School me on the role limiters play in mixing

[Mind Riot]

I haven't used limiters much in the mixing process, and the only real application I've used them for is if I need something louder in the mix but I'm out of headroom, so I smash it down a bit with a limiter to get a bit more loudness out of it.

And to me that doesn't seem like a terribly legitimate use for one, as it just means that I didn't set up my gain on all my tracks properly when I prepped my mix and that I shouldn't need a limiter for this purpose if I had done the job right in the first place.

I use a clipper for this job as well.

Is this how anyone else uses limiters in the mixing process? If not, how do you use them when mixing, or do you not use them at all? I've found it difficult to find specific information on this topic.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and experience.

[ampetrosillo]

Eh. That's basically it. Also, limiting instead of compressing or instead of clipping can sound different. Sometimes it's very subtle, but the nice thing with a limiter is that it's often rather easy to set up and if it's only eating peaks and release is short enough then it doesn't really matter.

[egbert101]

Smash it so it's really loud, then push it into a reverb.

[jamcat]

A limiter is just a compressor with a really high ratio.

Every compressor/limiter requires some amount of attack time to react, which can let sharp transients in before it can react. A look ahead limiter introduces some latency in order to detect those peaks and then react to them retroactively.

A limiter is mainly for preventing clipping, which is particularly important in digital media. When you’re mixing in a modern 32 or 64-bit mix engine, you have a lot of headroom, so true clipping doesn’t occur, even if your clip LEDs are lighting up. But it will show up as audible clipping on mixdown. Limiting will protect against that.

[stoopicus]

Smash it so it's really loud, then push it into a reverb.

Ahh yes, the Phil Collins sound.

[digitalboytn]

Limiters are sometimes called wives...

They are there to limit your spending on synths and effects...

That is their primary role

[osiris]

Sometimes you need a big boom, but not one that will crack speakers. Tame the peaks. Never on the Master.

[revvy]

In the past I liked using L2 on bass, drum bus.

felt good, man.

[syntonica]

There's no wrong way to use a plugin, there's just making good sounds and bad sounds. Don't make bad sounds.

Sometimes, I prefer a limiter over a compressor as it brings out some subtleties that are hard to hear with simple compression. Othertimes, I use a limiter while programming and testing plugins so I don't end up like Beethoven.

[Milkman]

I always use a limiter on my main out, but that's just to keep my hifi gear safe. At the same time, I aggressively mix and compress and always consider my sound levels visually on my physical mixer and DAW mixer, so my limiter is rarely ever doing anything unless something freaks out. I keep it there just in case, and I do sometimes enjoy over saturating or over-processing sounds. I actually put the SSL drumstrip with parallel compression all maxed out on my main drum channels with Trash2 after that, usually on the "chip tooth" preset. Trash2 has been there for about 3 months now. Ill probably take it off some day, when I shift gears.

[digitalboytn]

There's no wrong way to use a plugin, there's just making good sounds and bad sounds. Don't make bad sounds.

Sometimes, I prefer a limiter over a compressor as it brings out some subtleties that are hard to hear with simple compression. Othertimes, I use a limiter while programming and testing plugins so I don't end up like Beethoven.

Was Beethoven gay ?

[Uncle E]

And to me that doesn't seem like a terribly legitimate use for one, as it just means that I didn't set up my gain on all my tracks properly when I prepped my mix and that I shouldn't need a limiter for this purpose if I had done the job right in the first place.

You smash the transients on individual tracks and then the issue comes back once the tracks are combined, especially with everything being quantized with sample accuracy. Try offsetting your percussions parts.

[syntonica]

There's no wrong way to use a plugin, there's just making good sounds and bad sounds. Don't make bad sounds.

Sometimes, I prefer a limiter over a compressor as it brings out some subtleties that are hard to hear with simple compression. Othertimes, I use a limiter while programming and testing plugins so I don't end up like Beethoven.

Was Beethoven gay ?

Uhhhh.... Possibly? Let's just say he had complicated relationships with the men in his life.

But I was referring to his deafness.

[jamcat]

From the look of it, Beethoven was post-punk.

[syntonica]

From the look of it, Beethoven was post-punk.

I think that scene was just before the cleaning lady came in, Hoovering the carpet.