What limiter do you use, if any?

[jp008]

I think I get it. So basically instead of one thing we need two things, right?

Which he's probably already using anyways. Who doesn't use more than one thing in a signal chain? But.. envelope first, then gain. If done correctly, it will limit or level peaks like 20:1 compression. Like I said though, not every piece of software or hardware is capable.

[Mathematics]

L1 - Old skool broad-band limiter - does a poor job catching peaks
L2 - Classic broad-band limiter - does a better job at catching peaks but suffers in balancing lows and highs - tends to make mixes appear quieter
L3-16 Multimaximzer - Great multi-band limiter - good at catching peaks, has different limiting algorithms for a variety of input signal types, but deadly on CPU usage...well, it can be...rather, it used to be but newer systems handle decently
Elevate - Crazy good multi-band limiter - makes things louder than most other limiters but it can add some distortion if you give it a poorly mixed track. I suggest using a clipper to maximize transparency, otherwise, it's better than the ones mentioned above.
Pro-L2 - Very good broad-band limiter - Good at catching peaks, many algorithms to choose from. I wish I knew what was going on under the hood because it seems like it has some kind of peak and soft limiting going on. That could explain why many people like it. Aside from the tons of features listed on the website, I would rate it just below the Elevate plugin because the Pro-L2 is not multi-band, which is rather surprising.
DMG Limitless - Muti-band Limiter - This kills everything else. Catches peaks like no other. This is by far, one of the most elegantly coded limiters I have discovered. I would love to have a discussion about this one, but once you know what it does, and you learn how to use it...you'll probably never use another limiter again.
Limiter No.6 - Great dual-band? limiter - fantastic at catching peaks. I am not familiar with the TD version but I used the OG version. By far, the cleanest limiter you could get for free.

Weiss Compressor/Limiter - Haven't tried it, but people say it is really transparent with certain mixes. They also say that Limitless can sound cleaner because it has more flexibility and independent channel limiting, but I can't say anything about that because I have not used it.

Barricade, Stealth Limiter, and Slate stuff - haven't tried them but I know they are good.

My 2 cents. All limiters work better with a balanced mix. So any of these will be good provided you take care of transients and peaks BEFORE limiting anything. So...that's another discussion.

[ScrLk]

DMG Limitless - Muti-band Limiter - This kills everything else. Catches peaks like no other. This is by far, one of the most elegantly coded limiters I have discovered. I would love to have a discussion about this one, but once you know what it does, and you learn how to use it...you'll probably never use another limiter again.

I know, even though it makes some compromises on paper (Limiter 6 GE handily beats it in measurements), it sounds so good that there's no way I don't want to go with it.

[lesnow]

My two go-to limiters are iZotope Ozone 9 Vintage Limiter and FabFilter Pro-L. I feel like the latter is more transparent, as Ozone does sometimes have "a sound" imo.

[lwj]

I use a bunch of them.. but I don't rely on them. Used to, but found that for an end result that's loud but still packs a good punch, doing too much compression and limiting early on works against you.

[telecode]

Tracks Brickwall.

[Sutniko]

I know, even though it makes some compromises on paper (Limiter 6 GE handily beats it in measurements), it sounds so good that there's no way I don't want to go with it.
[/quote]

I own both limiters. Where can i find these measurements where Tdr 6 "beats" it?
You got me really curious.

[ScrLk]

I know, even though it makes some compromises on paper (Limiter 6 GE handily beats it in measurements), it sounds so good that there's no way I don't want to go with it.

I own both limiters. Where can i find these measurements where Tdr 6 "beats" it?
You got me really curious.

The biggest difference is that Tokyo Dawn prioritizes oversampling in their plugins. This becomes the clearest when Limitless does ISP limiting:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpos ... count=3527

(This will also hold true for TrackLimit.)

You can try this for yourself in PluginDoctor and Limiter 6 will always look cleaner. Try it with presets with less lookahead than "Transparent", also without ISP limiting, and you'll see what I mean.

To be clear, I don't think it beats it sonically as a limiter. Especially Limitless. This has shown to me that these type of measurements only tell part of the story.

[Sutniko]

Ahh this is what you mean.
Well in my experience (i own limitless, tracklimit , tdr limiter 6ge and others) Limitless can go much further before breaking up sonically .
In my ears Tdr Lim 6 ge even though being multiband , sounds "crunchy-single band" if that make sense as a description.
So on a hip hop beat for example i would prefer the Tdr probably cause it adds a smooth saturated sound feel, but if i want to push it outside the solar system Limitless hands down.

Yes measurements tell a lot but the way we listen is not like this at the end of the day.

[ScrLk]

Ahh this is what you mean.
Well in my experience (i own limitless, tracklimit , tdr limiter 6ge and others) Limitless can go much further before breaking up sonically .
In my ears Tdr Lim 6 ge even though being multiband , sounds "crunchy-single band" if that make sense as a description.
So on a hip hop beat for example i would prefer the Tdr probably cause it adds a smooth saturated sound feel, but if i want to push it outside the solar system Limitless hands down.

Yes measurements tell a lot but the way we listen is not like this at the end of the day.

I agree completely. I think there could be a best-of-both-worlds implementation (I'm calling for a Tokyo Dawn × DMG collaboration, omg!) but this doesn't exist, so I'm still very happy with Limitless, and Limiter 6 will be useful for clipping and other processing.

[Sutniko]

I agree completely. I think there could be a best-of-both-worlds implementation (I'm calling for a Tokyo Dawn × DMG collaboration, omg!) but this doesn't exist, so I'm still very happy with Limitless, and Limiter 6 will be useful for clipping and other processing.
[/quote]

That would be a fun Hybrid!

Tdr 6 is a wonderful tool that can a great lot. I think they complement each other very nicely
Limiter 6 HF limiter can do wonders for example


Its a great time we live in plugin wise

[jemaudio]

I used to use T-Racks Brickwall Limiter and Ableton stock Limiter. Since I tried TDR Limiter 6 GE I've never looked back to any other limiter.

[bronlund]

Izotope Ozone

[wwjd]

LOUDMAX ticks all three boxes: great fast cheap

I mostly mix audio with video and Loudmax is wonderful for limiting AND bringing up if needed on many tracks or even specific clips. dialog, music, fx

Sometimes BROADCAST comes out depending on the coloring desired

[wwjd]

LOUDMAX ticks all three boxes: great fast cheap

I mostly mix audio with video and Loudmax is wonderful for limiting AND bringing up if needed on many tracks or even specific clips, with no time loss for tweaking: tune, done, move on. dialog, music, fx

Sometimes BROADCAST comes out depending on the coloring desired