[Tp3]

I avoid any gear with "Pro" in the title (hard or soft) like the plague, as it's invariably not.

Yeah, who in the world uses ProTools anyway? Ridiculous piece of junk.

Exactly, been a ProTools hater since around 98!

So, your ATC SCM20A SL Pro aren't really PRO, ey ?...
What about your Samplitude Pro X ?...
Sonoris DDP Creator Pro ?...
Voxengo R8Brain Pro ?...

You seem to actually have a LOT of "Pro" gear ... (so, can we assume you are very ill ?... )

I say : leave the "Pro Hating" aside. (almost) EVERYTHING nowadays can be considered "Pro" (I have seen people mix on monitors you wouldn't even give to people you hate).
The ONLY variant that can turn a piece of gear to "Pro" or to "Total garbage" is the human-being operating it.

[Agreed]

Facts are cheating!!!

[wesleyt]

Tp3, I think you've been trolled.

Facts are cheating!!!

Way too many people these days take this phrase seriously, or at least live like they do.

[Agreed]

Tp3, I think you've been trolled.

Facts are cheating!!!

Way too many people these days take this phrase seriously, or at least live like they do.

Reality has a well-known bias against the thing that a given person is trying to insist is actually true. That's just how it is. Given that, who would put their trust in shoddy reality? Not me, I'm no dope.

[wesleyt]

Given that, who would put their trust in shoddy reality? Not me, I'm no dope.

Lol!

[Hermetech Mastering]

I avoid any gear with "Pro" in the title (hard or soft) like the plague, as it's invariably not.

Yeah, who in the world uses ProTools anyway? Ridiculous piece of junk.

Exactly, been a ProTools hater since around 98!

So, your ATC SCM20A SL Pro aren't really PRO, ey ?...
What about your Samplitude Pro X ?...
Sonoris DDP Creator Pro ?...
Voxengo R8Brain Pro ?...

You seem to actually have a LOT of "Pro" gear ... (so, can we assume you are very ill ?... )

I say : leave the "Pro Hating" aside. (almost) EVERYTHING nowadays can be considered "Pro" (I have seen people mix on monitors you wouldn't even give to people you hate).
The ONLY variant that can turn a piece of gear to "Pro" or to "Total garbage" is the human-being operating it.

Dude, dude, chill, chill, it was a throw away joke/trolling remark, hence the smiley shades next to my first post. Please accept my apologies. I love my pro gear.

And Elephant 4 is sublime. Only limiter I've used for the last four years or so!