KVR Audio

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:12 pm

Eddie TX wrote:
AC222 wrote: Hi Eddie! You've got me even more interested now... What other limiters have you tried? Don't you miss having a variable attack/release?
As long as the limiter seems to be working and sounding good, fiddling with attack and release times is something I don't miss at all. Being simple to use is a plus in my book.

The limiters I've tried include Pro-L, Ozone 5, FG-X, Elephant (but not the newest version), Barricade, T-Racks, Nomad AMT, Waves L series, and a bunch of freebies like Limiter No. 6 and Loudmax. Probably more that I can't think of right now. Considering sound quality and ease of use, AOM is my favorite.

Cheers,
Eddie

Thanks Eddie! Exactly what I wanted to know. I think I might have to take a page out of your book and pick this one up.

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:27 pm

AC222 wrote:Thanks Eddie! Exactly what I wanted to know. I think I might have to take a page out of your book and pick this one up.

It's certainly worth a thorough demo. Note that the demo doesn't expire, it just mutes the output every 30 seconds or so.

Also note that at higher oversampling rates (can go up to 16x), the CPU usage can get pretty intense, so it's best to save it for true mastering in those modes. Good luck!

Cheers,
Eddie

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:46 pm

Interesting. What is the copy protection?

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:37 pm

hibidy wrote:Interesting. What is the copy protection?

For A.O.M. Invisible Limiter? Key file, according to KVR database:

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/invisib ... r-by-a-o-m

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:02 am

Eddie TX wrote:
AC222 wrote:Thanks Eddie! Exactly what I wanted to know. I think I might have to take a page out of your book and pick this one up.
It's certainly worth a thorough demo. Note that the demo doesn't expire, it just mutes the output every 30 seconds or so.

Also note that at higher oversampling rates (can go up to 16x), the CPU usage can get pretty intense, so it's best to save it for true mastering in those modes. Good luck!

Cheers,
Eddie

Ok...... I tried this and it's fantastic. But not only that. The tranquilizer eq, and the stereo widener are amazing. When I say amazing, I think all three of these are the best in class. I'm trying to tell myself that I am done with buying plugins because I feel like I'm almost there but I feel compelled to get these as they make for one hell of a mastering suite.

The limiter is transparent as you described. It does seem to add a tad bit of saturation that darkens the signal in pleasing way when pushed but it really is very, very subtle and still way more transparent than other limiters that just fall off a cliff with nasty distortion, pumping, and clipping when pushed.

What impresses me the best is that this thing really retains those transients....the snare is the litmus test and you can hear the "initial pop" a bit better than the already excellent Barricade. I tried getting the attack to the perfect level where it kicks in right after the transient on the Barricade and still couldn't get as good results. Honestly though, I am still of the mind is that Barricade is the best in class (in terms of bang for buck) but if budget is not an issue I prefer the invisible limiter to any other limiter at the moment.

The eq is extremely cpu-heavy but man, after comparing to other digital eqs, it just seems to cut frequencies in a much smoother way. Other digital eqs by comparison sounded cloudy or smeared the sound in comparison. It wasn't really noticeable until compared side by side.

That stereo widener is also really darn good... Better than the Flux and Brainworx Imagers that I was using. it just sounds cleaner, more precise, and more stereo.... It keeps the bass, drum, and vocal front in center as it should instead of shifting them off the side as others do and just sounds bigger.

Wow... I'm finding that a lot of these lesser-known developers like A.O.M. to be hidden gems and now my "secret weapons".

Now I'm only hoping that this will be the last I spend on plugins... because the limiter and mastering eq were really the last ones I wanted to upgrade because I'm pretty happy with everything else now or I keep telling myself?

Just waiting now for a few updates from someone of the other beloved plugins like Mutools MUX (please add that front panel to V6?) and Amplitube 4 (please unbundle the whole Amplitube suite into sections separated for stomp boxes, amps, and racks). T

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 12:45 am

AC222, good description of the AOM plugs. I agree with you about the limiter and EQ ... unsurpassed sonic performance from both, IME. I confess I haven't tried the widener, but will make it a point to do so -- thanks for the tip.

If I didn't like using Pro-Q (esp. v.2) so much, the AOM EQ would get more use here. Great sound and GUI. But competition is fierce!

Speaking of FabFilter, Pro-L is another limiter I could easily live with, but the AOM just rocks. And if cost is a factor, Barricade is indeed hard to beat.

I'd say anyone interested in limiter plugins could find pretty much all the info they'd need in this thread.

Cheers,
Eddie

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:17 am

I think 30 bones and the option to upgrade to a lifetime license is more than fair. I just got back from big dinner and cake (was dad's bday) and I'm not really in the mood to a/b right now

Lesha · Post by **Lesha** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:15 pm

Let me say a few words about a new limiter by Lively Audio, makers of excellent Maxwell Smart.

It is called Maxwell, currently in a closed beta phase and after initial testing I was immediately impressed.
Much lighter on the CPU than its competitors, even with 8x oversampling, which is phenomenal. Sounding clean and transparent, and can be distorted if abused.

I was comparing it both to FabFilter and AOM, and preferred it to AOM. All the other limiters I have tried weren't good enough regarding transparency.
It was very similar to one of the four Pro-L algorithms, I believe it was "Dynamic", can't remember right now because I've uninstalled the demo. Did a test with LPF on and was very pleasantly surprised regarding the low distortion. Pro-L did a slightly better job and I liked Maxwell more than AOM Invisible limiter using similar settings.

I really like what Nikko is doing and can see that this gem will be the best in its class or even better than more priced competitors.

I am very enthusiastic about it and can't wait for it to go public!

