KVR Audio

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:45 pm

I've ran this little snippet of music (pop/latin/beat kind of thing) trough 4 different limiters. The first clips are limited lightly, about 3dB gain reduction and then I hit the limiters more brutally at about 6dB gain reduction each. Please vote in the poll for your favourite limiter on this particular clip. Note that all limiters here are quality code but are obviously suitable for different kinds of music. Just because one might fare worse here doesn't mean that it's a bad limiter. This material is quite transient driven and has nearly no distortion in it which might make some limiters struggle a bit.

This is a blind test and I will reveal the results when I have enough poll answers. However, for reference I'll give you these:

Original clip and RME HDSP 9632 brutally clipped on input about +3dB

EDIT: Just for everybodys information, I have matched the volume of each clip to the original for fair competition. However, this is done by ear so they might not be perfectly matched but should be good enough for a comparison.

Here are the lightly limited (about 3dB) clips:

Limiter A
Limiter B
Limiter C
Limiter D

Here are the heavily limited (about 6db) clips:

Limiter A
Limiter B
Limiter C
Limiter D

Have fun!
bManic

bullshark · Post by **bullshark** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:55 pm

I fully expect to get shot for this, but I like the original better

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:03 pm

Of course you do. It is less squashed but that's not the point. Which of the limiters do you feel does the least amount of damage to this clip? Now be a good lad and vote in the poll.

Cheers!
bManic

Torben · Post by **Torben** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:09 pm

Well may I? On the clips you got there I find A and B to be the best. C and D are distorting and the bass sound thin and not as calm as A and B. I find B to be the best in your example.

Torben

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:22 pm

I think I'm a lousy judge, but I mostly agree with Torben. I thought C&D had a muddy low end on the light clips, and they distorted on the heavy clips. I think B maybe had better dynamics while A was the most neutral?

s.

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:33 pm

Thanks for the comments.. keep em coming. Please vote in the poll too, or is it simply not working for me?

Cheers!
bManic

3*s · Post by **3*s** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:34 pm

A wins IMO, that's just from judging which sounds best to me atm and not looking too deeply for any distiortion.

B seems to do something to the stereo image, it seems reduced somehow. Perhaps it has to do with crushing the transients of the snaps which are well panned.

defjamm · Post by **defjamm** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:43 pm

i like A the most, too. the snare sounds the best and i love snares. with B the snare is pretty small. didn't like C and D, sounding kind of wrong.

Kingston · Post by **Kingston** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:44 pm

clipped version sounded the worst of them all. Transients had been destroyed, didn't seem to work at all on this material.

My clear favourite was C on both 3-6 db limiting. It somehow seemed to compress the material due to the lively release shape. It seemed to enhance/pump the original in a good subtle way.

A came out second, with possibly most transparent limiting, althought the transients had already been mushed a bit as there was some "slashing" going on the snare, in need of a better word.

B seemed to have bad pumping going on, killing the transient movement, although it was very non-destructive while doing it. The pumping sucked out some good movement.

D was clearly the worst on both, as it seemed to have subtle high end loss and mushing of transients.

..nevermind me, just winetasting here.

3*s · Post by **3*s** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:56 pm

brutally clipped... 3db

I guess we all have our own definitions of "brutal clipping."

3*s · Post by **3*s** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:26 pm

Did you produce that btw? The high EQ sounds nice, I'd love to know what was used.

Mutant · Post by **Mutant** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:29 pm

bmanic wrote: This is a blind test and I will reveal the results when I have enough poll answers.

And how many votes is enough ?

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:31 pm

3*s wrote:Did you produce that btw? The high EQ sounds nice, I'd love to know what was used.

No, it isn't my material. A friend of mine has been putting this little tune together and I have no idea of what he used (most likely some of the UAD plugins). The high eq could very well be the Precision EQ.

Cheers!
bManic

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:33 pm

Mutant wrote: And how many votes is enough ?

I have no idea.. I actually completely forgot to check the settings for the poll. It's at the default value which is .. ? Forever?

Lets let it run for at least 24 hours ok?

Cheers!
bManic

Aleksey Vaneev · Post by **Aleksey Vaneev** » Sat May 06, 2006 5:00 pm

'A' is so farty... It makes kicks explode.

'B' is compressing transients a bit more than I want, but is good. 'D' is good, but a bit aggressive (that's not bad, but not what I like and it seems to sound a bit more muddy, and changes original sound which is rounder). Both in 'A' and 'D' snare is a bit too snappy and prolonged (sounds like a shaved top) - original clip's snare slaps as well, but it slaps due to higher dynamic range - not because it is prolonged.

I like 'C' the most

In some places 'B' sounds better, but not better overall.

(this was based on 'heavy' clips alone).

KVR Audio

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