Ear Protection VST ?

[camsr]

To the OP, you should set your monitors' max volume with a really loud recording, something really noisy and smashed. Keep the volume where it's just below unpleasant on the monitors, with the monitors input volume control set to max. If you feel like playing it safe, continue to lower the volume on the monitor.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Nugen Audio's Sigmod has a mode that works like Ice9 where you can set a threshold, and any audio that exceeds said threshold will cause the outputs to mute. You can set it to automatically unmute after X seconds of audio below the threshold, or set it to force you to click a button on the GUI to unmute the audio. Place this last in your plugin chain and save it in your default project template.

Other than the 1.5ms of latency it adds, it otherwise does what Ice9 does, but with more flexibility. Works better in Studio One too (which doesn't like Ice9 in GreenZ mode).

[Harry_HH]

Ice9 suits badly for the general DAW user protection. It is on/off tool.
What I need most of the time for this purpose, is a effective true peak limiter, where you can set the ceiling, and it keeps the max signal there.
This works for your ears and hardware like a suspension, where as Ice9 type plugin is a fuse, a circuit breaker.
According to my experience, if you set the Ice9 to the level it protects your ears, you have to turn on the "fuse" all the time, which is not practical.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Ice9 suits badly for the general DAW user protection. It is on/off tool.
What I need most of the time for this purpose, is a effective true peak limiter, where you can set the ceiling, and it keeps the max signal there.
This works for your ears and hardware like a suspension, where as Ice9 type plugin is a fuse, a circuit breaker.
According to my experience, if you set the Ice9 to the level it protects your ears, you have to turn on the "fuse" all the time, which is not practical.

For my money, an on/off tool is going to be a red flag that you went too loud and need to watch your levels. A limiter could lead one to believe they're operating in an acceptable operating range when they're not. This is true whether you're doing a mix, tracking, or doing sound design. So I'd argue, if you care at all about headroom and levels, go with an on/off switch (Ice9/Sigmod Protect) versus a limter. The former will force you to pay attention to and address your levels whereas the latter can help you make a problem worse.

To sound designers in particular, one of my big pet peeves is rolling through synth presets only to find that there was little to no headroom and the presets are clipping. If folks were using something like Ice9 or Sigmod's Protect module during the design phase, it would never happen. If using a limiter for sound design and not paying attention to levels, clipping is very much a possibility. Unless the sound designer believes having louder presets than everyone else is a feature (louder=better), not a bug.

[Harry_HH]

Ice9 suits badly for the general DAW user protection. It is on/off tool.
What I need most of the time for this purpose, is a effective true peak limiter, where you can set the ceiling, and it keeps the max signal there.
This works for your ears and hardware like a suspension, where as Ice9 type plugin is a fuse, a circuit breaker.
According to my experience, if you set the Ice9 to the level it protects your ears, you have to turn on the "fuse" all the time, which is not practical.

For my money, an on/off tool is going to be a red flag that you went too loud and need to watch your levels. A limiter could lead one to believe they're operating in an acceptable operating range when they're not. This is true whether you're doing a mix, tracking, or doing sound design. So I'd argue, if you care at all about headroom and levels, go with an on/off switch (Ice9/Sigmod Protect) versus a limter. The former will force you to pay attention to and address your levels whereas the latter can help you make a problem worse.

To sound designers in particular, one of my big pet peeves is rolling through synth presets only to find that there was little to no headroom and the presets are clipping. If folks were using something like Ice9 or Sigmod's Protect module during the design phase, it would never happen. If using a limiter for sound design and not paying attention to levels, clipping is very much a possibility. Unless the sound designer believes having louder presets than everyone else is a feature (louder=better), not a bug.

My experience is just opposite the above, when we talk about workhorse mixing (ear protection) tool.
Ice9 suits to the situations, where you need a absolute, "last defence" protection for your speakers. In your mixing buss, it is useless, creating more harm than good.

What comes to gain staging, that's an other story, other tools. I use VU meter set to zero=-18 dBFS, especially when using vintage modelling plugins. And note, faders, nor some limiter is not tools for controlling the level in sound staging. You do that pre-faders.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Different workflows, but:

1) Ice9 type plugins aren't impacting the dynamics of the mix at all. So right there, that's a benefit. What you hear is what you get as long as it's below the threshold.

2) Building off #1, I want to know if I'm clipping my master bus as soon as possible in the mix. I've run into situations where I've had a good pre-fader level on acoustic drums but once summed, still had a peak or two sneaking through. A limiter might have me think my dynamics are in check, whereas there's actually a problem that needs to be addressed. A VU isn't going to catch fast peaks, and if my DAW's PPM style meters isn't going to show a red clip because I've got a limiter on the master, it's not going to be readily apparent there's some peaking. Note: Cubase's Control Room is nice in this regard because the monitoring chain can exist separately, but Studio One (my other DAW) doesn't offer this.