Features:
- Clean look-ahead limiting without audible distortion
- Simple but effective controls for almost any kind of sound adjustment possible with a modern limiter
- ISP detection equivalent to 2x, 4x or 8x oversampling (4x and 8x are compliant with the latest ITU, EBU and ATSC recommendations for true peak detection)
- Smooth, natural and completely transparent phase shift adjustment for obtaining extra headroom by centering peaks
- Level meter bars for input, output and gain reduction (stereo)
- Numeric values for RMS and maximum peak levels of input and output (stereo)
- High quality quantizer and dither (with optional high pass filtering) for 12, 16, 20 or 24 bits
- 10 ms compensated latency
- Support for all sample rates above 22.05kHz

Eddie TX · Post by **Eddie TX** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:39 pm

I liked the Maxwell Smart, so thanks for posting about the new one. I assume it will no longer be limited to 32-bit? Any idea on the price?

Another new limiter, this one by HOFA, will be released at the end of this month, according to the website: http://hofa-plugins.de/pages/start_en/h ... ter-en.php. If the quality of their other plugins is anything to go by, this could be a real contender.

Cheers,
Eddie

Lesha · Post by **Lesha** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:50 pm

Eddie TX wrote:I liked the Maxwell Smart, so thanks for posting about the new one. I assume it will no longer be limited to 32-bit? Any idea on the price?

Here is a quote from the developer:

Maxwell is created with FlowStone, so it's a 32-bit VST 2.4 plugin for Windows only at the moment (although 64-bit support for OS X and Windows are on our roadmap).

We don't want to give a specific price estimation at this point, sorry, but the cost will be fair for a home user as well!

SWallace · Post by **SWallace** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:58 pm

Heard great things recently about AOM from multiple sources. I personally use Fabfilter's Pro-L. Can really get heavy duty to handle busses and full-tracks. With lower settings it can also double as an efficient track limiter.

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:02 am

lesha wrote:Let me say a few words about a new limiter by Lively Audio, makers of excellent Maxwell Smart.

It is called Maxwell, currently in a closed beta phase and after initial testing I was immediately impressed.
Much lighter on the CPU than its competitors, even with 8x oversampling, which is phenomenal. Sounding clean and transparent, and can be distorted if abused.

I was comparing it both to FabFilter and AOM, and preferred it to AOM. All the other limiters I have tried weren't good enough regarding transparency.
It was very similar to one of the four Pro-L algorithms, I believe it was "Dynamic", can't remember right now because I've uninstalled the demo. Did a test with LPF on and was very pleasantly surprised regarding the low distortion. Pro-L did a slightly better job and I liked Maxwell more than AOM Invisible limiter using similar settings.

I really like what Nikko is doing and can see that this gem will be the best in its class or even better than more priced competitors.

I am very enthusiastic about it and can't wait for it to go public!

Features:
- Clean look-ahead limiting without audible distortion
- Simple but effective controls for almost any kind of sound adjustment possible with a modern limiter
- ISP detection equivalent to 2x, 4x or 8x oversampling (4x and 8x are compliant with the latest ITU, EBU and ATSC recommendations for true peak detection)
- Smooth, natural and completely transparent phase shift adjustment for obtaining extra headroom by centering peaks
- Level meter bars for input, output and gain reduction (stereo)
- Numeric values for RMS and maximum peak levels of input and output (stereo)
- High quality quantizer and dither (with optional high pass filtering) for 12, 16, 20 or 24 bits
- 10 ms compensated latency
- Support for all sample rates above 22.05kHz

Hi there, I thought I was sold on AOM. Thanks for turning me on to it, Eddie! To date, I find it suits my needs better than anything I've tried. Haven't bought it yet though. Can you tell me why you like this one better than AOM? I can't imagine getting much better.

Lesha · Post by **Lesha** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:37 am

AC222 wrote:Hi there, I thought I was sold on AOM. Thanks for turning me on to it, Eddie! To date, I find it suits my needs better than anything I've tried. Haven't bought it yet though. Can you tell me why you like this one better than AOM? I can't imagine getting much better.

It is very simple, even when not using your ears. Here are the screenshots with 20dB limiting:

Distortion (Maxwell=Red, Invisible Limiter=Purple)

Harmonic distortion (Maxwell=Red, Invisible Limiter=Purple)

CPU usage with oversampling / ISP detection (20 dB limiting):
AOM (linear) - 1x = 1%, 2x = 3.4%, 4x = 5.6%, 8x = 10.2%, 16x = 19.5%
AOM (logarithmic) - 1x = 1.6%, 2x = 4.5%, 4x = 7.9%, 8x = 14.4%, 16x = 27.9%
Maxwell - 1x = 2.7%, 2x = 2.8%, 4x = 3.1%, 8x = 3.6%

Listening to both of them, AOM clearly was a bit louder, so I have checked it with Voxengo SPAN and found out that AOMs RMS was approximately 1.1 dB louder with about 6 dB signal reduction (using the same ammount of limiting). Maxwell sounded way more natural!

Testing material with LPF on showed that AOM distorts easily when pushed, while Maxwell stays without distortion, except when you shorten attack and release times which will happen to any other compressor/limiter on the market.

All in all, I am very satisfied by Maxwell, it really is a gem that needs no polishing (except for the better looking GUI

)

fwsuperhero · Post by **fwsuperhero** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:42 am

+1 for maxwell also.
I ve been using maxsmart1 and it is my favourite freeware limiter out there.

Turello · Post by **Turello** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:02 am

Another not mentioned good freebie...

http://www.g200kg.com/en/software/veemax.html

Which brickwall mastering limiter?