3) I also WANT to be sure I'm setting the right volume pre-fader when using VSTi's. If I'm auditioning sounds, and my instrument channel is at unity gain, I play some notes, and I'm already muting my output while playing a VSTi, that means I need to open the plugin interface and back the levels way off. To your point, these types of tools don't replace metering, but it's a quick red flag that forces me to take immediate corrective action.

[Tappistry]

Cerberus Audio Ice9 Automute (Free)

Problem: Website is down!

I can send you a copy (Mac).

Its free at PluginBoutique.

Also want to point out for those interested that PluginBoutique hosts their own downloads, and it's probably the only place I've been able an active link to download Ice9.

[andymcbain]

Just because your mind does not percieve a stimulation of the hearing does not mean that it is not affecting you or that it can not harm your ears. What you hear is a subset of what your body is experiencing. Just the quickest search came up with this (and more):

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/8931 ... g%2014.pdf

It’s not that comprehensive but one thing worth noting is the concept of non linear distortion at frequencies above 20k. Also worth looking into the large study of infrasonics. I’m intrigued...

Ps. Yes, a limiter and an eq would certainly be a help.

From the article -

"... 8-hr. exposure limits range from 136 dB at a low frequency of 1 Hz to 123
dB at the upper end of the infrasonic range (20hz)"

"Exposure limits to airborne ultrasound have been recommended by a number of national and international organizations... The criteria are similar, typically limiting exposures to 110dB SPL for the frequencies at and above 20khz"

I could be wrong but it seems unlikely that standard studio monitoring equipment at sensible volume levels are likely to recreate those kind of SPLs at those frequencies

[ericzang]

Another approach I prefer is to put a ducker (gate with an inverse mode, such as free ReaGate) and set the level a little above my highest expected peak value (could be -12db or wherever). I don't use Ice9 because it doesn't have a setting to go below 0db.

[Etienne1973]

I don't use Ice9 because it doesn't have a setting to go below 0db.

Ice9 can be adjusted from -12dB to +12dB. Move the number itself in the left bottom corner. Otherwise you have perhaps not the latest version?

[SparkySpark]

In my opinion the problem is not the DAW but the resulting output, especially from headphones. If I were to plug in my headphones to my Focusrite interface and suddenly the computer and the interface are both at 100 %, my hearing would be SERIOUSLY damaged.

I listened once to a YouTube video with USB headphones and didn't realise they were accidentally at 100 % volume. As soon as I hit play, it was like being inside the kick drum.

It worked wonders for my tinnitus, so to speak.

I am now considering buying a child protection dongle that goes in an analog headphone output, but the ones I have found only lowers the volume, whereas I would like an hardware Ice9. Any other solution?

[camsr]

Any other solution?

Keep the headphones off of your ears until the playback starts? You should still be able to hear it.
And use an analog volume control? Forget the USB stuff, I never liked the idea of the master volume being computer based.

[SparkySpark]

Any other solution?

Keep the headphones off of your ears until the playback starts? You should still be able to hear it.
And use an analog volume control? Forget the USB stuff, I never liked the idea of the master volume being computer based.

Thanks. Can you elaborate perhaps on the master volume getting computer based? Isn't it always in our case?

[Terrafractyl]

Hmm... I found this thread after blasting my ears a bit doing some sound design.

I guess its time to try this Ice9 thingy.
Can anyone tell me how much latency it adds? Seems like a pretty vital piece of information that is lacking online about this plugin...
and I have to give my details to someone to do it(sign up to something) and I'm always hesitant, even for free plugs these days. but if it does what it says on the tin without too much latency I guess I will.

Thanks. Can you elaborate perhaps on the master volume getting computer based? Isn't it always in our case?

Probably something like the Mackie big knob. A purely analog device that goes in the signal path between your soundcard and your monitor.
I really wanted one for a time, as I hate reaching for the volume with my mouse. Especially when mastering.... It depends on how picky you are, but that is a can of worms all in itself, as the quality of the gear really matters there, and I can't think of anything worse than coloring my output with such a device.
The passive stuff is often better for clarity but also has the problem of the dual potentiometers that are required for turning up and down a stereo signal... they need to be sUper perfectly matched, otherwise the taper on both sides won't be equal and it will mess with the stereo field.
I borrowed one or two cheapies from friends and was horrified. I couldn't bring myself to spend huge $$ on something like this:
https://dangerousmusic.com/product/monitor-st/ (2000USD)
so I ended up making a 1 knob midi controller that controls my soundcard via midi. Hasn't gone wrong and blasted me yet......but I have worried about it

[crimsonmerry]

I guess its time to try this Ice9 thingy.
Can anyone tell me how much latency it adds?

My DAW (Reaper) reports 0 spls.

The Ice9 plug along with Reaper's auto mute feature has saved my ears and my loudspeakers from any unwanted audio blast 99.9% of the time. So yes if your DAW didn't have any auto mute feature, imo this plugin is worth a slot on the master track.